The Council of Independent Colleges: Historic Campus Architecture Project

Master plan (1933 & later)

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Master plan (ca. 1933), Southwestern University

Master plan (2003), Southwestern University

Institution Name: Southwestern University
Original/Historic Place Name:
Location on Campus:
Date(s) of Construction:

1933	original master plan design Hage & Hage

Designer: Hage and Hage
Type of Place: Building group
Style: Romanesque revival (Glossary)
Significance: architecture, education, history, landscape
Narrative: see below
References: see below

Function:

ca. 1933-present (2006)

master plan (campus)

Narrative:
Hage & Hage's campus master plan of 1933 is the basis for the present day facilities master plan. This master plan truly focuses on Southwestern's role as a residential liberal arts college. As one studies all the available master plans, there are significant parallels in the evolution of the institution's mission and the facilities' master plans. While socio-economic issues of the '40's through the '70's prevented the full implementation of the plan, the '80's and '90's saw a revival and full implementation of the plan. Most buildings built after 1933 were still oriented along the Georgetown street system. The first building constructed along the well-planned tier system was the West Gym. In the forty years after the 1933 master plan many buildings were constructed without consideration of Southwestern's architectural roots. These buildings (Laura Kuyendall, The Commons, the West Gym) were all razed and replaced by new buildings with architecture complementary to the design of the Administration Building (the present day Roy and Lillie Cullen Building).

The newest master plan, a joint venture of Skidmore, Owens and Merrill (SOM) and Group Two Architecture (GTA), builds on the 1933 concept and adds an additional tier to the campus. The original campus was designed to be a pedestrian campus. A renewed focus on sustainability has expanded on the pedestrian concept in the most recent master plan.

References:

Collection of master plans. Southwestern University, Georgetown, TX.

Jones, Ralph Wood. Southwestern University 1840 - 1961. Austin, TX: Jenkins Publishing Co., 1973.

Myrick-Newman-Dahlberg and Partners. Campus Planning: Redesign, Redevelopment, Rethinking: Proceedings of a Professional Development Symposium. [Dallas, TX: Myrick-Newman-Dahlberg & Partners], 1983.

"Urban Design and Planning Citation: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Houston." Progressive Architecture 64 (January 1983): 126-28.