Sophie Van Horne
ARCH1900
Paper 1
October 1, 2013
Sayles Gymnasiumto Smith-Buonanno Hall: a Building’s History
Smith-BuonannoHall, originally named Sayles Gymnasium, stands on the southwestern corner of the Pembroke Campus at Brown University. In its one-hundred-and-six year history, it has variously been used as a gymnasium, office building, and, currently, a classroom space. Sayles Gymnasium was the second building constructed at the Women’s College in Brown University. Apart from Pembroke Hall, dedicated on November 22, 1897, there was no other space reserved for students of the women’s college at that time, with dormitories for the increasing student body only appearing in 1910 (Miller Hall), 1919 (Metcalf Hall), and 1927 (Alumnae Hall)[1]. The choice to build a gymnasium before any other buildings addressed the unfulfilled need for an athletic space on the campus.
Mabel Potter, director of the Department of Physical Culture at the college, and the Andrews Association (later the Alumnae Association) began their call for a gymnasium in 1902[2]. The Rhode Island Society for the Collegiate Education of Women donated $5,000 and the land where the building now stands, while Stephen Metcalf and Eliza Metcalf Radeke gave additional land to build Pembroke campus[3]. In 1900, Frank A Sayles (Class of 1890) donated $50,000 to Brown’s endowment fund, which completed the necessary fundraising and the first stone was laid on May 6, 1906[4]. The building was designed by Edward B. Willson of Stone, Carpenter, and Willson, a Providence-based architecture firm[5]. The façade of red brick trim placed Sayles Gymnasium (Smith-Buonanno Hall, Figure 1) in the “modern English collegiate” style[6], or, more technically, “a stripped-down version of academic Elizabethan Revival,”[7]consistent with the style of Pembroke.
The facility originally boasted offices, a large hall with a gallery (intended for use by speakers on Ivy Day), a social resting room, a hall for studying, and a basement with facilities appropriate to an athletic building (dressing rooms, lockers, showers, etc).”[8],[9] In the following years, the Alumnae Association raised money to pay for the installation of two bowling alleys and their maintenance[10]. The first official event in Sayles Gymnasium was the Delta Sigma sorority dance on January 2, 1907[11]. Although primarily intended for athletic activities, the space was used for social and academic events as well.
For the majority of its history, the building was consistent in its original design and intent. In the 1970s, the elevated running track on the second story was removed, but otherwise the interior was intact until the 1990s[12], when plans for a newly renovated and re-dedicated building were formed. The four-year physical education requirement, re-sanctioned by Brown President Faunce in 1922, was reduced to two years in 1893 until finally being eliminated in the 1970s.[13] With the rise of co-ed and team sports at Brown, a trend accelerated by the 1971, the need for a separate athletic space on the old women’s campus declined. In 1990, the Physical Education Department moved out of Sayles Gymnasium, which was then converted mainly to classroom space[14].
The building was redesigned in 2000 by William Kite Architects, a Providence-based firm, to much praise in the architectural community. Among the awards that the renovated building received are the National American Institute of Architects’ Honor Award for Outstanding Interiors (2002), the Honor Award from AIA New England (2001), and the Providence Preservation Society Award (2000)[15]. Kite’s main success in redesigning the interior was in preserving the two-story height of the original gymnasium. The classrooms on the second floor extend into the space once taken up by the main athletics room, suspended over the first floor without touching the original brick enclosing wall (Figure 2)[16].
The building is undoubtedly still an important space on Pembroke campus. Although no longer used for any athletic purposes, it is the main classroom building on Pembroke, containing two lecture halls, eight classrooms, a media office, and extra utility space[17]. In addition, it serves as a space mainly for small lecture and seminar classes, as well as various campus events (talks, movie screenings, etc.). The renovation has been an extreme success from this student’s perspective. The building has light and airy feel, and provides a pleasant space to study and learn. Brown has preserved the external façade of one of its oldest buildings, which is of historical and archaeological importance to the university, while still managing to update the interior for the 21st century.
Figures
Figure 1
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Figure 2
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Works Cited
Blair, Karen J. “The Women’s Club Movement Creates and Defines the Women’s College.” The Search for Equity: Women at Brown University, 1891-1991. Ed. Polly Welts Kaufman. Providence: Trustees of Brown University, 1991. 27-54.
“Brown University, Smith-Buonanno Hall Renovation.” Dimeo Construction Company. < Web. 1 Oct 2013.
Crosbie, Michael J. “Respect on Campus.” Architecture Week. Architecture Week. < 1-3. np. nd. Web. 1 Oct 2013.
Himes, Cindy. “From Equity to Equality: Women’s Athletics at Brown.” The Search for Equity: Women at Brown University, 1891-1991. Ed. Polly Welts Kaufman. Providence: Trustees of Brown University, 1991. 121-154.
Kaufman, Polly Welts. Introduction. The Search for Equity: Women at Brown University, 1891-1991. Ed. Polly Welts Kaufman. Providence: Trustees of Brown University, 1991. 15-26.
“Sayles Gymnasium.” Encyclopedia Brunonia. Ed. Martha Mitchell. Providence: Brown University Library, 1993. 486-487.
“Smith-Buonanno Hall.” KITE Architects. < Web. 1 Oct 2013.
[1] Kaufman 20
[2] Himes 124
[3] Himes 124-125
[4]Sayles Gymnasium, Encyclopedia Brunonia
[5]Sayles Gymnasium, Encyclopedia Brunonia
[6]Sayles Gymnasium, Encyclopedia Brunonia
[7]Crosbie 1
[8] Himes 125
[9]Sayles Gymnasium, Encyclopedia Brunonia
[10] Blair 49
[11]Sayles Gymnasium, Encyclopedia Brunonia
[12]Crosbie 2
[13] Himes 126, 132, 145
[14]Sayles Gymnasium, Encyclopedia Brunonia
[15]KITE Architexts, Smith-Buonanno Hall
[16]Crosbie 3
[17]Dimeo, Smith-Buonanno Renovation