herr2ck: November 2024

The Harvard Experience

Photos from November 2024.

I wouldn’t consider Ohio State remotely comparable to Harvard whatsoever (although I guess it’s a “public Ivy”), but dorms like Mack Hall were always what I imagined living there would be like as a kid. Ironically, Harvard is a largely neoclassical school, barring the High Victorian Gothic Memorial Hall.

Mack Hall is located on the far south side of campus. It is bordered by Oxley Hall to the north, 11th Avenue to the south, Canfield Hall to the east, and Neil Avenue and Postle Hall to the west. Mack Hall was added onto twice over its lifetime, and work was done by different architects and contractors.

History

The first part of the building that was known as Mack Hall (the northernmost and closest to Oxley Hall, see diagram below) was designed by university architect Joseph N. Bradford in the Collegiate Gothic style in 1921. Construction work began in February 1922, after initial plans were rejected twice for being too expensive, and concluded in October 1923. The contractor was L. L. LeVeque Co. Mack Hall, like many other south campus dorms, has a reinforced concrete frame and a brick exterior.

Mack Hall’s original footprint.

Residents of Mack Hall in front of Pomerene Hall, c. 1924. (University Archives)

Mack Hall’s first addition was designed by university architect Howard Dwight Smith in 1934. Contractor H. R. Blagg Co. began construction in June 1934 and it was completed by October 1, 1935. This addition is the part that abuts the corner of 11th and Neil Avenues.

Mack Hall’s footprint after its first addition.

Historic photo of the first addition and its fleche. (CML)

There’s less available information about the second addition, but it was built at the same time as Canfield Hall and the first section of Kennedy Commons/Women’s Dining Hall, so presumably it was designed by Howard Dwight Smith as well. It was ready for occupancy by autumn 1940. This addition flanks 11th Avenue. The entire complex has a net square footage of 49,283.

Mack Hall’s current footprint.

Postcard of Mack Hall, c. 1921-1930. (CML)

An interesting alternative name for Mack Hall and its surrounding dorms is the “Women’s Dormitory Quadrangle.” I found a series of old campus maps on the University Archives website, and it seems like a set of residence halls similar in footprint to Oxley Hall were planned in this shape. Mack Hall sort of follows this precedent, but the later female dorms that were built there don’t whatsoever.

Campus map c. 1903-1920. (University Archives)

Mack Hall, unlike the other women’s dorms on campus, was named after a man--John Mack (died 1914). Though he did not attend Ohio State, he served on the Board of Trustees from 1893 until his death, never missing a meeting. Described as a good businessman, he had big plans for the fledgling Ohio State University. He was also the publisher and editor of the Sandusky Register and the founder and president of Ohio Associated Dailies.

John Mack, undated. (Buckeye Stroll)

Mack Hall was only the second female residence hall on campus, after Oxley Hall. There was high demand for female housing, mainly because Ohio State relied heavily on state income, and the low amount they received was used for other needs. Schools like Xichigan likewise depended on state funds, but were given far more. Life was rather tough for women living on campus at the time--read my article on Oxley Hall for more details.

I found a Tumblr post via an old Eleven Warriors article that transcribed the text from an old postcard of Mack Hall. In it, a student named Mary is writing to Beatrice, explaining her life in college:

“It’s a snowy Thursday night, January 29, 1925. Mary is writing her friend or sister Beatrice back home in tiny Beaver, Ohio in Pike County. She talks about the heavy snow, her cold, and student teaching at Northwood Elementary. A mutual friend has gotten a radio. She’s looking forward to a fudge party Saturday and a blind date with a friend’s frat brother next Friday. She asks Beatrice to send her silk dress for the date.

‘Here is a picture of your home for next winter,’ she tells incoming student Beatrice.

Mary loves Ohio State and Mack Hall and all her friends there but graduation is near and Mary’s a little sad about it. ‘I wish I had 4 years before me, like you do.’”

The postcard. (udhcmh on Tumblr)

Not much has really changed for Mack Hall since its construction. The ivy growing on the building in the below picture has since been cleared (though I honestly prefer the earlier look, even though ivy is usually bad for masonry). The only major renovation happened in 2000, executed by Schooley Caldwell.

Mack Hall in 1961. (Buckeye Stroll)

Photos

Personally, I think Mack Hall is the most attractive dorm on south campus. My vote would normally go to Oxley Hall, but since it is no longer a residence hall, I don’t think it qualifies. I love the Collegiate Gothic look, it’s more traditional and much prettier than the bland Modernist high-rises everywhere else. As a result, I’m gonna be salivating over the details on this one a lot.

Mack Hall’s main facade is symmetrical -- two projections with entrances to the building flank a simpler middle section. However, even that area isn't unadorned, as the fourth floor has gables and an oriel window can be seen. The northwest entrance is very attractive:

I love the relief of the building’s name and the pointed arch over the entryway. The exterior masonry also features brick and stone mixed together, probably to recall the cobbled-together nature of small medieval Gothic churches.

The southwest entrance is wider, and the top windows take on the appearance of a Gothic-styled Romanesque window:

Around back, the second and third additions:

This side has a “Romeo and Juliet” balcony, which I always thought was an interesting design choice. It’s not accessible, but I found the doorways to it later.

The L-shaped footprint of Mack Hall creates a courtyard, and that space is connected to the area in between the other southwest dorms:

Here’s the back of the original building, featuring much decorative brickwork and woodwork:

Next, I tried getting detail shots of the fleche and this odd curving chimney, but I could not for the life of me get them exposed properly. It was a cloudy day, but for whatever reason the sun decided to come out and shine right into my shot, which made me have to turn my shutter speed way down and underexpose the pictures. As annoying as that was, though, it made this one look really artsy:

Cue the haunting organ music. Anyways…I happened to be documenting Canfield Hall a bit later and it was cloudy again, so here’s a better look:

Such a beautiful detail on an already-great building. Here’s that chimney I was talking about:

From that angle, you can also see that the building has slate roofing. I’m unsure if it’s original, probably just a replacement considering the building’s age, but slate has a much longer lifespan than asphalt.

The entrance has this weird balcony behind a locked door…

…as well as a stone relief of John Mack incorporated into the wall.

Inside, I was surprised how tight and intimate the interior was. Most of the campus dorms are pretty cramped, but this one felt nicer due to the interior decoration. Take notes, W. E. Linch. The front desk was closed during daytime on a weekday, which is odd for most dorms:

Looking down the ground floor’s hallway:

The stairs had their original hardware and newel posts:

Here’s an average hallway. I’m surprised they haven’t dropped the ceiling and covered up all the wiring and conduits.

The bathrooms stick out oddly into the hallway, as seen above, and these hallways are rather utilitarian. It is probably the product of the 2000 renovation.

Something that began to strike me as I wandered was how stinky Mack was. It smelled like rancid B.O. Most campus buildings either smell clean or don’t at all, so this was odd to me.

Rounding the corner towards the more southern entrance, the hallway becomes paneled in wood:

THIS is what I picture when I think of “old college dorms.” Rich wood paneling, trophy cases with the rowing awards won by Cornelius Noseworthy III in 1900, and a warm and cozy atmosphere. It just needs a fire going.

Another view of that study room by the lobby:

I can’t tell if this is original decor or not…the balusters could equally be 1920s design or 1980s kitsch. Towards the south, I found the doors to the balcony seen earlier:

I headed east and found this microscopic study room:

The building jogged left again and I was confused…I didn’t think Mack was that big. It wasn’t until I looked out the above window and saw Fechko House that I realized that I was actually in Canfield Hall. The two are connected after all.

On the fourth floor, the most busted college football rankings I’ve ever seen:

These have got to be from week 1. I don’t know what Ohio State fan in their right mind would rank Alabama over us, even if they had a better record. USC is dog this year and is barely bowl eligible, Mizzou doesn’t even deserve a ranking at this point, and all the SEC teams have like 3 losses because they keep losing to each other and crappy unranked teams like Vanderbilt.

Roof access:

Mack Hall is planned to be renovated in the near future, according to Framework 3.0.

Sources:

https://kb.osu.edu/handle/1811/24059

https://library.osu.edu/site/buckeyestroll/

https://library.osu.edu/site/archives/?s=mack

https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/p16802coll32/id/2775/rec/1

https://library.osu.edu/site/ohiostadium/campus-maps/

https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-state-university/2014/03/34247/throwbackthursday-mack-hall

https://pare.osu.edu/core-south

RAMassacre

Photos from November 2024.

As of the time of writing, the Timashev Family Music Building and the Department of Theatre, Film, and Media Arts Building are the two newest buildings on Ohio State’s campus. They’re not RAMSA’s best work, in my opinion, a bit of a…massacre. (I’m reaching a bit to make a pun on their name) These names are a bit of a mouthful, so I’ll refer to them as Timashev and the Theatre Building for brevity. Since they are so new, the history section of this article will be pretty much nonexistent.

As in other articles where I’m covering a series of buildings that are effectively identical, I split this article into sections about each individual structure.

Timashev Family Music Building History

Timashev is the southernmost of the two buildings. It is sandwiched between the Wexner Center to the east and Weigel Hall to the south, and is bordered by the Theatre Building to the north and Hughes Hall to the west. The project is known as the “Arts District,” and the building was designed by RAMSA (Robert A.M. Stern Architects) and DLR Group from 2018-2019. I had no idea such a big architecture firm was involved, especially the Classical Revivalist firm RAMSA, but something tells me Ohio State shot down any plans that weren’t the sterile contemporary result. Construction on Timashev began in June 2019 and finished in January 2022, which included removing the front facade of Weigel Hall to accommodate the new construction. With 96,000 square feet of space, it was first used and dedicated the following autumn (October 23, 2022), which I was present for.

The Timashev Family Music Building is named after alumnus Ratmir Timashev, who made the single largest donation to Ohio State in its history ($17 million). He owns some cloud data management company based in Columbus.

My first semester at OSU happened to be autumn 2022, right when Timashev opened. I was a member of the Symphonic Band, which had quite the eccentric director. He liked to make comments about the new building, and apparently I was one of the first to play inside the rehearsal hall, a member of the first ensemble to rehearse inside the same room, and probably the first to make a sketch of the building, since I needed something not out of my way to fill my sketchbook. (For freshman studio, we were graded on having a completed sketchbook.) We had an open rehearsal at the dedication ceremony on October 23, which I don’t remember well, but I recall finding it boring.

Timashev Family Music Building Photos

I hate how oppressive the facades of these buildings are. I took these photos on a cloudy, rainy day, so their dark and orthogonal nature is emphasized. Here’s my take on that crappy render of them that I see everywhere:

Doesn’t this just spark joy?

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

I hate the ongoing trend of spurning any sort of organization in facades nowadays. Everything must be chaotic and unrigid. This is a pretty tame example, but the result is still confusing:

Between Timashev and the Theatre Building, there’s a brick courtyard that opens up to the pathway towards High Street. I'm sure 17th Avenue ran this way at one point, but it was a sidewalk by 2012.

The benches have musical notation and lyrics written on them:

Heading inside, you can see the axis that defines the organization of the interior. I will give RAMSA this--the lobby is very airy and open, and the expanses of glass bring much natural light inside.

Looking into the rehearsal hall, aka “the fishbowl:”

I’ve never seen a plaque this massive honoring a donor before.

Heading up to the second floor, I began to hear the sound of music that permeated the building. It added interest to the otherwise bland interior. This is what pretty much all the interior spaces look like:

This looks climbable.

On the fifth floor, the windows actually extended to the hallways instead of being attached to faculty offices/classrooms. Here’s the view looking west:

Hughes Hall dominates most of that view, but I can also see Denney Hall, Mathematics Tower, Lincoln and Morrill Tower, University Hall’s clock tower, Thompson Library, and the massive new hospital building.

Looking northwest, you can also see Stillman Hall, McPherson Lab, Smith Lab, 18th Avenue Library, and Dreese Labs’ tower.

Department of Theatre, Film, and Media Arts Building History

The Theatre Building is the northernmost of the two, standing north of Timashev, south of the Arps Garage and Ramseyer Hall, east of Stillman Hall, and west of Arps Hall. It is part of the same Arts District project and was likewise designed by RAMSA and DLR Group in an identical contemporary style. However, it was built and occupied a bit later--construction took place from November 2020 - June 2023, and the building opened for the autumn 2023 semester.

Presently, the Theatre Building is named after its tenants. If its name changes, I will update this article.

Department of Theatre, Film, and Media Arts Building Photos

The Theatre Building is roughly half the size of Timashev in plan, so it’s a little cuter-looking. The glass facade works out to be symmetrical, which I think looks better than the asymmetrical one on Timashev.

The interior is largely the same:

The building holds two theaters on the ground floor: the Proscenium and Blackbox. The Proscenium Theatre has double the capacity of the Blackbox.

Both were locked. In between the ground and first floors, there was an inaccessible mezzanine level. On the next floor I heard drilling and sawing. I think this is where the sets are assembled:

I rounded the corner of the stairwell onto the second floor and saw…costumes!

These are crazy detailed and super high quality. The rest of the second floor is classrooms:

The third floor, which I didn’t photograph, has video/editing studios and the film supplies rental. The fourth has faculty offices, and apparently they have a kitchen: