Word: saarinen
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...second challenge was that of economy. The university was determined to build colleges that were adequate in facilities and imposing architecturally, but stayed well within a limited construction budget. "We have to find an architecture," Saarinen said "which would prevent these college from looking like poor cousins compared to the existing colleges with at the luxuries that were possible in that other period when building costs were one-third what they are today and the budget allotment per student exactly what it is today...
...Saarinen design not only managed to equal the luxury of the older colleges but certainly surpassed then in appearance. And the final cost of Stiles and Morse will amount to three million dollars less than the expense of building Leverett Towers and Quincy House, though they will accommodate fifty-four students more...
...SAARINEN'S colleges, as well as fitting into Yale's environment, if dormitory needs, and its construction budget, are excellent works of architectural design. The greatest single innovation of the colleges, and one which adds much to its physical beauty, is the technique used in constructing the exterior walls. Both the Yale administration and the architect were agree that the colleges should have the look of permanency which most of the university's other buildings possessed. The color and texture of the walls of the earlier colleges strongly resembled that of the cotswolds in England, a warm greyish, stable effect...
Masonry construction on so large scale as would be required for and Morse was economically impossible, however, and industrial wall construction remained the only feasible alternative. Saarinen developed an entirely new and perhaps revolution and technological method which would give the colleges their stone walls and relieve the budget of some pressure as well...
...actual details of the method took over two months to develop but the effect was generally as Saarinen had originally conceived it. Molds similar to that used for the construction of walls was erected and stone into it. Cement mortar was pumped into the mold, between pieces of stone, through attached After the cement had set, the were withdrawn and the walls were blasted to remove much of the mortar. The stone walls which were thus created by this process are significantly cheaper than masonry production but are quite handsome nonetheless...