As technology advances, will state continue to be an architectural hub?
Why does creativity seem to spontaneously happen in some places and not as much in others? Connecticut is a tiny state, but it has an outsized presence in the world of architecture.
“Our state boasts some of the oldest and most distinctive architecture in New England, from colonial churches and modernist houses to refurbished 19th-century factories,” Chris Wigren, the deputy director of Preservation Connecticut, said in his book “Connecticut Architecture.”
Architecture, like fashion or food, has styles. Unlike California, modern architecture is a rare reality in most Connecticut towns, but modernist homes can be found. New Canaan had an amazing generation of modernist architects create a host of buildings which intentionally experimented with what any building could be, during a period when most of Connecticut’s homes were designed to follow traditional architectural styles.
Not only was the innovation of these New Canaan homes exhilarating, but the quality of their design has stood the test of time. New Canaan, had more than 70 extraordinary homes designed by those in the high modernism movement that was taking over the fine arts world — almost unprecedented in the rest of America. Five architects were at the heart of this town-sized explosion and William Earls, architect and author, wrote about them in “The Harvard Five in New Canaan.”
Earls credits the presence of modernist architecture in New Canaan with making Connecticut’s architectural scene so distinct. “Connecticut has a special place in modern architectural history via Harvard University. A number of graduates from this program came to be known as The Harvard Five in New Canaan. And they probably settled in New Canaan...due to its proximity to New York City.” Their work in mid-20th century architecture was intentionally cutting-edge art pieces, many now recognized with both writings and governmental recognition of their visionary importance.
That legacy is not limited to New Canaan. Yale University has one of the finest architecture schools in the world. Yale brought a world class faculty to teach or talk, and often practice architecture. Louis Kahn built the Yale Center for British Art, Eero Saarinen created Yale’s Ingalls Rink, Paul Rudolph created Yale’s School of Art and Architecture building and scores of others created projects in Connecticut since World War II. A second wave of great architects have created buildings of note in the last 30 years, including Cesar Pelli who created the addition to the Greenwich Public Library, Kevin Roche who built the Knights of Columbus Tower in New Haven, Herb Newman who masterminded New Haven’s Ninth Square Development and Norman Foster who designed the Yale School of Management building. But Yale has also recently executed nonmodernist buildings that are important pieces of architecture.
Robert A.M. Stern intentionally channeled Gothic Revival buildings that were built at Yale over 80 years ago to design Murray and Franklin Colleges. Yale also invested 30 years and hundreds
of millions of dollars to execute amazing renovations of significant buildings, like the Sterling and Beinecke libraries, and all of their residential colleges including Morse and Stiles by Keiran Timberlake that have reflected the value of their buildings in Yale’s priorities.
Patronage is needed to build anything, but in Connecticut why has so much notable, historic building happened? The proximity to New York City and Boston and the presence of Yale has meant the state benefits from amazing architects. Under the insight of gifted designers, the unmet needs of our culture can result in buildings that become a natural expression of change and innovation, beyond simply making space.
On June 21, the nonprofit Docomoco (Documentation and Conservation of Buildings, Sites and Neighborhoods of the Modern Movement) held a National Symposium in New Haven to discuss the city’s architecture. Docomoco president, architect Robert Meckfessel described the symposium as “an extraordinary chance to experience modernism of the highest order and quality, by a wide variety of practitioners.” The same unusual opportunity that found expression of architecture in New Canaan 50 years ago is being realized in New Haven. When historic architectural innovation is combined with a full commitment to that architecture’s preservation, even renovation, a small city can have incredible architectural variety.
Why has Connecticut been graced with so much interesting architecture? Its variety of old and new is impressive, but it is
the quality of the modernist buildings in our small state that makes the variety so powerful.
In Hartford, independent of Yale, Tai Soo Kim, now TKSP Studio, has been creating brilliant architecture worldwide for over 30 years. In the last generation architecture firms have found a place in Connecticut as well. Lisa Gray and Alan Organschi, both tied to Yale, have become world leaders in architectural thought. Barry Svigals, also of Yale, created New Haven’s Ronald McDonald House and the new Newtown Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Our culture is still in the first wave of adaptation to the technological explosion of the 21st century, ending the analog basis of how our world has been organized. Even though computerization and the internet has changed the way architects do their work and connect with the rest of us, the coming Artificial Intelligence involvement in our lives will extend to architecture in a way that may make the New Canaan phenomenon less likely to happen. The “buzz” and personal inspiration that was within a town like New Canaan may be replaced by online communities of affinity, regardless of geographic location.
As building design becomes available as an online service, rather than being created in a personalized relationship with an architect, the detached basis for designing a building may come to mimic how people now use the internet to find homes and book vacations. I think architecture will follow suit.