STATE EDUCATION BUILDING. General Plan of the Building. (From the Fourth Annual Report of the Education Department) The building has been planned so that the requirements may be fulfilled as closely as possible. In general, these requirements were: quarters for the administrative offices of the Education Department; for the State Library; for the State Museum; and, in addition, for an auditorium with a seating capacity of one thousand. The site chosen for the building determined its orientation. The main entrance was required on the south side of Washington avenue and the offices of the Education Department were conveniently located near this entrance. The principal rooms to be used in connection with the library were located in the rear of the building, so as to take advantage of the northern exposure; these rooms being, in general, larger than those on the south side. The museum, having no need of fenestrated walls, but rather of top light, was placed in the upper part of the building. Thus the disposition of the main elements called for was decided. THE FACADES. The architectural treatment of this building was decided upon after great study and research. A building of this character must, primarily, be dignified, imposing, and treated in a style which would be sure to retain its charm through all the periodical changes of fashion in styles. The fact that the building is situated upon a street the width of which does not permit its being viewed in front from any considerable distance, and the fact that the building must face the south, largely determined the treatment of the main façade; for, in the first place, a special central motif or pavilion was clearly not called for, and, secondly, advantage must be taken of the full play of direct sunlight. Since this façade must of necessity be viewed for the most part obliquely, it would be essentially happy to employ a colonnade, the effect of which, when looked at obliquely with its strongly vanishing prospective lines is most impressive, and which, at the same time, makes the most of the interesting possibilities of sunlight and shadow. Considering all these conditions, a huge colonnade, standing well out from a wall pierced by a series of huge semicircular openings which allow great window area, and produce a secondary architectural effect, was decided upon. In other words, the façade consists of a colonnade, which is the most dignified of architectural motifs. resting on a proper and powerful stylobate; behind the colonnade is an arcade, ample in its proportions and interesting in its repetition. The entire façade is crowned by a huge solid wall or attic which unifies and gives strength to the façade, at the same time expressing the walls of the museum. The end façades are modifications of the front, the columnar treatment being carried across the ends, and the rear façade recalls, in its treatment, the wall behind the colonnade in front. The entire build ing is covered by a roof of copper, the eaves of which are decorated by means of a carved chencau. The building is placed 50 feet back of the building line, and the space thus afforded will be treated with lawns, trees, hedges, and, in general, with the elements of landscape architecture. A magnificent flight of easy steps, leads to the main entrance at the center of the building. terials used on the front and end façades are for the most part white marble, terra cotta and dark granite; the latter being used for the stylobate, or base of the building. The rear walls of the building use a lightcolored vitreous brick and terra cotta. THE BASEMENT The ma The basement contains rooms for service of all kinds, rock-cutting plant for the museum, workshop, janitor's and cleaners' rooms, toilet rooms for the staff and for the public storage rooms, shipping rooms, a driveway and court for shipping purposes, elevators, ventilating, heating and lighting apparatus, and the lower floors of the great book stack of the library. At the eastern end of the building beginning in the basement and occupying two stories is the auditorium with a gallery and promenade on three sides. The stage which has an architectural treatment of four huge Corinthian columns forming a curved loggia, is flanked by large niches for pipe organs. The auditorium is lighted by 12 large windows and its decorative treatment is in a modified Greek style. THE FIRST FLOOR To explain more in detail the disposition and treatment of the building it will be best to consider the structure from the point of one entering the building by the great flight of steps conducting to the main entrance on the first floor. On entering the vestibule, one finds, directly opposite, the main group of elevators; to the right, a massive and easy staircase leading directly to the second floor rotunda; and to the left, the bureau of information. Under the staircase leading to the second floor rotunda, is the staircase conducting to the basement floor. On the first floor, one passes from the entrance vestibule into a broad, vaulted cor ridor which runs east and west and leads to exits at both ends of the building. By means of this corridor access is given to the different offices of the Education Department. The Regents' Chamber and the rooms of the Commissioner of Education will receive special architectural treatment. The Regents' Chamber, which is located in the west pavilion, has walls of Indiana limestone and a carved beam ceiling of oak. The Commissioner's rooms adjacent to the Regents' Chamber on the front of the building are treated in the Tudor style of Gothic with mahogany wainscoting. Other offices on the front to the left of the main entrance accommodate the three Assistant Commissioners and the Administration Division. To the right of the main entrance on the front are the quarters of the Visual Instruction Division. Beginning at the western end in the rear of the building are located the School Libraries Division, the Law Division, general accommodations for stenographers and clerks, the cashier's office, the storekeeper's room, the Inspections Division, the Attendance Division, the Statistics Division, and the supply, filing and mailing rooms. The quarters of the State Examinations Board are to the right of the main entrance in the rear. The wing in the rear on the first floor contains the continuation of the book stacks and at either side of the rooms for manuscripts, maps and charts and In for cataloguing, accessions, etc. addition to the elevators already mentioned opposite the main trance there are two passenger elevators at the eastern and western ends of the building and one on either side of the rear wing. There are also minor staircases in each instance near these elevators. en THE SECOND FLOOR On reaching the rotunda, already mentioned, several vistas open to view: to the north a great barrelvaulted corridor 40 feet in width, 46 feet in height and 50 feet in length, leading to the general reference reading room; to the east a shorter vaulted corridor leading to the technical and medical libraries; and to the west a similar corridor leading to the law and sociological libraries. The rotunda, thus located at the intersection of these vaulted corridors, gives a dominating climax to the architectural treatment. Over the tunda, supported on pendentives, is a circular colonnade. This colonnade in turn supports a dome in which is a large skylight providing direct daylight to the rotunda below. This rotunda, and its vaulted corridors, are constructed of Indiana limestone, Conveniently arranged between columns, steel cases afford suitable provision for the most interesting his ro 19 torical exhibits; the rotunda THE THIRD FLOOR The On the third floor are located the offices and workrooms of the Exami nations Division, the Educational Extension Division and the Library School. The Main reading room of the library already mentioned extends through the third floor. THE FOURTH FLOOR The fourth floor is devoted entirely to the State Museum and contains the State collections in geology, mineralogy, paleontology, archeology, botany and zoology. These collections will be housed in rooms lighted from above. The principal room on the south side of the building, though . subdivided into sections, affords a vista its entire length. It is 570 feet in length, 50 feet in height and 54 feet in width; it is not equaled in open and dignified space by any other museum in the country. These rooms are all given an agreeable architectural treatment. Access is afforded from this main museum to the north wing of the building; on going to the north wing, one passes the circular colonnade of the rotunda before mentioned; and between the columns a comprehensive view of the rotunda is afforded. The offices of the Director of the museum and his assistants are located on a mezzanine in the rear, adjacent to the exhibition rooms. Reviewing the plans, as a whole, attention may be called finally to the arrangement of practical details; among these is the location of the driveway court under the north wing of the building which makes the delivery of books easy and direct; the concentration of lavatories and lockers for the service and for the public; the ample provision for mechanical transportation, communication, ventilation, heating and lighting; and the thoroughness with which the construction of the building insures every modern facility for administration and assures every protection against fire. Such are the principal features of the State Education Building: the effort has been made everywhere to answer practical needs, to conserve space as much as possible, to provide for future expansion and to treat the building in a thoroughly sane and modern spirit alike in its utilitarian and its esthetic aspects. This movement for a building devoted exclusively to the educational activities of the Empire State is significant in the history of education in this country. The situation is unique. No other state has attempted anything of the kind. Surely a State that expends from all sources for ail branches of education 72 millions of dollars a year can well afford to lead the way. The Trustees of Public Buildings, as has been noted, are already empowered to contract for a building at a cost not to exceed $3,500,000 exclusive of the site. It must be especially gratifying to the people of the State to know that the limit of expenditure for the construction of this building is set positively before work is begun, and that the plans have been worked out so carefully and minutely that with our knowledge of modern methods of building it is reasonable to predict, barring wholly unforseen accidents, that the first great State Education Building in the country will be ready for occupancy by the autumn of 1910, and that it will be well worthy of the splendid educational activities of the Empire State. |