Something about the Nature of Architecture: The History of the Robert B. Haas Family Arts Library
Critical Response
On November 9, 1963, the building was dedicated at a gala event attended by 2,300 guests. During the keynote address, British architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner advised students "not to emulate the building because it was too 'individualistic' " (Rohan, 24).
Paul Rudolph on the cover of Progressive Architecture, February 1964
Aside from some criticism, the overall response was favorable. News about the building appeared in every architecture journal and many featured the project as an example of innovation.
In a review for the New York Times published right after the building's dedication in November 1963, architecture critic Ada Louise Huxtable called the building a "Spectacular tour de force." She acknowledged the excitement and anticipation surrounding the project and predicted the long-term impact. The "Rudolph Style" and corrugated concrete would soon be imitated internationally:
"Rare has a building evoked as much advance interest as the new Art & Architecture Building at Yale dedicated yesterday... Now the pre-dedication rumors can be confirmed. This building by Paul Rudolph, who is head of Yale's School of Architecture, is indeed an exceptionally handsome and provocative structure, which will set trends nationally and internationally. It will surely be one of the most influential buildings of this decade" (Huxtable, "Winner at Yale").
Paul Rudolph, architect; Dr. Nikolaus Pevsner, recipient of prize; and L.V. Meeks, presenter at the dedication of the Yale Art & Architecture Building.
Vincent Scully, who was Rudolph's colleague at the Yale School of Architecture, wrote a thorough critique in the May 1964 issue of Architectural Review specifically calling attention to the library's end result:
"...the Art Library occupies the entire floor and has one of the most successful spaces in the building: well lighted, expansive where it needs to be, offering a multitude of vistas that continue outward toward the street and the courts, and upward through the building and toward the sky."
Scully was not entirely positive. He openly expressed his displeasure with the concrete walls that coat the building, inside and out: "the slotted and bashed surface is one of the most inhospitable, indeed physically dangerous, ever devised by man. Brushing against it can induce injuries roughly comparable, one supposes, to those suffered in keelhauling. The building rebels touch; it hurts you if you try" (Scully, "Art & Architecture Building," Architectural Review, May 1964).
Painters, Sculptors Find New Building Lacks Functionally, article about the Art and Architecture Building from the Yale Daily News, September 21, 1964
Art and Architecture Building, sculpture studios, 1963
Early on, art students expressed dissatisfaction with the building. In particular, the poor lighting and low ceilings in the sculpture studios made work difficult, with one student equating the space to "a dungeon, almost" ("Painters, Sculptors Find New Building Lacks Functionality"). Yale Art studios would move out of the A & A building completely by 2001.