A Vision for the Campus
Drawn while the library was under construction, this birdseye sketch of proposed new layout for the University of Texas demonstrates how Gilbert planned to reorganize the Forty Acres with a cruciform scheme that located the library, a new main building, a museum, and malls along the principal axes and academic buildings grouped around courtyards in the quadrants.
The arrangement provided a combination of monumental ceremonial spaces along the axes and less formal areas within the quadrants for the daily activities of study and recreation.
Gilbert considered the replacement of Old Main essential and urgent and made no place for it in his plan, but he accommodated other existing structures, such as the Law School, B. Hall, the Engineering Building, the Woman’s Building, the Chemistry Laboratory, and the Power Plant until future circumstances permitted their removal.
The preliminary block plan, along with the proposed new layout (above) show a variant scheme for the new main building, labeled University Hall.
They illustrate how the library (now Battle Hall) anchored the west side of the main plaza and how the location of what is now Sutton Hall (occupied in the plan by a fine arts building) demarked an edge for the southwest quadrangle.
By realizing just these two buildings, Battle Hall and Sutton Hall, Gilbert established a skeleton for the future development of the campus.
Sketches highlight the architectural vocabulary Gilbert set for campus
Gilbert planned to apply certain architectural features of the library, such as the broad, red-tile roof, bracketed eaves, and the composition of upper stories set atop a solid base story, to other campus buildings. These features established a strong visual identity for the campus while allowing variety in the specific treatment of each building.
Study for the Education Building
Sutton Hall, completed in 1918, was built to house the education department. For it, Gilbert introduced the combination of Leuders limestone base and a ruddy blend of brown, tan, and ochre bricks that his successors have repeated on classroom buildings throughout the Forty Acres.
Sketch of proposed gym on the University of Texas campus
The university’s first permanent sports fields were on the south side of Speedway near the location of the ACES Building today. Gilbert proposed replacing the existing bleachers with a stadium terraced into the hillside crowned by a gymnasium.
Gilbert's Legacy
Paul Cret's master development plan (1933) built on the quadrangle scheme initiated by Gilbert and loosely continued by Herbert M. Greene.
The addition to Battle Hall shown here on the site of the present West Mall Office Building was intended to house a university museum.