Princeton Architectural Press Chronicles Vassar College Campus

– Vassar is first liberal arts college spotlighted in distinguished book series

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (October 8, 2004) — From its very beginning as the first women's college, Vassar College embarked on an ambitious architectural enterprise. When Vassar opened in 1865, the college's central academic and residential facility, the new Main Building, designed by James Renwick, Jr., was the nation's largest building. In the succeeding years, a thoughtful integration of landscape and structural design has steadily transformed the former Dutchess County Racetrack grounds into one of the most revered academic campuses, home to the work of such renowned architects as Francis R. Allen, Eero Saarinen, Marcel Breuer, and Cesar Pelli.

With the publication of Vassar College: The Campus Guidebook, the Princeton Architectural Press has further confirmed the prominence of the college's architecture — Vassar is the first liberal arts college to be spotlighted in the Press' distinguished series of books on the architecture of U.S. academic institutions. Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Stanford universities, as well as the United States Military Academy at West Point, are among the handful of select schools that the series has featured to date.

"What could have been more symbolic than to start a college for women and build the largest building in America to house that program," said co-author Karen Van Lengen, dean of the School of Architecture at the University of Virginia, and a Vassar graduate. [NOTE: co-author Lisa Reilly chairs the department of architectural history at the University of Virginia, and is also a Vassar alumna. Further biographical notes below.]

Significantly, Vassar College has never relied upon the Second Empire design of its bold Main Building, nor any other predominant architectural style. Unlike many other colleges, "The architecture of Vassar is brilliantly eclectic, a true omnium-gatherum of advanced and fashionable architectural styles from the college's founding to the present day," notes Vassar president Frances Daly Fergusson, an architectural historian, in her foreword to the book. "Vassar, in the college's determination to be always of its time, gave much more stylistic freedom to its architects, asking only that they produce their best."

Green spaces, continues Fergusson, are as central to Vassar's architectural identity. "With rare exceptions, Vassar has known where not to build buildings, protecting the open spaces, the verdant views, the bordered quadrangles and circles, the special orbit of each structure and its place within the whole," she writes.

From the first plantings laid out by founder Matthew Vassar in 1865, through the continued work of college horticulturists such as Henry Downer, Sven Sward, and Jeffrey Horst, the 1,000-acre college campus has grown into a designated arboretum, and is home to over 200 species of trees. A number of vivid gardens also distinguish the grounds, including the beloved Shakespeare Garden; in 1916, to mark the tercentenary of William Shakespeare's death, classes of English and botany students jointly designed and built the multi-tiered garden, choosing plants prominent in his writings and using seeds from his native Stratford-upon-Avon, England.

Architectural history, and a walking tour companion

Vassar College: The Campus Guidebook provides two opening essays that interweave the educational and architectural histories of the college: the overview "Introduction to Vassar College' by Lisa Reilly and Karen Van Lengen's "From Racetrack to Academic Park: The Legacy of the Landscape."

The heart of the book then maps out and introduces a 4-part walking tour of the campus. For each of the four parts, Van Lengen and Reilly profile the most prominent buildings and landscape features, with accompanying photography by Will Faller.

About the authors and photographer

Karen Van Lengen (Vassar class of 1973) was appointed Dean of the School of Architecture at the University of Virginia in 1999, and holds the Edward E. Elson Chair in Architecture. Van Lengen's work has been widely published and exhibited, and she also practices architecture with her own firm. She has been a design consultant for the United States Supreme Court, and her honors include the prestigious America Memorial Library Competition in Berlin, Germany. Van Lengen came to the University of Virginia from the Parsons School of Design in New York, where she was chair of architecture. Prior to forming her own firm in 1987, she was an Associate of I.M. Pei and Partners.

Lisa Reilly (Vassar class of 1978) is chair and associate professor in the department of architectural history at the University of Virginia, and held the NEH/Horace Goldsmith Distinguished Teaching Chair of Art and Architectural History from 1999-2002. Reilly's chief research is the history of Norman architecture in England, France, and Italy, and the interrelationships of the varied cultures in the regions under Norman control. She has published a monograph of Peterborough Cathedral (Oxford University Press), with a book due out on Norman visual culture throughout the Romanesque world. Her interests also include medievalism and the understanding of the Middle Ages by later eras, and she serves on the board of the International Center for Medieval Art.

Will Faller has been photographing architecture, people, and places since the 1960s in the United States, Asia, Africa, and Europe. Faller has been widely published, including work for Architectural Record, Life, Money, Fortune, Interior Design, and Newsweek. His photographs are also exhibited in the permanent collections of the Museum of Fine Art, Houston, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Faller currently works from his studio in New York's Hudson Valley.

Book Basics

• Vassar College: The Campus Guidebook (Princeton Architectural Press, 2004)
• Pages: 166
• $24.95
• Available through a variety of outlets, including the Vassar College bookstore (http://vassar.bkstore.com/, 845-437-5857).

For more information and photo requests, contact Jeff Kosmacher, Director of Media Relations, at (845) 437-7404 or through the contact form. Vassar College is a highly selective, coeducational, independent, residential, liberal arts college founded in 1861.

Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations or information on accessibility should contact Campus Activities Office at (845) 437-5370. Without sufficient notice, appropriate space and/or assistance may not be available.

Vassar College is a highly selective, coeducational, independent, residential liberal arts college founded in 1861.

This article was posted on Friday, October 8th, 2004.