Princeton University. Property of the Trustees of Princeton University.
...and Lester Smith '30 for the dormitory/dining hall complex of New Quad.
As a result, these structures were compromised from the start. An amalgam of modern principles of design mixed with historical references to the gothic campus, such as the use of limestone trim around windows, these buildings never carved out an identity of their own. Neither modern nor traditional, they failed in trying too hard to bridge the gap between the two.
Undergraduates and alumni alike protested a perceived decline in aesthetic standards, with some even creating the "Poor Princeton Society" in 1961. (Robert Venturi '47, GS'50, the noted architect, was a member of this group.) "Gothic was gone, but its replacement, a weak set of reminiscent compromises, was worse, however much it tried to be all things to all men," the Society declared. This group also decried Princeton's failure to "develop strong convictions for its new buildings."
...and Lester Smith '30 for the dormitory/dining hall complex of New Quad.
As a result, these structures were compromised from the start. An amalgam of modern principles of design mixed with historical references to the gothic campus, such as the use of limestone trim around windows, these buildings never carved out an identity of their own. Neither modern nor traditional, they failed in trying too hard to bridge the gap between the two.
Undergraduates and alumni alike protested a perceived decline in aesthetic standards, with some even creating the "Poor Princeton Society" in 1961. (Robert Venturi '47, GS'50, the noted architect, was a member of this group.) "Gothic was gone, but its replacement, a weak set of reminiscent compromises, was worse, however much it tried to be all things to all men," the Society declared. This group also decried Princeton's failure to "develop strong convictions for its new buildings."