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34-467: The building, originally named New Hall, broke ground in 1957 along with an adjacent student center called Ferris Booth Hall, which was later demolished to make way for Alfred Lerner Hall . The building was designed by Harvey Clarkson of Shreve, Lamb & Harmon , which designed the Empire State Building . The building opened in 1959 to the all-male undergraduates of Columbia College . However,

68-534: A "sketching tour" of New England , visiting many of the key houses of Puritan leaders and early masterpieces of the colonial period. Their work began to incorporate influences from these buildings, contributing to the Colonial Revival . The H.A.C. Taylor house in Newport, Rhode Island (1882–1886) was the first of their designs to use overt quotations from colonial buildings. A less successful but daring variation of

102-403: A Spanish style tower, restaurants, and a roof garden with views both uptown and downtown from 34th Street . White's masterpiece was a testament to his creative imagination, and his taste for the pleasures of city life. The architects paved the way for many subsequent colleagues by fraternizing with the rich in a number of other settings similar to The Garden, enhancing their social status during

136-511: A cinema and auditorium named for Roone Arledge , a Columbia alumnus with a distinguished career in sports broadcasting and television news. The building also contains eateries, performance space, student club space, lounges, and administrative offices. The building began receiving harsh criticism even before it was completed. The escalating ramps have never met their purpose as a social meeting place, instead taking up valuable space and slowing movement between floors. The gigantic rectangular hole in

170-770: A cousin of president Rutherford B. Hayes , went to Amherst College and trained with Russell Sturgis in Boston . McKim and Mean formed a partnership with William Bigelow in New York City in 1877. White was born in New York City, the son of Shakespearean scholar Richard Grant White and Alexina Black Mease (1830–1921). His father was a dandy and Anglophile with no money, but a great many connections in New York's art world, including painter John LaFarge , jeweler Louis Comfort Tiffany and landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted . White had no formal architectural training; he began his career at

204-465: A cultural and artistic force through their construction of Madison Square Garden . White secured the job from the Vanderbilt family , and the other partners brought former clients into the project as investors. The extraordinary building opened its doors in 1890. What had once been a dilapidated arena for horse shows was now a multi-purpose entertainment palace, with a larger arena, a theater, apartments in

238-514: A formal Georgian plan was White's house for Commodore William Edgar, also in Newport (1884–86). Rather than traditional red brick or the pink pressed masonry of the Bell house, White tried a tawny, almost brown color, leaving the building neither fish nor fowl. The partners added talented designers and associates as the 1890s loomed, with Thomas Hastings , John Carrère , Henry Bacon and Joseph M. Wells on

272-508: Is notable, considering that many of the technologies and strategies they employed were nascent or non-existent when they began working in the 1880s. Charles McKim was the son of a prominent Quaker abolitionist who grew up in West Orange, New Jersey . He attended Harvard College and attended the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, a leading training ground for Americans. William Rutherford Mead,

306-464: Is the student center or students' union of Columbia University . It is named for Al Lerner , who financed part of its construction. Situated on the university's historic Morningside Heights campus in New York City , the building, designed by deconstructivist architect Bernard Tschumi , then dean of Columbia's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation , opened in 1999, replacing

340-802: The Brooklyn Museum , and the main campus of Columbia University . Elsewhere in New York state and New England , the firm designed college, library, school and other buildings such as the Boston Public Library , Walker Art Building at Bowdoin College , the Garden City campus of Adelphi University , and the Rhode Island State House . In Washington, D.C. , the firm renovated the West and East Wings of

374-558: The General Post Office Building across from Penn Station at the same time, part of which became the new Amtrak station in 2021. The original Penn Station was demolished in 1963–1964 and replaced with a newer Madison Square Garden , in spite of large opposition to the move. One of the firm's last major works in the city was the Manhattan Municipal Building (1906–1913) adjacent to City Hall, built following

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408-811: The Progressive Era . McKim, Mead and White designed not only the Century Association building (1891), but also many other clubs around Manhattan: the Colony Club , the Metropolitan Club , the Harmonie Club , and the University Club of New York . Though White's subsequent life was plagued by scandals, and McKim's by depression and the loss of his second wife, the firm continued to produce magnificent and varied work in New York and abroad. They worked for

442-695: The White House , and designed Roosevelt Hall on Fort Lesley J. McNair and the National Museum of American History . Across the United States, the firm designed buildings in Illinois , Kentucky , Michigan , Ohio , Pennsylvania , Rhode Island , Tennessee , Washington and Wisconsin . Outside of the United States, the firm developed buildings in Canada, Cuba, and Italy. The scope and breadth of their achievement

476-406: The "humorous" category suggesting it to be named after Aaron Burr , as a counterpart to Hamilton Hall , at the opposite end of campus. However, neither name was endorsed by the university. As a placeholder, it was referred to as New Hall until it was finally named Carman Hall in 1965, in honor of Harry Carman , who served as dean of Columbia College from 1943 to 1950. In November 2021, Carman Hall

510-569: The Yale School of Architecture Robert A. M. Stern , who graduated from Columbia a year after the building's completion, wrote in an unpublished piece that "[Carman and Ferris Booth Halls] are unfortunately mediocre in their conception." After the building broke ground, a informal naming contest was organized by the Columbia Daily Spectator , with the "serious" category winner suggesting the building be named after dean Herbert Hawkes and

544-477: The academic year. The most significant include the Varsity Show , an annual satirical musical about university life, and Glass House Rocks, in which Lerner (the "glass house") is transformed into a giant party space (the event takes its name from the former television series School House Rock ) with performances from a Capella groups, bands, and dance groups. McKim, Mead, and White McKim, Mead & White

578-407: The administrative areas of the building—has been described as labyrinthine. Neighbors protested that the building serves to further wall off Columbia from the community. Architecture critics have lambasted the building for managing to be simultaneously dull and offensive, and failing to conform to the beaux arts style of the surrounding campus. Lerner Hall is home to social events throughout

612-575: The aesthetics of the building along with other buildings constructed during Grayson L. Kirk 's tenure was criticized by students, faculty, and critics alike, including Jacques Barzun , Andrew Dolkart , Barry Bergdoll , and Ada Louise Huxtable . Architecture critic Allan Temko noted that the building's long hallways and pattern of two double rooms with a shared bath resembled a “ Victorian reformatory” and its lounge “a bus station with Muzak .” In 1962, Temko again criticized Carman as "dull and bureaucratic... [with] skimpy and unimaginative detail." Dean of

646-505: The age of 18 as the principal assistant to Henry Hobson Richardson , the most important American architect of the day and creator of a style recognized today as "Richardsonian Romanesque". He remained with Richardson for six years, playing a major role in the design of the William Watts Sherman House in Newport, Rhode Island , an important Shingle Style work. White joined the partnership in 1879, and quickly became known as

680-494: The artistic leader of the firm. McKim's connections helped secure early commissions, while Mead served as the managing partner. Their work applied the principles of Beaux-Arts architecture , with its classical design traditions and training in drawing and proportion, and the related City Beautiful movement after 1893. The designers quickly found wealthy and influential clients amidst the bustle and economic vigor of metropolitan New York. The firm initially distinguished itself with

714-595: The deaths of both White (1906) and McKim (1909) and the financial collapse of the original partnership. The firm retained its name long after the deaths of founding partners White (1906), McKim (1909), and Mead (1928). The major partners became William M. Kendall and Lawrence Grant White, Stanford's son. Among the firm's final works under the name McKim, Mead & White was the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. Designed primarily by partner James Kellum Smith , it opened in 1964. Smith died in 1961, and

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748-407: The development of modern architecture worldwide. They formed a school of classically trained, technologically skilled designers who practiced well into the mid-20th century. According to Robert A. M. Stern , only Frank Lloyd Wright was more important to the identity and character of modern American architecture. The firm's New York City buildings include Manhattan's former Pennsylvania Station ,

782-870: The innovative Shingle Style Newport Casino (1879-1880) and summer houses, including Victor Newcomb's house in Elberon, New Jersey (1880–1881), the Isaac Bell House in Newport, Rhode Island (1883), and Joseph Choate 's house "Naumkeag" in Lenox, Massachusetts (1885–88). Their status rose when McKim was asked to design the Boston Public Library in 1887, ensuring a new group of institutional clients following its successful completion in 1895. The firm had begun to use classical sources from Modern French, Renaissance and even Roman buildings as sources of inspiration for daring new work. In 1877, White and McKim led their partners on

816-401: The interior of the building caused by the ramps is the main target of criticism, as it could be used for more student and study space. The hole gives Lerner Hall a doughnut shape, as one can see all the way down to the first floor from the fifth floor. Due to space constraints, few student activities have individual offices, the vast majority receiving only locker space. The layout—particularly in

850-605: The older dorms." A section of the Ben Coes novel, First Strike, was also set in the building. The building was also referenced in Christopher John Farley 's young-adult novel, Zero O'Clock. In his memoir, Photographs of My Father , Paul Spike notes that "not a trace of style ruins the ugly face of Carman Hall." 40°48′24″N 73°57′51″W  /  40.80667°N 73.96417°W  / 40.80667; -73.96417 Alfred Lerner Hall Alfred Lerner Hall

884-481: The payroll in their expanding office. With a larger staff, each partner had a studio of designers at his disposal, similar to the organization of a modern design firm, and this increased their capacity for doing even larger projects, including the design of entire entire college campuses for Columbia University and New York University , and a massive entertainment complex at Madison Square Garden , all located in New York City. McKim, Mead and White gained prominence as

918-592: The previous student center, Ferris Booth Hall, which stood from 1960 to 1996. The cafeteria in Lerner Hall still bears the name of Ferris Booth, and unlike the other large cafeteria on campus in John Jay, Ferris Booth utilizes only plastic silverware and paper plates. The building attempts to both conform to its context of neoclassical McKim, Mead, and White buildings as well as break out of their mold. In so doing, Lerner Hall features redbrick cladding and proportions that hold

952-482: The society chronicled by Edith Wharton and Henry James . Newly-wealthy Americans were seeking the right spouses for their sons and daughters, among them idle aristocrats from European families with dwindling financial resources. When called for, the firm could also deliver a house-full of continental antiques and works of art, many acquired by Stanford White from dealers abroad. The Clarence McKay house in Roslyn, New York,

986-478: The street wall of university buildings along Broadway , but reveals a vast glass wall to the campus fabricated by Eiffel Constructions Metalliques , descendant of the firm that built the Eiffel Tower . Behind the wall are a series of escalating ramps that give the building a unified sense of space and are meant to act as a social meeting place much like the steps of Low Memorial Library . Lerner Hall features both

1020-615: The titans of industry, transportation and banking, designing not only classical buildings (the New York Herald Building , Morgan Library , Villard Houses , and Rhode Island State Capitol ), but also planning factory towns ( Echota , near Niagara Falls, New York ; Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina ; and Naugatuck, Connecticut ), and working on university campuses (the University of Virginia , Harvard , Adelphi University and Columbia). The magnificent Low Library (1897) at Columbia

1054-492: Was an American architectural firm based in New York City. The firm came to define architectural practice, urbanism, and the ideals of the American Renaissance in fin de siècle New York. The firm's founding partners, Charles Follen McKim (1847–1909), William Rutherford Mead (1846–1928), and Stanford White (1853–1906), were giants in the architecture of their time, and remain important as innovators and leaders in

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1088-470: Was evacuated after bomb threats surfaced on Twitter claiming that improvised explosives have been placed in the building. The building frequently served as the residence of the protagonist in Paul Auster 's works, including 4 3 2 1 and Winter Journal ; in the latter he describes Carman as "an austere environment, ugly and charmless, but nevertheless far better than the dungeonlike rooms to be found in

1122-534: Was probably the most opulent of these flights of fancy. Though many are gone, some now serve new uses, such as "Florham", in Madison, New Jersey (1897–1900), now the home of Fairleigh Dickinson University . New York's City's enormous Penn Station (1906–1910) was the firm's crowning achievement, reflecting not only its commitment to new technological advances, but also to architectural history stretching back to Greek and Roman times. McKim, Mead & White also designed

1156-524: Was similar to Thomas Jefferson's at the University of Virginia, where White added an academic building on the other side of the Lawn. Some of their later, classical country houses also enhanced their reputation with wealthy oligarchs and critics alike. The Frederick Vanderbilt mansion (1895–1898) at Hyde Park, New York and White's " Rosecliff " for Tessie Oelrichs (1898–1902) in Newport were elegant venues for

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