Florida Southern College - Interlachen Yearbook (Lakeland, FL)

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THl. WATHRDOME; A loicty j ' ool, ilciitnr}i name froiir the s iiit}c jotmcil by uniatliii,: olnnins of liiiiy u ' huh iri ' ittc u cuiio y from I he mil. The AJ iiiiii slrnlioii BiiilJ- irii; boi ' ilcn its eil} e. for the first time in 1942 he said, It ]ives, it has an atmosphere of life, there isn ' t a dead spot in it. It is something that grew in this orange grove, a flower of the human spirit and it will endure, gathering force and distinction as the years go on. Florida has found an expression in building in her proper name. In the chapel there are no aisles dividing the congregation. The speaker feels he is one of you. No one in the entire auditorium, which seats one thousand peopile, is more than fifty feet from the speaker even in the balconies. He ce.ases to be a man set apart. The .icoustics is especially fine. Plants grow on the ledges and in flower boxes tucked into corners of recessed walls. There are trellises overhanging the audi- ence on which boughs of trees are placed for festive occasions. One visitor who came into the chapel at the hour when the sun was low enough to sift light through the small colored glass inserts in the block structure said, I feel as if I am standing within a huge jewel box. It was the desire of Dr. Spivey to allow some of the students to take time off from their classes to learn a useful trade by working on the buildings. They moulded fourteen thousand blocks by special pat- terns and laid more than forty-six hundred of them. A few of the skills required in making one of these buildings are glass setting, founda- tion layout, steel work, welding, concrete mixing, pouring and plastering. The chapel and the library provide two nuclei for the whole founda- tion. .All of the buildings have an airy and Floridian character. There is emphasis on patterns cf light and shade. Color of the buildings inside, as out, is a warm tan, lighter on the plain surfaces. There is a spacious feelmg as one walks out of the chapel onto a great plaza that joins the chapel and the library. It is edged hv stoas or c lumns and a covered esplanade which enables one to walk from building to building protected from the sun and the rain. When the project is finished there will be over a mile and a half of this esplanade designed on diagonals through the orange grove. One outside corner of the E. T. Roux library suggests a dense forest the way the esplanade columns are grouped with light filtering through a beautifully patterned opening to the sky. In the reading room the student is surrounded by books and does not feel that the walls shut him out from the world. The stacks are light with sunshine pouring down from above b - means of light wells even into the basement. .A unique feature of the library- is that the reading room is round, with tables at difTerent levels follow- ing the contour. They serve both as study desks and shelves for refer- ence books. Stairs in these buildings have a ribbon-like quality, very thin and suspended in space with the only supports being vertical rails. The rise of the steps is very slight so that one moves easil} ' upstairs and down without much effort. There is no wasted space. A double columned walkway with openings to the sky that suggests the pattern of the flower beds below leads one to perhaps the most extraordinary buildings on the campus, the Administration Building, consisting of the Emile E. Watson and the Benjamin F ' ine units. The horizontal lines of these buildings makes them seem to belong to the earth where they stand. From the outside one could hardly believe the amount of space con- sumed. The various offices of the .Administration Building are so de- signed that they give spirit to those who work in them. Workers feel much more alive than in the old-time office that is cramped bv four walls. Tall, slim windows lending light and air extend from first to second floors. There is an accent on textures in this building. Especially with the brightly polished metals and these turned green for color accent on the edges of the broad overhanging ea es which are verdig ' is bands of copper detailed to drip so that no gutters are needed. The entire plan has charm and distinction. Beside the .Administration Building is the |. Edgar Wall Water- dome, one of the most attractive features of the plan. It is called a waterdome because the dome is formed b - a water spra in this er large round pool. The three seminar buildings have sk ' lights. The walls are made of colored glass blocks sculptured in effect. There are two offices and one large classroom in each. Those that come to see these buildings with closed minds, ma ■ not see a work of art, for these buildings have not lived for them in some experience. To quote from Dr. Spivey, This architecture struggles to bring us back to earth and make us appreciate our world.

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' if) . • ' • A ' ■ - ' ( iM!Mt l llW WW.» l WWJ W »W ' ' - ' l ' !J » ' i ' J i ' ' . ' -— ; I li m ii ' i tf ii ' i i i mmimtmmKmmttmumiiai KKri FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT fl DESIGNS A COLLEGE By DONNA M. STODDARD Director of Art Florida Southern College r REPRINTED FROM JUNE, 1949 IMERIC.VS MOST CELEBRATED ARCHITECT CREATES AN UNPARALLELED CAMPUS GROUPING iiTJ ' I ' ,RV building is out of the ground, into the light; a child -Cv of the sun. These words casually spoken to me by Frank Llovd Wright made an indelible impression upon my mind. Watching the buildings from da to day as they grow makes one understand that these buildings are organic structures, belonging to the very earth on which thev stand. Because of the intimacy between the various materials of the buildings, there is a unity of purpose created in the people who live, work or worship in them. Mr. Wright docs not distinguish be- tween a form that is useful and esthetic. If the design is useful, it is, at the same time, esthetic. Of the nineteen unit foundation designed by Mr. Wright for Florida Southern College, we now ha c completed the theme structure, consisting of the chapel, library, administration building, waterdome, and the three seminars. These buildings are boldly asymmetrical in la out, unified by connecting esplanades. One d ' es not have to be an artist to sec the variety that flourishes through the inherent rhythm of materials and workmanship. Body and mind are in tune with that rliMhm and the variety encourages the spirit. Buildings planned by Mr. Wright are not just another construction job, as can readily be understood by examining the photographs on these pages. Each small part of the wonderfully Integrated whole is a design of unquestionable merit. The whole scheme is given an outdoor garden character, suit- able for Florida. The buildings do not crowd each other and each has its own stretch of esplanade and intervening trees. Because nature has been definitely considered in the planning, Mr. Wright ' s buildings blend with the landscaping. Flowers and plants grow inside of the buildings as well as on the outside. The outdoors comes in and makes itself at home and likewise invites ou to do the same. Many additional structures will be raised in the next few years, among them, buildings devoted to Art, Science, Music, Home Eco- nomics and the Theater. The project is located in a sixty-three-acre orange grove and will occupy the western section of the campus. Buildings are no longer considered as mere walls and a roof, but rather as the space within. That is the re.ilitv of these buildings. The walls are screens, and the roof does not shut out the sun, the moon and the stars. It represents the things to which we must look for enrichment. These buildings are so interesting and alive you never ha e the feeling that you are alone. Mr. Wright has shown us here his theory that architecture is the scientific art of making structures express ideas. A work of art is only a work of art when it lives in some experience. Materials belong to all the world. The artist simply re-issues it and the article becomes new. Materials suggest designs. The terrain itself suggests movement and lines. Mr. Wright does not impose designs upon materials. ' I ' he Annie Pfelffer Chapel is a structure of character, showing Mr. Wright ' s independence of building design. The chapel is not a con- ventional religious form, and it strikes a new clarity, the chord between Florida character and beaut ' and the life of our young people. It has a tall tower that gives an open-to-the-sky feeling. It is filled with flowers that climb the trellises. A combination of the elements and the principles of nature make the chapel a human thing. When the excavation for this building was begun in 1939, Mr. Wright planned to use the ver - sand up-earthed to mould the blocks that were to go into the building. Dr. Ludd M. Spive} ' , President of Florida Southern College, conceived the idea of this unusual chapel in 1937. The com- pleted chapel was dedicated in 1941. When Mr. Wright s.aw the chapel nntmtiiiimi0ftm)f i i • % • %•♦• •♦

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