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

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Arts, where he won the highest distinction, that of the Grand Prix de Rome as early as 1867. Since that time he has had thirty years of great and successful work in various fields in France. He is a member of the Paris Jury of Public Works and is the architect of some of the finest buildings throughout France. Happily for us, he is not restricted in his work by affiliation with any particular movement, school, or architectural enterprise. Architect Benard spent the last two months of last year in our midst, studying the special features of the problem, our needs which were furnished mainly by con- sultation with the various heads of departments and our possibilities. Though he had never seen the site before, he expressed himself as having been very well informed by means of photographs, sketches and maps, of its general outline, and features, though he had not quite grasped the size and prominence of the eastern hills, and especially of those on the eastern edge of the University tract. Monsieur Benard left early in January for Paris, where he expects to have three provisional plans and per- spectives prepared for the inspection of the Board of Regents by the end of April. Turning for a glance at the plan placed first by the Awarding Jury we find that it is admirably adapted to the site. Unlike the plans presented by the Americans, Benard ' s scheme is composed of three main groups of buildings on three separate axes, instead of a single general group on a single main axis. With the exception of the Natural History Department, the grouping of buildings about the two main axes in Benard ' s scheme is easily justifiable on logical grounds. The most frequented depart- ment, that of the Humanities, is given the most prominent location in the main group, and the Athletic Department is placed in antithesis to it on lower ground. In the revised plan, now being prepared in Paris by Monsieur Benard, the Natural History Group will occupy the position ascribed in the original plan to the Fine Arts Buildings; and Fine Arts Square will become, presumably. Natural History Square. The Agri- cultural Building as now proposed, being outside the University tract, is to be placed in co-ordination with the Natural History Buildings and those of Mineralogy and Min- ing in a group about the Museum. The Library will form a center for the History and Literature Buildings, corresponding to the position of the Museum in the group men- tioned above. Physics will be placed nearer Chemistry; Fine Arts Building will be much reduced in size and will also contain the Department of Music; there will be but one Auditorium. The belt of trees east of the present Chemistry and Engineering Buildings are considered, by Monsieur Benard, very essential to the scheme as he will present it, to serve as a dark background or setting for the Instruction Buildingr. The space immediately to the rear of these trees is to be reserved for dormitories. The architect will also furnish designs for a Students ' Club House to be situated near the Athletic Field and to contain Reading, Billiard and Dining-rooms. Monsieur Benard ' s block system of grouping makes it possible thus to interchange or add any buildings which may be so related, functionally, as to make an alteration desirable. This characteristic makes it pre-eminently the scheme best adapted to the needs of our University. Other advantages of the scheme are the a?sthetic relations and antitheses of the different buildings in the groups; the preservation of the natural woods and brooks, the comparatively small amount of grading that is necessary; the proportions which 21

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