Located in the heart of Oregon State University at the NW corner of SW 15th Street and SW Jefferson Way is a historical marker that highlights the rich history of the campus. On the south side of the marker is the map of the campus and in which the National Historic District is comprised of inside the campus as a whole. On the north side of the marker are pictures and verbiage related to the development of the campus over the years. It also mentions the Olmsted Brothers Firm and their influence in the layout of OSU. The National Register of Historic Places Registration Form contains an excellent summary
of the Olmsted Brothers firm and their influence in 1909 towards laying out the Oregon State campus. Parts of it read:
Olmsted Campus Plan, 1909-1925
Between 1909 and 1925, campus development followed the Olmsted Brothers' Plan. Olmsted had provided President William Jasper Kerr in 1909, a type-written sixty page report which described in detail the future development of university's campus. While the Olmsted firm did not provide any plans or drawings to accompany the report, a plan was drafted a year later in 1910 by landscape architecture professor Arthur Lee Peck. The drawing showed the creation of quadrangles and grouping of buildings. One important aspect of the plan was to develop architectural unity for the campus, which was primarily implemented by architect, John V.
Bennes. Buildings constructed during this period include Merryfield Hall (1909), Strand Agricultural Hall (1909/1911/1913), the Indoor Target Range (1910), Batcheller Hall (1913), Gilkey Hall (1913), Milam Hall (1914), Gilmore Hall (1914), Kidder Hall (1917), Moreland Hall (1917), Hovland Hall (1919), Ballard Extension Hall (1921), Bexell Hall (1922), and the Heating Plant (1924).
In 1909, two years after Kerr assumed the presidency of the Oregon Agricultural College (OAC), the Olmsted firm was invited to prepare a plan for the future development of the campus in Corvallis. After visiting the campus in early 1909, John Charles Olmsted submitted a 60-page report to President Kerr on behalf of the firm, on October 1, 1909. John Olmsted was not known for visiting campus' more than once; however, he twice visited the Oregon Agricultural College.
It appears that the remainder of the report, while specific to OAC, followed a format that the firm must have developed for evaluating and planning college campuses in general. Several categories were presented, with a general comment followed by specific recommendations for OAC. These included, "Grouping of Buildings," "Approaches," "Orientation of Buildings," "Architectural Harmony," and "Design of Grounds and Plantings."
Grouping of Buildings
Generally speaking, the report recommended that working buildings used by the largest number of students be centrally located for convenience, while those not used by the majority of students, such as buildings used by specific departments, be located in groups surrounding the central nucleus. Dormitories, the president's house, and farm buildings were recommended to be located in the outer zone. The Military Hall should be near the centrally located buildings and also have an adjoining field for outdoor drill, and the Power Plant should be connected with a railroad spur for economic delivery of fuel. With regard to OSU specifically, the report recommended implementing these general guidelines and stated: . . . questions arise ... in the case of Oregon Agricultural College where several masonry buildings
already exist. In giving advice it should be understood therefore that the locations recommended for particular buildings are not in all cases as convenient or as logically related as might have been the case if existing buildings did not limit and control the placing of additional buildings. It is obvious also that boundaries and topography very materially limit the possibilities in this respect.
Approaches
Generally, the firm recommended that as many principle buildings as possible show from the main approach to
campus and that there be direct and secondary approaches, including an appropriate approach from the railroad station. The firm felt that the approaches to OSU by existing streets were "in general excellent."
Monroe, Madison, and Jefferson streets formed direct approaches from the center of town and the residential areas to the north, east, and south, and other streets on the north and south sides of the campus provided good secondary approaches. The approach from the railroad, however, was described as lacking "directness and dignity." The open field east of campus, which was used as military drill and parade grounds, was identified by the Olmsted Brothers as an opportunity for creating a "broad, imposing park meadow between the principal entrances and the buildings." Although they felt that the area was an appropriate area for military drill, they cautioned about overuse and wearing of the turf, going on to state that "a mistake has been made in design by planting shade trees along the central walk and these trees also greatly interfere with the use of the meadow as a military parade ground." They strongly recommended that the trees be removed and that the area be more appropriately landscaped.
Orientation of Buildings
The report generally recommended that buildings be grouped and oriented in an orderly fashion and
symmetrically placed when possible in quadrangles. The Olmsted firm recognized that an issue for OSU was how to re-orient the campus for future development, while incorporating existing buildings into the plan. As mentioned before, original buildings were aligned parallel to original city plats, which were skewed to align with the river channel rather than set on a direct north-south grid. The City of Corvallis altered its grid system around the turn of the century to correspond with the U.S. Public Land Survey grid system (a directional north-south system) and some building that had occurred (or was underway) prior to the arrival of the Olmsted firm
had been reoriented to the new grid. The firm's recommendation, however, was simply to align future development on the campus to a north-south grid, although this created an awkward collision between the older and newer portions of campus, by using a dominant quadrangle campus form.
The firm also recommended the creation of a main quadrangle, around which primary buildings would be grouped, and a west quadrangle around which various classroom buildings would be built. The site of the new Military Hall (McAlexander Fieldhouse) had already been determined and the Olmsted Brothers felt that the site was suitable. They recommended that new athletic fields be developed near Military Hall so fields could also serve as grounds for military drills. With the recommendation for athletic fields be adjacent to Military Hall
on the south side of the campus, however, the firm felt that it was inappropriate for Waldo Hall to continue in use as a women's dormitory. As an alternative, they recommended that future women's dormitories be located on the north side of campus.
Architectural Harmony
In keeping with their endorsement of the formality and unity of the Beaux Arts movement, the Olmsted Brothers recommended that college and university campuses strive to have architectural harmony. It was their belief that this harmony could be attained only through the employment of a professional architect and that "any good architect would admit that harmony is one of the essential requirements of good design." Harmony and unity
was to be achieved through architectural style, exterior materials, and the massing and orientation of buildings.
The firm noted that there was a distinguishable lack of harmony on the OSU campus, both in choice of architectural style and exterior building materials. In a thinly veiled statement about existing buildings, they suggested that a "good architect" would "try to make the Regents ashamed . . . and anxious to pull them down," and that each building is "so markedly better or so decidedly inferior in appearance that the spectator is driven to wish that one or the other could be torn down or moved away or be altered." As an alternative, it was noted that "some other colleges" had painted all their existing buildings a common color in an attempt bring some degree of harmony with newer buildings.
Stylistically, the Olmsted Brothers recommended that the best style for the campus would be "a simple, restrained variety of Classic" and that harmony could be achieved best by limiting bold, large features and opting instead for simple, lighter details. More importantly, the firm strongly urged the use of a consistent material for the exterior of the buildings, suggesting that perhaps for OSU this material should be "a good quality of rough red brick for the main walls permitting some range of choice in stone or terra cotta for trim." They were adamant, however, that "no matter how pressingly urged, the use of concrete or buff and other fancy bricks or a white or very pale stone should be absolutely prohibited for the main wall surfaces.
With regards to the massing and orientation of buildings, the Olmsted Brothers recommended (generally and specifically for future development at OSU) that unless buildings could be located back to back with their fronts facing the public areas, they should be designed with double fronts and that rear wings should be avoided. In
addition, they argued that buildings should be designed to accommodate expansion in keeping with the design principles for the campus. Also, unless a building is made fireproof, they recommended that buildings be no higher than two stories.
Design of Grounds and Planting
With regards to plantings, the Olmsted firm recommended balance. They felt it was necessary to plant with great restraint so that buildings and grounds would not be "smothered by trees and tall shrubbery," yet ensure that grounds were not too bare. They noted that "parts of Oregon Agricultural College grounds are bare and unfurnished looking, while other parts are a good deal too thickly planted and with the wrong kinds of trees producing too much and too low shade and hiding the buildings too much and darkening their windows." Recommendations for campus were general, suggesting that open expanses of lawn not be interrupted by flower beds, that large trees not be planted too close to buildings, and that vines be used to furnish the plain and bald walls of buildings. The firm suggested that the campus could benefit from developing an arboretum, separate formal gardens, and horticultural greenhouses where visitors to the campus could enjoy seeing horticultural, botanical, and forestry exhibits.
In addition to these recommendations, the Olmsted Brothers provided three lists of buildings they felt should be addressed on the OSU campus.52 The first list contained buildings either already existing, being built, or that were needed immediately. These buildings included Administration Hall (enlarge the existing building), Library
(build new), Military Hall (being built), Gymnasium (use the present Armory), Chemistry and Physics Hall (use the present Agricultural Hall), Civil, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering and Architecture (enlarge the present Engineering group), Mining Engineering and Metallurgy (build new), Domestic Science Hall (build new), Music Hall (build new), Art Hall (build new), Auditorium (build new), Pharmacy Hall (existing moved), Agriculture Hall (being built), Horticulture Hall (build new), four women's dormitories for 200 (build new), a
Dairy (build new), and Power Plant (being built).
The second list recommended buildings to be built within the next five to ten years. These buildings included Administration Hall (second set of additions), Gymnasium for Men, Chemistry Hall, Physics Hall, Civil Engineering Hall, Mining Engineering Hall (additions), Electrical Engineering Hall, Biology Hall, Forestry Hall, Pharmacy Hall, Veterinary Hall, Agricultural Mechanics Hall, Judging Pavilion, Veterinary Hospital, Athletic Field House, Farm Employees Cottages, Cattle Barn, Horse Barn, Sheep Barn, Poultry Barn, Fruit Barn,
Vegetable Barn, Agricultural Tool Barn, Women's Gymnasium, Students' Social Hall, two women's dormitories (for 100), seven men's dormitories (for 350), and a President's House.
The third list recommended other buildings which could be required at a later time. These included a Hydraulic Engineering Hall, Sanitary Engineering Hall, Architecture Hall, Bacteriology Hall, Physiology Hall, Applied Chemistry and Physics Hall (old Agricultural Hall), two women's dormitories (for 100), six men's dormitories (for 300), Applied Art Hall, Ceramics Hall, Stadium, Mechanical Engineering Hall (additions), Mining Engineering Hall (additions), Metallurgy Hall, Electrical Engineering Hall (additions), Domestic Science Hall (additions), Music Hall (additions), Horticultural Greenhouses (additions), Power Plant (addition), Agricultural Barns (additions), Agricultural Experiment Station, Infirmary, College Inn, Dining Hall, and a Printing Hall.
The Olmsted Brothers' 1909 report guided campus planning at Oregon Agricultural College for seventeen years. Several of their recommendations were implemented, although others were not. Still evident today is the realignment of the campus on a north-south grid system, the creation of quadrangles, and the general grouping of primary-use buildings in or near the center of campus, surrounded first by secondary-use buildings, and then by the dormitories and tertiary buildings.
There is also a high degree of architectural harmony evident, primarily in those buildings constructed between 1909 and the mid-1940s, perhaps in large part due to the fact almost all of these buildings were designed by the same architect. Buildings were sited along standard setbacks for the most part, and where appropriate,
were designed with two fronts. Buildings constructed after World War II begin to show some divergence from the Olmsted plan in style, materials, and orientation to other buildings, but many of these are not located within the grouping of buildings at the center of campus and are not negatively intrusive to the overall character developed by the Olmsted plan. Many of the buildings the Olmsted Brothers predicted would be needed were indeed built, though others not as quickly as recommended in the 1909 plan.