Cornell Central Campus
Central Campus is the primary academic and administrative section of Cornell University's main campus in Ithaca, New York. It is bounded by Libe Slope to its west, Fall Creek to its north, and Cascadilla Creek to its south.
History
donated his farm for the site of the Cornell University as a part of the package to bring New York's land grant college to Ithaca. With the exception of Cascadilla Hall, no buildings were on the site so the campus evolved based on the hilly terrain and the conflicting visions of its designers, starting with Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White.Over the years, the Buildings and Properties Committee of Cornell's Board of Trustees has maintained the stewardship of campus planning supported by a Vice President for Planning, Planning Office, and in recent years, a university architect. Periodically, outside architects and consultants, beginning with Frederick Law Olmsted, have been commissioned to develop master plans. Because the entire campus is subject to a special class of zoning, land use decisions are largely made internally rather than by the Ithaca zoning process. However, construction or renovation of statutory college buildings are subject to additional planning steps involving the New York State University Construction Fund Office.
Cornell has historically been reluctant to demolish its buildings, but has repeatedly renovated and found new uses for old structures. Morrill Hall is a National Historic Landmark. In 1971, Ithaca adopted a pioneering landmark and historic preservation ordinance, with the Arts Quadrangle and a number of individual buildings being designated landmarks or historic districts.
Registered historic places on the central campus include: Andrew Dickson White House, Bailey Hall, Caldwell Hall, old Comstock Hall, Deke House, East Roberts Hall, Fernow Hall, Rice Hall, Roberts Hall and Stone Hall. The two Norwegian spruce trees in front of the Deke House planted by Theodore Roosevelt are on the National Register of Historically Significant Trees. The campus includes more recent, 20th-century buildings that have earned architectural acclaim, especially the I. M. Pei-designed Johnson Art Museum and James Stirling-designed Schwartz Performing Arts Center.
In 2006–2007, Cornell embarked on another in its series of master plans, retaining Urban Strategies Inc. of Toronto as a consultant.
Arts Quadrangle
The Arts Quad reflects Cornell and White's decision to use a quadrangle model for organizing academic buildings around formal open spaces. The quadrangle started with the "stone row" along the ridge of Libe Slope—Morrill and White Halls, and McGraw. Both McGraw and West Sibley Halls were designed by Syracuse architect Archimedes Russell. There were tensions between Cornell's preference for practical designs while White favored a more classical design. Hence although the Stone Row was built from native gray siltstone, later buildings including Lincoln Hall, Sage Residential College and Sage Chapel were built from red brick. Originally, the Arts Quadrangle was proposed to be a square extending to the east to the site of Baker Laboratory and Rockefeller Hall. The subsequent construction of Lincoln Hall and Goldwin Smith Hall, however, ended up defining it as a rectangle, with its long dimension oriented north–south.By 1871, Cornell had established one of the United States' early architecture schools, and many campus buildings built in the last quarter of the Nineteenth Century were designed by the architecture school's professors and students. Hence, Cornell's first architecture professor, Charles Babcock, received many important commissions. Franklin and Lincoln Halls reflect Babcock's interpretation of the Romanesque Revival style. William H. Miller, who studied architecture under Cornell President Andrew D. White, also employed the Romanesque Revival style in the design of Uris Library, which has grown to iconically represent Cornell. Uris Library was expanded from its original cross shape twice—first to expand the library stacks in 1937 and to add underground reading rooms overlooking Libe Slope in 1982. Miller's Stimson Hall, and the Sibley Dome, by Arthur N. Gibb, reflect Neoclassical themes. Cornell shifted to outside architects, the nationally prominent firm of Carrère and Hastings, to design Goldwin Smith Hall and the adjacent Sheldon Memorial Exedra and Sundial, also in a Neoclassical style. Goldwin Smith Hall began as a modest building with an east–west orientation, but the 1904 expansion to its south converted it into the focal point of the east side of the Quad.
Klarman Hall, a new humanities building built in the space between the back of Goldwin Smith Hall and East Avenue, was completed in 2016. The new building is connected to Goldwin Smith Hall with a 7,700 square foot glass covered atrium and creates 33,250 square feet of assignable space for classrooms and offices.
Image:Cornell Arts Quad 1919.jpg|right|thumb|Boardman Hall was demolished in 1959.
Next to Stimson Hall was Miller-designed Boardman Hall, constructed to house the Law School in 1892, anchored the south end of the Quad until it was demolished in 1959.
At the center of the Arts Quad are statues of Cornell and White facing each other from the western and eastern edges of the quad. In 1959, Boardman Hall was demolished and replaced with the John M. Olin Graduate Library, designed by Warner, Burns, Toan & Lunde. The Carl Kroch Library, which opened on August 24, 1992, is underground between Stimson and Goldwin Smith Halls and is accessible through Olin Library. A new wing was added to the rear of Lincoln Hall in 2000. It incorporates new space for the Sidney Cox Library of Music and Dance, a large rehearsal facility, a gamelan room, and expanded studio and practice room space.
To the west of Tjaden Hall is the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, built in 1973 and designed by I.M. Pei. The original design included an underground gallery north of the main structure. Early designs extended this space under University Avenue and included windows overlooking Fall Creek gorge. This gallery was not built due to funding. However, in response to a dramatic increase in the museum's collection, an altered version of that addition, totaling of above and below ground space was built to the north of the existing building. It was designed by the original building's architects at Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, including the original architect-in-charge, Cornell alumnus John L. Sullivan, III and opened in October 2011. Previously, Morse Hall stood next to Franklin/Tjaden Hall, but it was destroyed by a fire in 1916.
Minor support buildings include Rand Hall designed by Gibb and Waltz and the Foundry.
Milstein Hall, a new facility designed by Rem Koolhaas was built on the parking lot behind Sibley Hall and opened in 2011. It connects to Sibley and Rand Hall and provides 25,000 square feet of studio space for the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning and contains a 250-seat auditorium. The building is cantilevered over University Avenue. During 2007–2010, while Milstein Hall was pending, second year architecture students used rented studio space on Esty Street.
The landscaping of the Arts Quad is mostly informal and was historically dominated by towering elm trees. After Dutch elm disease swept the campus, a new row of Zelcova trees was planted in the 1970s along the sidewalk on the eastern edge of the quad. These trees were selected for their vase shape, but grow much slower than the elms which they replaced. The sidewalk on the northern edge is also significant because I.M. Pei aligned window slots in the Art Museum on the sidewalk's axis to preserve a view of West Hill through the museum.
Engineering Quadrangle
The Engineering Quad was designed in the 1940s and 1950s on a site at the south end of the central campus previously occupied by the Old Armory and faculty housing, using a master plan developed by the Perkins and Will firm. It has undergone major changes in recent years, particularly with the completion of Duffield Hall. Prior to its construction, Engineering programs were housed in Lincoln Hall, Sibley Hall, Morse Hall and Franklin Hall at the north end of the Arts Quad. In 2004, landscaping renovation with a design inspired by Cascadilla Gorge was completed and its landmark Pew Sundial was restored to its rightful place on the quad. Also, modern and open collaborative working spaces were introduced with the construction of a large atrium connecting Duffield, which houses research and teaching facilities for nanoscale science and engineering, with Phillips and Upson Halls. Connected to Upson Hall, away from the quad, are Grumman Hall, which was built to house a Graduate School of Aerospace Engineering, and Frank H.T. Rhodes Hall designed by Gwathmey & Siegel, which currently houses the Cornell Theory Center.On the southern end of the Quad, next to Upson and near Cascadilla Creek, are Kimball, Thurston and Bard Halls, all part of a single brick and concrete structure. Thurston is the home to the Theoretical and Applied Mathematics department, and Bard Hall the home of the Material Sciences department. Between Upson and Kimball stands Ward Hall, the soon to be closed down and former building for nuclear sciences. Next to Bard, and across the street from the Cornell Law School, stand Snee Hall, which houses the Geology Department, and Hollister Hall, which houses Civil Engineering. Carpenter Hall, containing the Engineering Library, stands next to Hollister on the northwestern corner. The edge of northern face of the quad, mostly open space, is lined with trees along Campus Road. Across Campus Road is Franklin W. Olin Jr. Hall, home of the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.