Mid-Century Mundane Featured on Herman Miller Blog!

Last week Mid-Century Mundane was thrilled to be featured on Herman Miller’s Lifework Blog as one of the Best of the Week. Thanks and keep reading!

Bethesda Lutheran Church, New Haven, CT

This church, within a larger complex, between Whitney Avenue and St. Ronan Street, does not have much of a street presence. It is built into a hillside and the St. Ronan Street entrance to the church is elevated so that one enters on the second floor.  The church is connected on one side to the 1956 educational building, seen below.

The sanctuary itself was constructed in 1958-59. Here is another view of the rear with the elevated entrance.

The other side has a ground floor entrance and faces a hillside parking lot leading to Whitney Avenue.

Bank of America, New Haven, CT

This bank is located across from the Yale Bookstore on Broadway. It was built in 1951 and seems relatively intact, although a little down on its luck. The paneled facade, possibly limestone, is dirty and the drive-through looks unused and is partially boarded up. The rear facade faces a small parking lot and is rounded with brick cladding.

Start Community Bank, New Haven, CT

This new community bank is located at the corner of Whalley Avenue and Sherman Parkway in New Haven. The building was built in 1956 and was most likely originally constructed as a bank. It remains very intact with a brick exterior, masonry detailing and a wall of windows on the east side of the building. However the graduated green and blue coloring on the enamel paneling above and below the windows and on the side of the entrance tower was added by the bank. Streetview shows the previous tenant to be a Century 21 office and the panels were a light blue, more likely the original 1950s color.

First Presbyterian Church, New Haven, CT

On Whitney Avenue in New Haven is this simple A-frame building. It was designed by architects Jim Owens and John Dinkeloo in 1966. Both were members of the congregation. That same year Dinkeloo partnered with Kevin Roche in Roche Dinkeloo, which went on to greater renown. Dinkeloo died in 1981.

The side elevation of the church is even more simplified and severe. Also on the site is a 2005 community hall building designed by Dinkeloo’s son. The church’s website has several photos and additional information about the complex.

More curious is what lies across the street, now hidden. Behind the new Worthington Hooker Middle School, completed in 2009, is a white brick building connected to the school. It was originally the First Church of Christ Scientist, built in 1950 by local architecture firm, Office of Douglas Orr. Orr did dozens of modern buildings around New Haven and Connecticut, some of which can be seen in the slideshow here (First Church of Christ Scientist is the second image). During the recent adaptive reuse the steeple was removed from the church building but I have been told it is basically the same otherwise on the exterior. It is now difficult to see the original front facade since it is connected via an elevated walkway with the school. The view above is a side elevation.

60 Sachem Street, Yale University, New Haven, CT

Across the street from the large area where Yale recently demolished many buildings and will soon demolish Mudd Library, sits this building. It is a lesser-known work from those corporate giants, Skidmore Owings and Merrill, built in 1961. It was originally the Yale Computer Center, housed the Watson Astronomy Center from 1968 until 1977 and until very recently was the Yale School of Management, which recently moved to its own mammoth new building after another preservation fight.

The building evokes a series of interconnected pavilions and floats off the ground on the Sachem Street side with an at grade level entrance on Prospect Street. With its glass and black steel elements, it definitely speaks to Skidmore Owings and Merrill’s work of the time. Here one can see a picture of the building at night, which highlights its clean lines. Unfortunately with the recent removal of the School of Management, it is rumored that Yale will demolish this building at some point too. Another loss from a major, respected firm.

Seeley G. Mudd Library, Yale University, New Haven, CT

Although this blog features mundane buildings, unlikely to be preserved, few have been demolished as far as we know. However, this one unfortunately definitely will be. In 2009 Yale unveiled plans to demolish twelve buildings in this area of campus, mostly in a square next to the famed Grove Street Cemetery. Mudd Library was the newest one, having been built only roughly 30 years ago, in 1981-84. Despite an outcry from preservationists and the architects themselves, the building is currently closed and prepared for demolition.

Mudd was built largely as a compact book repository and its designers have advocated for its reuse as classrooms or music practice space. The simple brick exterior with light stone trim is an sophisticated way of addressing what is essentially a storage facility. However, because of its original purpose, the building has few windows and presents a long, mostly unadorned side and rear view to the neighboring residential buildings.

Several other modern buildings were demolished nearby as part of this plan including the 1957 Urban Hall, the 1976 Williams Hall and the 1978 communal space Donaldson Commons. All in all, a sad day for reuse and sustainability.