Becton Engineering and Applied Science Center, Yale University

The Becton and Applied Science Centre (1970) designed by Marcel Breuer is one of Breuer later buildings which displays Breuer's use of pre-cast concrete panels and logical planning. The long arcade from street level provides views into the library and covered access to the building.

The building contains offices, laboratories, a library, and an auditorium.

Yale University Art Gallery

The Yale University Art Gallery (1953) was Louis Kahn's first major commission and is considered his first masterpiece. The Gallery was designed whilst Kahn was a visiting critic at the Yale School of Architecture.

The building is constructed of brick, concrete, glass and steel and was a significant departure from the dominant neo-gothic style of the Yale University campus. From the street the building appears as a monolithic windowless brick facade. The entrance and glazed facade opposite the Art and Architecture building by Paul Rudolph are beautifully proportioned and detailed.

The interior of the building is characterised by a precast concrete ceiling system which houses the gallery lighting and ventilation. The ceiling was an innovative structural and engineering system of hollow concrete tetrahedrons that combine a number of functions and give the interiors a rich and moody quality.

Art and Architecture Building

Paul Rudolph's masterpiece, the Art and Architecture Building at Yale University(1963), is a spatialy complex building which includes 37 level changes and numerous spatial devices to allow views and light through the building into the various studio and gallery spaces. The exterior of the building is constructed of bush hammered concrete which exposes the aggregate and controls staining and discoloration. The interior building is predominantly concrete in a variety of finishes and textures with orange highlights used for carpets and soft furnishings.

The planning of the building and arrangement of spaces was intended 'to excite and challenge the occupants.' Level and ceiling changes rather than walls are used to define different functional areas and citculation and create dramatic lighting effects.

At an urban scale the building was intended to respond to the corner site and views from the surrounding streets whilst at the same time establishing a dialogue with the Louis Kahn Art Gallery opposite and the Gothic Architecture of the Yale University Campus.

Yale Center for British Art

The Yale Center for British Art, 1969-1974, was the last building of Louis Kahn and was completed after Kahn's death. The facade is constructed of matte steel and glass with visible timber blinds behind. The beautifully detailed interior finishes are travertine marble, white oak, and Belgian linen.

The plan is based on a 20-foot-square grid, which creates a linear series of rectangular gallery spaces arranged around two inner courts which, like the entire top floor, are naturally lit from above through a coffered skylight system. One court forming the entrance foyer and one a main three storey high gallery space with large paintings. The interior of the building is a calm, light-filled space. The exposed concrete structure with oak paneled inserts creates a rich materiality and reinforces the human scale of the gallery.

Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library

The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library was designed by Gordon Bunshaft of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill and completed in 1963. The building is located on the grounds of Yale University, New Haven.

The facade is constructed of white, grey-veined Vermont marble panes which are one and one-quarter inches thick set into a frame of Vermont Woodbury granite. The thin sheets of marble filter the light allowing rare materials to be displayed without being damaged. The stone, rich materiality and rectilinear geometry gives the building a strong presence amongst the Gothic buildings of Yale University. The warm golden light and towering space around the central glass 'cabinet' of rare books is surprisingly different from the cool pale exterior.