Paul Rudolph Foundation to host Library of Congress Symposium, Oct. 26
The Paul Rudolph Foundation and the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division will host an all-day symposium in honor of Paul Rudolph’s centennial on Oct. 26. The Library of Congress is home to Paul Rudolph's archive of more than 100,000 items, and a small selection of drawings and artifacts from his collection will be on display in the Library of Congress Jefferson Building until Nov. 5.
Rudolph would have celebrated his 100th birthday on Oct. 23, 2018; he died on Aug. 8, 1997. His large-scale perspective renderings are renowned by architects and students worldwide for their breathtaking scale and detail. The archival holdings of the Library of Congress include his hand-drawn renderings for a 1964 World's Fair pavilion—the Galaxon Pavilion, which was never built, but was recently exhibited in New York—as well as his visions for the Lower Manhattan Expressway. Some of these drawings are more than 21 feet long.
Robert A.M. Stern will deliver the symposium's keynote address. Stern is a former dean of the Yale University School of Architecture, where Rudolph served as chair from 1958 to 1965. Rudolph later designed the Yale Art and Architecture Building, which was renamed in his honor as Rudolph Hall in 2008.
The symposium will bring together many architects and historians, including the Library of Congress's curator of architecture, design & engineering in the Prints and Photographs Division, Mari Nakahara. In a Library of Congress blog post about the upcoming symposium, Nakahara recalls a memory of her impressions of Rudolph Hall: “When I visited there for the first time as an architectural student, I was very much impressed by Rudolph’s design for the building and its interior, which I thought encouraged dialogue between students and fostered their creativity,” Nakahara said.
The centennial symposium will afford an opportunity for further dialogue on Rudolph's creativity amongst those present. For those unable to attend, The Paul Rudolph Foundation will also hold a benefit fundraiser the evening before the symposium to enable digitization of more of the Library's archive in an effort to extend the reach of this important collection.
WHEN: Friday, Oct. 26, 8.30am—5.00pm
WHERE: James Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave SE, Washington, DC 20540
Symposium Schedule
8:30 am - Security Check-in & Registration
9:00 am - Welcome Remarks
9:15 am - C. Ford Peatross, founding director of the Library of Congress Center for Architecture, Design and Engineering
9:30 am - Timothy M. Rohan, associate professor and graduate program director at U. Mass Amherst's Department of the History of Art and Architecture
10:00 am - PRF Board Members Sean Khorsandi & Dan Webre
10:45 am - Coffee Break
11:00 am - Keynote Speaker Robert A.M. Stern, Former Dean of the Yale School of Architecture
12:00 pm - Lunch Break and screening of Concretopia
1:15 pm - Andy Bernheimer, Principal of Bernheimer Architecture
1:30 pm - Toshiko Mori, Founder of NY-based Toshiko Mori Architect and Vision Arc
1:45 pm - Steven Harris, Founder of Steven Harris Architects LLP
2:00 pm - Robert Bruegmann, Professor Emeritus of Art History, Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Illinois at Chicago
2:15 pm - Kurt Forster, Director of Doctoral Studies and Professor Emeritus at the Yale School of Architecture
3:00 pm - Birthday Cake Celebration in honor of Paul Rudolph
4:00 pm - Optional tour to Prints & Photographs Division
Please arrive promptly at 8:30 am for registration, as the Library of Congress requires an
airport-style security process. No large bags or suitcases. Please request ADA accommodations at least five business days in advance by contacting (202) 707-6362 or ada@loc.gov.
The Paul Rudolph Foundation was founded in 2002 in New York City with a mission of promoting Paul Rudolph’s legacy and to advocate for preservation of his works.
Concretopia is a short film by Will Lepczyk exploring Paul Rudolph's UMass Dartmouth campus.
This post has been updated.