Architect and pioneering teacher Charles lMoore (1925-1993), who presided over the School of Architecture in the turbulent years between 1965 and 1970, will be the subject of an exhibition and symposium at the school.
Titled "Architecture or Revolution: Charles Moore and Architecture at Yale in the 1960s," the exhibit will examine how the contentious spirit of the times were reflected in the teaching of architecture at Yale and how, under the stewardship of Moore, Yale itself became a crucible of innovative experimentation and a center of social, political and cultural debate.
"Moore's career as an architect and as a teacher are practically interchangeable," says Robert A.M. Stern, dean of the School of Architecture. "A brilliant, enigmatic figure, he galvanized a generation of young architects around him, and his ideas, redefining the territory of architectural practice and teaching, contributed significantly to the birth of post-modernism. He was also a pioneer in opening up the academy to the challenges of the social issues of the day, founding the Yale [First-Year] Building Project in 1967, in which students design and build urgently needed community buildings and affordable housing."
Among Moore's many innovations, Stern says, were the incorporation of materials such as mylar, plastic and neon signage into his buildings and his dramatic employment of supergraphics. An early proponent of using electronics in design, Moore sponsored the first seminar on computers in architecture, which was held at Yale in 1968.
The exhibition will be divided by theme into three parts. The first, "Toward Making Place: California 1960-1965," will shed light on some of Moore's projects in the years immediately before he came to Yale. These include six of the architect's early residential projects, including the Sea Ranch Condominium and Athletic Club. Particular attention will be paid to Moore's use of space and the incorporation of found objects and icons of popular culture into his designs.
The second section of the exhibition, "Yale: 1965-1970," will focus on changes initiated at Yale during Moore's tenure. During this time, the Department of Architecture began conferring the master's degree as its primary professional degree, and accordingly, Moore's status changed from department chair to dean. Posters, publications and photographs will be among the memorabilia on display in this portion of the exhibition.
This segment of the exhibition will also examine the impact on the School of Architecture of highly charged political events -- from Vietnam War protests to the Black Panther trials -- and will explore the many programs initiated during the period that reflect the school's growing involvement with urban issues and social concerns.
The third part of the exhibition features four buildings designed by Moore's office while he was at Yale: the Faculty Club at the University of California, Santa Barbara; Kresge College, University of California, Santa Cruz; the Church Street South housing complex in New Haven; and his own New Haven residence.
The curator of the Moore exhibition, Eve Blau, teaches architectural history in the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. She was the curator for the recent exhibition "Shaping the Great City: Modern Architecture in Central Europe, 1890-1937" at the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal. Three videos were specially produced for the exhibition by Carol Scully, Elihu Rubin and Elena Oxman.
"Architecture or Revolution: Charles Moore and Architecture at Yale in the 1960s" will be on display Oct. 29-Dec. 21 in the gallery of the School of Architecture, 180 York St. Gallery hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday.
A symposium will be offered in conjunction with the exhibition Friday and Saturday, Nov. 2 and 3, at the School of Architecture.
The program will open on Friday at 6:30 p.m. with an address by New York University Professor Jean-Louis Cohen titled "The '68 Effect: Transatlantic Schism to Intellectual Reconstruction." Saturday's sessions will include talks by noted architects, art historians, and architectural critics and theorists, including Patricia Morton, Deborah Fausch, William Mitchell and Michael Sorkin, among others. The symposium will wrap up with remarks from Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown, leading architects and educators who figured prominently at Yale in the 1960s and whose 1968 Las Vegas studio transformed the direction of architecture and architecture education.
The retrospective exhibition and symposium are made possible by the support of Centerbrook Architects and Planners, the Connecticut Architecture Foundation, the Fox Steel Company and the Vlock Family, the George Gund Foundation, Suzanne Slesin and Michael Steinberg, and the Roy and Niuta Titus Foundation.
For information, call (203) 432-2288, or visit the school's website at www.architecture.yale.edu.
-- By Dorie Baker
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