University of California Berkeley - Blue and Gold Yearbook (Berkeley, CA)

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Belgium, and the Final in San Francisco. One hundred and four sets of plans were submitted at the Antwerp Competition, by architects from every part of the globe, and from these plans eleven sets, by a process of successive elimination, were unani- mously selected by the Jury as especially meritorious, and entitling their authors to enter the Final Competition. These architects were liberally compensated, one-half the amounts, however, being retained until the submission of the final plans. The Competition was prepared and cared for by the officials of Antwerp, who used every diligence to make it a success, and who received and entertained Mrs. Hearst and the Jurors with genuine magnificence. Nine of the architects successful at Antwerp were able to avail themselves of the opportunity of visiting the University site at the invitation of Mrs. Hearst. Monsieur E. Benard and Herr Rudolph Dick alone presented plans at the Final Competition with- out first having inspected the grounds. This fact is perhaps an especial mark of the superiority of the genius of the first of these gentlemen, Monsieur Benard, to whom the first prize was awarded. The public exhibition of the plans in the Ferry Building will never be forgotten by the sixty thousand persons who viewed this most extraordinary sight, whose like had never been seen before in any land. The grand scale upon which the plans were produced, as well as the accuracy and finish of their execution, and the manner of their display, astounded the laymen and were a source of wonder and inspiration to the student of architecture. The general excellence of all the plans submitted is especially noted in the official report of the Jury. The noted architects who acted as Jurors were received and welcomed by their colleague, Regent Reinstein, and their visit to Berkeley on the same day will long be remembered by all those privileged to witness the introduction to our beloved Uni- versity of the men who were indirectly to determine her future form. Prior and sub- sequent to the judgment of the plans, they were the favored guests of Mrs. Hearst. Full liberty was allowed the competitors in solving the problem in hand, inasmuch as no limitations of time, space or cost were imposed. The problem was thus ideal- ized in order to give full sway to the best possible solution that each architect could suggest, and to give no competitor any undue advantage. A definite stipulation of years, acres and dollars would convey different conceptions to the minds of different men, and so give an unfair advantage to the one whose conception most nearly corre- sponded to that of him who made the rule. Even were it desired to prescribe the above limits, they would be most difficult to ascertain. The reduction of the problem to earthly dimensions and human possibilities was to come in turn. As a result the eleven schemes presented seem and really are idealized cities of learning of stu- pendous proportions. Accordingly, it has been said that a substantial annuity would be consumed to keep the Gymnasium, proposed by Monsieur Benard, clean and in re- pair, and furthermore, that such a building will never be erected. Exactly so! The Phoebe A. Hearst Architectural Competition enlisted the services of the architect best fitted to solve this great problem for this great State. It found the man, not the plan. The adoption of the plan as revised by the author is left to the Regents. And who is the man who is to mold to such a great extent the future of the University? Monsieur E. Benard is a Frenchman, and studied at the Ecole des Beaux 19

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