Architect Breaks Down the Most Common Styles of College Campus | Architectural Digest

[@gemstonesparkle7915]

Love when AD does actual architecture content

[@lynnanne3660]

THIS

[@brokenrecord3523]

Passive agressive sarcasm? You can be better.

[@chazmartin5725]

I agree wholeheartedly. I have zero desire to look at a famous actresses closet space.

[@junkboxxxxxx]

Wouldn't you rather learn about Dakota Johnson's breakfast nook and her doggies?

[@praphulkamabathula4384]

One thing I’m surprised by was how Micheal didn’t really touch on the Spanish influences of architecture at UT-Austin, Stanford, UC-Berkeley, and UCLA and how that style is super unique too being more vibrant with its colors and more flat roofs when compared to other architectural styles within the same Collegiate Gothic era.

[@George-ni5ic]

I was thinking exactly that (UT Austin alumni!)

[@praphulkamabathula4384]

🤘🤘 UT’s an awesome school I would have 100% gone had I not gotten into my current school

[@rubyfoxall1656]

yeah, overall there are very few west coast or texas examples shown. i guess one could argue that the spanish influences are mostly limited to western schools, but then again you don't exactly see much of the colonial architecture at colleges in the west, so really it just seems like there's an overall east coast bent to the video.

[@sarahpreston4558]

And Rice!!

[@tombirkland]

There seems to be a strong east-of-the-Mississippi tedency in this video. I did notice that the video entirely overlooked the Spanish influence in the west, and completely ignored the University of Washington, which is deeply committed to both Collegiate Gothic and Brutalism.

[@JoshuaFagan]

Collegiate Gothic is one of the most elegant styles of architecture in America. I love the idea of taking the elaborate Gothic ornamentation of Oxford and Cambridge and democratizing it, implementing it with grandeur and verve in not just Ivy League schools but dozens of public universities throughout America. We should bring it back!

[@chasehedges6775]

💯💯👍. Agreed

[@Humannbeing]

It is a cheap imitation of British architecture and has no place in America.

[@flyingphoenix113]

@@Humannbeing, LMAO. Sounds like the opinion of a country that hasn't been to the moon.

[@Humannbeing]

@@flyingphoenix113 😂

[@Tom_Swift]

@@Humannbeing Agreed, it is fundamentally a cheap imitation of British architecture. Whether it has a place in America is up for debate, I'm Canadian so I'm going to stay out of that one 😂

[@kendrapratt2098]

I’d say Gothic. I associate it with autumn and coziness; changing leaves. Warmth. Crispness. Whenever I’m on a campus, I feel very inspired. What will the young people here today accomplish in the future?

[@AnIllusiveFlorentine]

It's the New England Gilmore Girls on State and Main, vibe.

[@Libertaro-i2u]

The Gothic style also represents a certain degree of whimsy and fantasy, especially the version of the style that's castle-like.

[@dbowe4415]

As an educator who has worked on six college campuses that feature every single one of these styles, I ABSOLUTELY loved this video! I wanted to be an architect growing up, and while I did not take that path, I always appreciated the architectural features of the buildings on each campus I worked at. Brutalism, postmodernism, and colonial styles are definitely the more prevalent ones at the universities I’ve worked at. Thanks so much for another great video!

[@robertsmith1703]

I really enjoy Michael's segments :) We need more :D

[@sergiodelacruz8677]

The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) has the most unique architecture of any campus in the USA. Nearly every building on campus has a Bhutanese design. When you pair that with the fact that the campus is on the Franklin Mountains, the results are amazing!

[@briansieve]

It is a singularly breathtaking campus

[@Mark-hi4nv]

I looked it up and it was breathtaking. Reminds me of the Potala Palace

[@TheDutchMitchell]

I think this is one of your best videos. It shows every big style of the moment and all the way you look at the buildings changes when you hear more of the stories behind it. Really expertly done!

[@holdenmiles9783]

7:30 He mentions that Harkness tower uses "stone construction" and although it does use stone, it's worth mentioning that the stones are supported by a steel framework inside the tower. The use of steel was a relatively new model of construction at the time and allowed for towers like these to stand taller with less stone and less money. The video should clarify this if it is also going to point out the buttresses which, due to the internal steel skeleton, acts more as a self-supporting structure than a reflection of true Gothic construction techniques. He also mentions the projecting statues are "gargoyles" but since these are simply ornamental and cannot shed water, these are called "grotesques".

[@EyeByBrian]

👍🏻

[@RunningtoCatchMyBreath]

MIC DROP 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@petyamiteva2382]

Same applies to Duke’s collegiate gothic buildings as well

[@SoCalFreelance]

Yale's campus is beautiful. I'm captivated by the Skull and Bones tomb and what it must look like inside.

[@ThreeRunHomer]

UVA is gorgeous. There are tours available, which are popular with people who are also visiting Jeferson’s nearby Monticello.

[@uvajenny]

Wahoowa!

[@ntatenarin]

Having studied at the University of Virgina and the University of Chicago, plus being a huge fan of architecture, walking through the campuses was a like living a dream! I would purposely study in different buildings just to try to experience more of it. I do one day want to visit Oxford!

[@praphulkamabathula4384]

1. WAHOOWA and 2. I completely get you I absolutely love Grounds and the Jeffersonian architecture. To me, UVA has done an excellent job dabbling in different architectural styles whilst also keeping the original aesthetic of Jeffersonian architecture.

[@literalcat]

@@praphulkamabathula4384 WAHOOWA!

[@jamesclarkmaxwell-v2n]

6:50 cren·el·la·tions the battlements of a castle

[@jamesclarkmaxwell-v2n]

@@praphulkamabathula4384 which us state?

[@uvajenny]

@@praphulkamabathula4384 Wahoowa!!!

[@oklanime]

Wish in the Collegiate Gothic he mentioned the Cherokee Gothic style found at the University of Oklahoma. It's some of the most beautiful, timeless yet unique style. I wish we saw more of it across the state really, it's beautiful.

[@longiusaescius2537]

@oklanime nice avatar

[@bizzwriter]

Always love watching Michael's videos -- super interesting and super informative. This one's another winner!

[@JaredDixon]

Georgian and Collegiate Gothic are my favorites. My alma mater had all styles (UNC Chapel Hill) but the Georgian style dominates the most beautiful area of campus. Interestingly, the Italianate style of the mid 1800s made its way into some prominent campus buildings as well. I do really appreciate the aesthetic of the glass and steel Bauhaus box architecture on campus, but I still can't get behind most brutalist architecture. I'll make an exception for the brutalist arched chambers of the DC Metro stations, which are inspired by the coffered ceilings of the Parthenon.

[@cethomas324]

UNC Chapel Hill’s architecture is mostly lovely and an interesting mix of styles! It’s my (graduate) alma mater as well.

[@jamesclarkmaxwell-v2n]

@@cethomas324 built when and where?

[@SethSinclair]

This is perfect timing, I’ve been looking at the architects of Yale residential colleges lately.

[@BlueSaphire70]

I learn so much when Mr. Wyetzner lectures! Wonderful content! 😊

[@j.f.treysmith3436]

Would love to see a review of less common styles: Italian Renaissance (LSU), Spanish Mission, etc.

[@ginacrusco234]

I so enjoyed this video! It is both crystal clear and captivating. I wish every image were labeled so I wouldn't have to second-guess myself about their identity.

[@flyingphoenix113]

The Brutalist, Modernist, and post-modernist buildings were clever for their time (and many employ incredible feats of engineering), but some look poorly and unsightly within just a decade. Meanwhile, collegiate Gothic, Neoclassical, and Colonial continue to create awe even hundreds of years later. Let's stick to aesthetics that endure. We build collegiate buildings not to appease the tastes of the present but to inspire the students of the future. 🙂

[@ptose]

but there are also amazing brutalist college that continue to inspire even today. Like the FAU USP built by Vilanova Artigas, that's an absolutely incredible building. But I could mention a lot of examples. Than of course, there are a lot of buildings that are aesthetically less successful, but in general if there's a problem connected with brutalism is not the style itself (which has a lot more variety than a lot of people think) but more the fact that concrete clearly needs a lot of mantainance.

[@jphjphjph]

@@ptose Brutalism is terrible and you’re an awful person if you support it.

[@domdela5217]

Thank you again for the wonderful history lesson on the architectural styles of our colleges. Collegiate Gothic is timeless while Modernist and Brutalist style don't seem to project any warmth or convey an intellectual center.

[@sammyroberts83]

This is the best part of the channel. Please keep bringing back Mr Wyetzner.

[@Musicdude04]

Would love a series or long form video where you take a look at colleges/universities individually.

[@PeytonS999]

I believe the window at 16:16 is a great example of a Diocletian window rather than a Palladian window. Palladian style motif would involve three rectangular windows of which only the center is adorned with a rounded top.

[@chasehedges6775]

Love the colonial and collegiate gothic. They are GOLD.

[@danielpruitt8550]

The ornamentation is beautiful. Im try to design a castle/house in Minecraft built around the central courtyard using a gothic style.

[@etpoculasacra]

Small correction: Harkness Tower would never have "been a bell-tower in Germany or France"; it is clearly English Perpendicular Gothic in design, with an open lantern at the top, instead of a spire or hipped Rhenish helm. This was quite typical of late medieval English churches like St Botolph's in Boston, Lincolnshire (which I believe was even explicitly referenced by its architect as an inspiration).

[@highnoon9333]

The Cathedral of Learning is so, so gorgeous

[@davidjgill4902]

Great Video. A few corrections: 8:41 Many university campuses designed by a single architect (or firm) built between Jefferson's UVA and Mies' IIT in Chicago......two cometo mind: Stanford University by H.H. Richardson/Shepley Rutan & Coolidge and Washington University in St. Louis by Cope and Stewardson. 15:39 Venturi built Wu Hall for Princeton University not Butler College.

[@lisamoya2534]

I had the same thought process as a WashU and NMSU alum--NMSU in the early 1900s was designed entirely by Henry Trost. Not all his buildings were built and many burned down or were otherwise removed, but definitely a collaboration with a single architect!

[@nealwriter]

Hands down collegiate gothic. Just loooking at those magnificent structures makes me want to grab a thick novel and a cup of coffee.

[@suelowcockharris1954]

University of California, Irvine is worth a mention. Designed not around a square quad, but a circular park. A new university which opened I the. I’d 1960s, designed initially by Pereira, which casts a large shadow on further design and construction.

[@99Michael]

Davidson College campus in North Carolina is beautiful. Another fine school is the University of the South in Tennessee, modeled after Oxford and affectionately known as Hogsworth of the South by the students.

[@serf5422]

Sweet Briar College - designed by Ralph Adams Cram - is beautiful!

[@heatherknopp3723]

It is a very pretty campus!

[@yegim8036]

Interesting fact! I always thought Brutalism meant Uglyism. As Brutto in Latin means Ugly! 😅 and to my taste in architecture, it's a perfect name! I remember when, for the first time in a university trip, I went to India, and they brought us to see le corbusier buildings there, I couldn't understand why an architect should design something ugly.

[@JPINFV]

We didn't touch on the brutalism at the University of California, Irvine... where the style went so hard that it was literally used for filming Conquest of the Planet of the Apes?

[@d-hat-vr2002]

I went to grad school for computer science at UCI.

[@ash-dg7br]

i wanted to go to uci mainly for their brutalist buildings 🤌

[@soulieobelissevan]

What a beautifully true, intelligent and passionate video. Many thanks

[@flyingsquirrelproductions2373]

For Brutalism, missed a great opportunity to look at all of Umass Dartmouth (legit almost all of campus is Brutalist). Did get the back of the Library on the title card though.

[@FloofyBoi]

Wow I never knew college campuses and architecture could be so interesting!

[@draytonswan3704]

What!! No mention of The College of William and Mary for the colonial style? It’s older than UVA. In fact, it’s the second oldest university in the US. It’s also where Thomas Jefferson went to law school.

[@herrdrayer]

I'd recommend taking a look at Millikin University in Decatur, IL. Founded in 1901, its architecture follows many of these trends, but they're all tied together with the same red brick and red sandstone sill plates. The brutalist concert hall looks like a classic Pizza Hut on steroids.

[@longiusaescius2537]

Huh

[@Itsbennyfuchs]

More, more, more of the "Breaks Down" and "Walking Tour" content AD, please.

[@maishafarihasneha9488]

Thank you for including the Parliament of Bangladesh situated in Dhaka. I've always believed it's one of the most beautiful modern building in Bangladesh and no one really talked bout it

[@ultimatist]

Love these educational videos!! Keep 'em coming!

[@PostDeleted]

A new Wyetzner video!? Lets goooooooo!

[@SO-ym3zs]

I'm one of the weirdos who like Brutalism. Some love to hate it. I love to love it. There's something captivating about its massive and almost science fictional heft, its coldly undifferentiated expanses of concrete, and its obstinately inhuman resolve to sweep aside traditional values of prettiness. As it's aged, it's developed an interesting patina of retro-futurism, too (especially in some wild examples in the former Soviet sphere). My campus had some fine Brutalist buildinges that were oddly pretty--or at least charming--in their institutional ugliness.

[@emilysarahbarnes6605]

I enjoy these videos so much! Super interesting as always

[@mattmiller7635]

The University of Cincinnati is a veritable museum of all these styles and more! Colonial, Collegiate Gothic, Modernism, Brutalism, PoMo, and Decon all dot the campus.

[@sheikhabrahim4057]

This is Intro to Architecture 101. Very concise yet descriptive accounts of the styles of collegiate architecture. This is the kind of lecturer one would wish to have in the class. Keep it up sir. Do you have any book of your own ?

[@aholguin618]

Finally our prayers have been answered! I love this guys videos! Those "3 interior designers redesign the same garage" videos are so lame.

[@andyiswonderful]

I was fortunate to attend the University of Virginia and the University of Pennsylvania, and enjoyed being immersed in beautiful architecture.

[@bsfan6150]

Gothic style-Keating Hall on the Fordham University Rose Hill campus.

[@RoyalKingOliver]

Collegiate Gothic is a timeless style as it not only gives a building history, but it also makes the building much more welcoming to any stranger that passes it.

[@johnbrown7172]

Love Michaels content so much!

[@brawnbenson552]

I was hoping you would mention the architecture of USC. In which, comprises many different period styles. Maybe in part 2 ?

[@doesitmatter13531]

It is surprising you would talk about Colonial Architecture and not mention one of the oldest Colonial-style campuses in the U.S., The College of William and Mary.

[@saltycrunch]

I was waiting for that too! W&M's campus is textbook colonial style. No surprise, the college was chartered in the 1690s.

[@agbook2007]

This! 👏

[@draytonswan3704]

Thank you!! I clicked on the video hoping he would talk about it but not even mention of it 😢

[@jamesclarkmaxwell-v2n]

which state and when

[@draytonswan3704]

@@jamesclarkmaxwell-v2n it’s in Virginia and the college was chartered by King and Queen William and Mary in 1693 making it the second oldest university in the U.S

[@TheSushmaHomeSellingTeam]

This is the qualities you'll have if you are an expert with the craft you have. 🖤🖤

[@maddynewhouse143]

I loved the cohesive architecture of CU Boulder during my time there. Nearly all of the buildings are of a similar unique style and topped with an orange/red tile roof.

[@nsc211]

I wish he would have talked about Georgetown with the brutalist Lauinger library. It might be interesting to do a video about the architecture of libraries specifically because Georgetown also has the fantastic cast iron Riggs Library

[@michaelburgarino]

Is it just me, or does that last building look completely inharmonious and terrible? I understand they were trying to make references, but I just hate it

[@DefenseOnTitan]

Maybe in a photo and beacuse your eyes aren't used to it much but it in person it's beautiful!!

[@cleverusername9369]

It looks like it's trying to be too many things

[@grandson_0623]

West Point has tons of collegiate gothic, very pretty campus!

[@Juliet-o9b]

What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.

[@HaltenSiefest]

Having been the University Architect at several of the schools referenced here, I would submit that the design of campuses is much more nuanced, complex, and frankly, interesting than reported in this brief video. I'll leave it at that.

[@becalexa]

i love collegiate gothic and while my college campus sadly didn't have any buildings in the style, three of the buildings on the campus were originally a vanderbilt estate and the grounds were designed by frederick law olmsted, so i consider myself lucky to have been able to experience those gems.

[@Chrissieb.rackett]

Our boy is back 🎉🎉🎉

[@AndreTuttle-i4l]

With every experience, you alone are painting your own canvas, thought by thought, choice by choice.

[@JosephsCoat]

I grew up at UVA (my mom was a faculty researcher there). I always took its beauty for granted. I went to college elsewhere after high school and never returned to Charlottesville. Funny how you don’t truly appreciate something until it’s gone.

[@JuliaJaul]

The last building reminds me a lot of the “Amsterdamse School” architectural style. 😊

[@ocvortex1424]

I think this style is my new obsession…😂

[@georgeyounts9391]

Absolutely that you did this post. Thank You :)

[@alberttross7348]

And now I know the origin of the term 'Brutalism'. Thank you.

[@samkimbrel4455]

How a twenty minute video on the history of college architecture manages to completely overlook the Beaux-Arts style and its massive influence on campuses built out in the first half of the 20th century is utterly beyond me. Maybe this should have been called “Collegiate Architecture East of the Mississippi River”?

[@noahkidd3359]

Why is it that with greatly increased wealth and technological capabilities we are building uglier buildings rather than more beautiful ones? Many of these newer buildings seem designed to serve the egos of architects rather than being built to be beautiful.

[@avsystem3142]

More likely is that many modern buildings are designed to serve the egos of the developers, not the architects.

[@pedroruizbaracat6109]

i dont understand this idea of the design serving the ego of the architect... Venturi's building is quite reserved and muted. Corbusiers is striking, but still small in scale. If anything, its that huge and disproportionate neo-gothic tower that best serves the ego of the architect !

[@Tom_Swift]

Uglier buildings rather than more beautiful ones is subjective, however I understand your point. The answer may boil down to production. More intricate design takes longer to design, costs more in labor and materials to build, and takes longer to build. When the customer has a budget and deadline, function rules over everything else.

[@gatleystone2480]

Architects, especially famous ones, are notorious for having huge egos. Also, while ur point is understandable, making the buildings “reserved” or without ornament was very radical when they were built. Thats where the ego comes in - an architect that designs a heavily ornamented classical building is acknowledging that tradition and the architects of history have developed a beautiful and refined style, while modern architects are determined to “innovate” (heavy air quotes), and leave their legacy on architectural history. This motivation to disregard tradition in an attempt to start a new movement necessitates a big ego.

[@TechnoSpinInternational]

True

[@TheLiamster]

I actually love brutalist architecture

[@winthropthurlow3020]

The Union College campus in Schenectady, NY was designed by the French architect Joesph-Jacques Ramee in the early 1800s and was the first comprehensively planned college campus. It's a beautiful campus and clearly is the inspiration for Jefferson's UVA campus.

[@johnlabus7359]

My high school was modernism, while my university was primarily various revivalist style buildings with a heavy emphasis on simple colonial/Georgian buildings. That said, my university also had modernism buildings, Deco buildings, and even a Brutalism building. What it didn't have was a Gothic style building.

[@arthurmouradyan2446]

Brutalism is an affront to human dignity, there is no greater evil in design.

[@JosephsCoat]

Francis Schaeffer would agree

[@HurdyGurdyChallenge]

Love this episode! The last segment discussing Postmodernism architecture reminded me of what I’ve learned about Beaux Arts architecture. With Tim Walz becoming Kamala Harris’ running mate, could you do an analysis of the Minnesota State Capitol? It was designed by Cass Gibert in the Beaux Arts style, and I believe the dome is a mini-replica of the dome on the Basilica of St. Peter’s designed by Michelangelo. Interested if that is true and what other references may be within its design.

[@Mark-hi4nv]

Not American here. But there’s a uni in California that employs Mission Spanish style and it’s so beautiful. I forgot what uni it was.

[@JustGeorgeGG]

More content like this please

[@Junipernicus]

Hi, Mike! I've missed ya!😊

[@kendrapratt2098]

I could listen to him all day!

[@ese___e-v5g]

@@kendrapratt2098me too!

[@elizabethdavis1696]

I love college quads!

[@WOOF95]

Michael's videos are always very educational!!

[@mitchelhuott8484]

You should break down The Citadel, it’s a super weird style.

[@TitanSubZero15]

The University of New Mexico has a unique combination of Modern and Pueblo style architecture. Plus, the School of Architecture was designed by Antoine Predock.

[@Emthe30something]

Great presentation!

[@larry7898]

Skylar Economy is a very cool name for a producer!

[@yuckyool]

Wow. Thanks. I have been staring at these different kinds of buildings for 40years (I live in a town with a very prosperous college/university with every kind of architecture). And I majored in Civil Engineering . . . but, but I didn't understand the basis or reason-for-creation behind these different styles. Fwiw, I.M.Pei's architecture was pretty brutal, unless one had the concrete contract.

[@winstondavis4831]

8:09 “Not every college wants to look like a piece of history” Ironically, all the modernist buildings on college campuses look very dated and much less timeless

[@karlkarlos3545]

Are you confusing modernism with brutalism again? Because that seems to be a common issue with many self-proclaimed architecture critics.

[@winstondavis4831]

@ Not at all. A well-executed Gothic building may hide its year of construction well and appear straight out of the Middle Ages, even. Yet, most modern (and postmodern) buildings IMHO are emblematic of the decades they were built in. Brutalist is uglier than most, but I’m including all the various schools here.

[@karlkarlos3545]

@@winstondavis4831 And with "well-executed Gothic building," I assume you mean pseudo-Gothic historicism. These are not actually Gothic buildings but a very typical 19th- to early 20th-century style of architecture and just as detectable and of their time as every other movement. It's just that you think they are more visually pleasing than something built by Mies van der Rohe or Frank Lloyd Wright. However, they are not timeless.

[@A2dy]

Having gone to undergrad at a school with gothic revival and then grad school at a brutalist heavy campus...gothic revival is easier to appreciate.

[@samuelskillern7365]

I live near St. Louis. Every time I see the WashU campus, I get chills. Pretentious? Sure, but I don't care.

[@alexlarson2466]

Please talk about CU Boulder's controversial brutalist engineering center in the context of the iconic campus overall, sometime!

[@sagealyxander]

this was such a cool video~~~

[@racheljohnson5635]

I would love a American West Coast version of this video

[@Believeinyourself-fz1ox]

Thank you for interesting facts👍

[@MB-42]

It’s such a shame that brutalism ever came into existence. A great way to tell the people in your buildings that you utterly despise them.

[@roymorgan5084]

One of the most striking buildings on the campus of Indiana University Bloomington is the Musical Arts Center. I would guess that it is Brutalist in design.

[@Kayambo974]

Just love it The university I went to used to look like a decrepit USSR hospital lol, kind of bad modernism (that was in Aix en Provence). They renovated it and now it just looks soulless and rough The Marseille building by Le Corbusier, which many people don’t like (I included) since it’s ugly, and not really innovative, is also called “La cité radieuse” the radiant city

[@gwendavis7085]

The Collegiate Gothic and Colonial are so beautiful and I know why anyone would choose modernism or brutalism over those

[@grantp.5700]

14:06 At my University, one of the few brutalist buildings is the Design building, which includes the Dept. Of Architecture. Everyone always asks why the most boring building on campus is where all the creative people are 😂

[@douglasgriffin694]

The Harkness Tower looks more like it came out of England than France or Germany. You know why? It was explicitly modeled on a famous belfry in Boston, England! (Also UVA is on the wrong side of the Blue Ridge to look at the Shenandoah Valley!)

[@ericveneto1593]

Would the original buildings at Umass-Boston be Brutalist?

[@hopperblue934]

The historic building is very charming