YourYale climbs five campus staircases to uncover how architects from Kahn to Rogers used form, light, and style to shape the way we move through space.
Stairways to scholarship
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Famed architect Louis Kahn (1901-1974) once said, “A stair is the poem of a house.” The creator of two staircases on Yale’s campus, he designed one at the Yale University Art Gallery, his first museum project, and another for the Yale Center for British Art, his last commission.
Whether a stair represents a passage from earthly to divine or challenges and successes along life’s journey, its symbolism often reflects the architectural style and historical era in which it was designed. YourYale recently ascended (and descended) five stairs on a walk that began at Yale Center for British Art on Chapel Street, continued to the Yale University Art Gallery, moved along Chapel to York Street with a stop in Rudolph Hall, ambled onto Alexander Walk with a visit to the Law School, and followed Wall Street to College to Elm Street to end at The Adams Center for the Musical Arts.
Yale Art Gallery
Like most everything in the 1953 Louis Kahn-designed part of the Yale University Art Gallery, the stairway from the first to the fourth floor is made with reinforced concrete (crushed rocks, gravel, cement). It was hailed as innovative not just for Kahn’s sculptural use of concrete, but also for its triangular structure within a cylinder. You witness this poetic geometry as light cascades from the three-sided shape in a circular clerestory skylight. The best way to see the much-lauded design is to stand on the first floor and look up, and then climb the solid, sturdy steps to the top and gaze down. There is beauty in these views as the architect intended, for like any artist, Kahn selected the lines, shapes, colors, and materials that he believed would positively affect the way people viewed the artwork and felt in the museum.
Yale Center for British Art
Fast forward 20 years when Kahn was commissioned to design the Yale Center for British Art. This time his stairway is square within a cylindrical form. Gazing up from the ground level, you see light diffused from a lattice of square glass blocks set into the top of the cylinder, which stops short of the skylights above the Library Court. When you arrive on the fourth-floor landing, you feel the interplay of the weighty concrete cylinder surrounding you with the dense but delicate ceiling structure that is throwing almost-heavenly light, speckling everything it touches. While you’re experiencing this wonder of form and function, don’t forget to peer down to see the stunning calculus of the stairs. “I believe architecture should inspire,” said Kahn, “and in this staircase, I hoped to offer a quiet monument to that belief. It is not just a way to ascend; it is a way to feel the building breathe.”
Rudolph Hall
Staircase B in Paul Rudolph Hall, one of the earliest known examples of American Brutalist architecture, designed between 1958 and 1963 by architect Paul Rudolph, is like a serpentine museum that winds up from the first to the ninth floor. It might feel like the passage is a little dark at first, but all along the rise and fall of the journey are lights and replicas of historic artwork to take in. Recently, basswood models of buildings by famous architects, including Rudolph, have been placed in the natural landings of the stairs. There are benches of various sizes that appear on different levels for admiring the art that are upholstered in paprika-colored carpet, which is a color that Rudolph used as a critical interior detail throughout the building. It is said that he chose this vibrant color to counteract the dark, monolithic nature of the concrete and to make the building more inviting for its inhabitants.
Yale Law School
Yale Law School, built from 1929 to 1931 in the Collegiate Gothic style by architect James Gamble Rogers, features a grand limestone staircase that sweeps up from the first floor to the third with walls adorned with leaded glass windows and portraits of luminaries including past deans and alumni. As you ascend, you might feel slight because even with your arms outstretched, you cannot touch the stairs’ thick balustrades with sculptural decoration. Allow yourself to be wowed by the leaded glass windows that seem to multiply the higher you climb, and stop to admire the caricatures of English judges and chancellors. The portraits of former deans and alumni are more somber, but the lightness of the limestone and the windows provide relief. Sweeping staircases of this nature at this time in America signified intellectual ambition and aspirational learning, designed to impress the mind with their soaring reach, reflecting an emphasis on striving “higher.”
Adams Center for the Musical Arts
The Center retains the original cast-iron staircase from Hendrie Hall, a signature feature designed by Howells & Stokes in the early 20th century. With its diamond-patterned balustrades and beaded detailing, the staircase reflects the Renaissance Revival style of the building, which resembles a Venetian palazzo. Cast iron was used for staircases because it was a cost-effective, mass-produced, and fire-resistant material, ideal for creating stable structural elements and decorative details. It was built as Hendrie Hall in 1894 and expanded in 1900 to house Yale’s Law School. After the Law School moved in 1931, the building served various purposes and is now a part of Yale’s School of Music, preparing graduate students for careers in classical music. The staircase was preserved during the 2017 renovation, honoring its historical significance. The Adams Center’s staircase continues the tradition of offering a grand and welcoming entrance that reflects the building’s legacy.
