herr2ck: On a Diet

November 2024.

Cunz Hall, once the home of Ohio State’s language departments, is a rare example of Brutalist architecture on campus. (The only others I can think of are the Wilce Student Health Center and Weigel Hall, both significantly altered, and the demolished Drake Union.) It was recently renovated and is now LEED Silver certified, which is always a plus in my book. Its namesake is also probably the coolest guy that a building on campus has been named after--a gay author who escaped Nazi Germany to teach German.

Cunz Hall is located on midwest campus, bordered by the RPAC to the north, Neil Drive to the south, the Psychology Building to the east, and McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion to the west.

History

A rendering of Cunz Hall from 1968. (Buckeye Stroll)

Cunz Hall was designed by Potter, Tyler, Martin, and Roth, a Cincinnati firm that specialized in Modernist designs. Construction began that September, the general contractor being Sheaf Construction Co., and much of the building was released for use on November 14, 1969. At a cost of $2.46 million, Cunz Hall has 34,260 square feet of space. It was dedicated on January 9, 1970.

I’m attributing Cunz Hall as Brutalist due to the heavy massing, concrete materiality, and the tiny windows and brise-soleils. Buckeye Stroll calls it Modernist, which is sort of true considering Brutalism spawned from Modernism. It also has a steel frame, whereas many campus buildings are framed in wood or reinforced concrete.

A view of Cunz Hall’s entrance, undated, 1970s? (Buckeye Stroll)

Cunz Hall was built to house the language departments and was also known as the “Language Building.” Its full Board of Trustees-given name is “The Dieter Cunz Hall of Languages,” which is a bit of a mouthful.

In 2011, Cunz Hall was renovated and became the first building on campus to be LEED certified. Apparently, the building was having a multitude of issues. The opaque nature of the Brutalist design led to a lack of natural light inside, the interior was confusing to navigate, there were air and water infiltration issues, it didn’t fit with its surroundings (JBAD’s opinion, not mine, I think it worked fine beforehand), and the four identical entries lead to a “lack of clarity.” OSU specified that the building’s structure and exterior panels had to be maintained, so that’s the reason it’s still a concrete box and not a glass box. A two-story atrium was carved into the middle of the building facing north-south, and new entries were added with glass curtain walls. Stair towers were also built adjacent to each entrance, fully transparent with glass walls, which JBAD says “clearly establish[es] the new points of access.” The dissonance between concrete and glass is intentional--it is supposed to reinforce the old and create something new.

It seems like a lot of firms were involved with its renovation. Lawhon and Associates performed a hazardous building materials survey, since in the 1960s we built with asbestos and PCBs like real Murican patriots. They monitored the air quality and found solutions to dispose of the waste. Wheaton Sprague was the “Building Envelope Consultant,” and that firm oversaw the materials being used and how the facade was updated. Finally, JBAD was the design architect, meaning they designed many of the architectural features and corrected the building’s issues.

I’m honestly not sure how I feel about the renovation. While I think it was well-designed and integrated, and it seems like the building really needed it, all the firm websites pat themselves on the back in such a hoity-toity manner. At the same time, it’s not exactly like some masterpiece of architectural history was defaced here; and at a school like OSU that is continually growing, renovation of older buildings is very common. Maybe I just hate starchitects. At least it’s LEED Silver!

Dieter Cunz. (Find A Grave)

Cunz Hall was named after Dieter Cunz (1910-1969). He immigrated to Switzerland and then the United States from Nazi Germany, along with his partner Oskar Seidlin and friend Richard Plant. Cunz began teaching at the University of Maryland after he was expelled from the Nazi Writers’ Association in 1939. He stayed in Maryland until 1957, when he became the chair of the German department at Ohio State. Under his leadership the department grew in size, albeit partially due to baby boomers going to college. Cunz maintained his position at OSU until his death in 1969.

Photos

Before I begin, I’m gonna go on an odd tangent here. Bear with me.

As an architectural photographer, when I take pictures of buildings, I usually try to avoid having unnecessary things in the shot. (e.g. cars, people, etc.) Since the building is my subject, anything else is usually a distraction, and since these photos are uploaded online I try to respect people’s privacy. This was the case when I visited Cunz Hall, as I took two shots of the main facade: one with people that will be featured momentarily, and one without that I chose not to use.

I do think the one below was framed better, as the one not featured has Cunz Hall slightly off-center. However, when I uploaded my photos and went through them, I noticed that the girl third from left is looking towards the camera and smiling for the picture. I won’t lie, even though I’m introverted, having people do things like that or even approach me and ask questions always gasses me up a bit. It makes me enjoy what I do even more.

Right click → “Open image in new tab” → zoom in

Anyways…here’s a straighter shot of the main facade:

You can see how the addition references the original architecture, mainly through the metal frame projecting off the stair tower and the fenestration.

Looking at the corners, the brise-soleil terminates slightly before the edge. This was a deliberate choice, and I find it rather interesting to look at:

Around back, the design is largely similar, with the addition of a roof over the right section.

The supports of the roof have downspouts, which water the plants below them. I had a detail shot of them, but it came out unfocused for some reason.

It was late fall when I visited, yet the trees on the nearby walkway were still a brilliant orange.

Looking northeast, the rigid nature of Brutalism becomes apparent:

I think Brutalism is “over-hated” in a way. I’m aware that it is generally recognized as the architecture of oppressive regimes, like the USSR, and the materiality and expression of it are not popular with the average Joe. Personally, I think it was an interesting response to Modernism, and in some ways it defeats the fallacies of that style. I know for a fact W. E. Linch’s campus buildings lack any three-dimensionality whatsoever.

Before we head inside, here’s a closer view of the glassy stair tower:

The lobby is super contemporary-looking:

The plan of the building pretty much followed this same layout -- open central lobby surrounded by classrooms.

"What's it like to hold the hand of someone you love? Interlinked."

I tried to get a picture of the second floor’s roof garden, but for whatever reason all the glass has these little dots on them, which makes focusing a camera a nightmare: