Arts and Architecture Building, NE - University of Oregon - Eugene, OR - American Guide Series on Waymarking.com

The three units of the ARTS AND ARCHITECTURE BUILDING, NE. grouped about a central court at the corner of the old campus facing Villard Hall, are of brick and stucco. The first unit was erected in 1901, others added in 1914 and 1922. Here are classrooms, studios, drafting rooms, a gallery for display of student work and loan exhibitors, and the Architecture and Allied Arts Library. Exhibits are held at intervals throughout the year.

• 1901 - Mechanical Hall. Architect: Edgar Lazarus. Part of this building, where engineering courses were taught also housed UO's heating plant. Sometimes refered to as Commerce, Sociology, or Engineering Building as it housed those programs before its use became dedicated to architecture.
• 1914 - Architecture Building. Architect: William C. Knighton. This building was constructed to the east of the 1901 Mechanical Hall and was designed to be similar in appearance to that building. It was larger and lacked Mechanical Hall's cupola. Knighton connected the two structures with a one-story addition.
• 1923 - Architecture Building Expansion and Renovation. Architect: Ellis F. Lawrence. Ellis Lawrence consulted with W. R. B. Willcox, the new head of the architecture program (from 1922), about the renovation and enhancement of the existing structures to house the growing School of Architecture and Allied Arts.
  • Changes included: Courtyard additions, including bay window and ambulatory; Addition of 2nd floor over north wing that connected the 1901 and 1914 structures. This floor provided library space and more drafting areas; Removal of cupola on the 1901 structure (Mechanical Hall) and application of stucco to the entire ensemble, to give a uniform, Mediterranean-style appearance.
  • Arts Wing. Architect: Ellis F. Lawrence. Construction ended in June 1923 on this wing (to the south) of the Architecture building which housed art studios and a gallery. The wing formed a courtyard with the existing structures. Decorative detailing, mostly by students, enriched the structure which was destroyed in 1955. As stated in the Ellis Lawrence Survey, "This is the only major UO campus building by Lawrence which no longer exists; decorative art works were destroyed except for fragments of south wall tile panels."
  • Pictures. In the late 1980s, students of Michael Shellenbarger created a model of the Art and Architecture Building. This model is in the lobby of Lawrence Hall.
• 1940/41 - Two wings were added to the north which extended the west facade and added studio space.
• 1957 - Addition. Architect: Annand, Boone, and Lei. This structure replaced the Arts Wing (south structures) of the Architecture and Allied Arts Building with a modernistic structure featuring metallic siding. The building was renamed Lawrence Hall in honor of the legendary dean and campus architect and planner. The building was dedicated in April 1958.
• 1971 - Addition. Architect: Campbell Yost Grube Hall. Like some parts of the contemporary Law Center (McKenzie Hall), the towering 1970s addition to Lawrence Hall featured the exposed concrete formwork of the 'Brutalist' style. The addition provided well-lit studio space and reinforced connections with other buildings that now make up the Lawrence Hall amalgamation: the 1924 Power Plant, the Lazarus (1901) and Knighton (1914) designs, the Ellis Lawrence 1920s renovations, and the 1950s south addition by Annand, Kennedy, and Lei. In th 1990s, the firm Yost, Grube, Hall would design the third Law Center on campus.
• 1991 - Addition. Architect: BOORA. The 1991 addition to Lawrence Hall, which features the impressive Architecture & Allied Arts Library and Visual Resources Collection, substantially changed the building's south façade. The library's reading room is named for Marion Dean Ross, architectural historian and first chair of the Art History department, who died in 1991 and left a large bequest to acquire architectural books. ~source