herr2ck: Respect Your Elders

Photos from February 2024.

Arps Hall is an example of the interesting results when Beaux-Arts architecture meets master plans requiring brick exteriors. It’s tucked away in an odd section of campus, and the beautiful 1926 facade seems to fly under the radar a bit. Additionally, mid-century renovations have further altered the building. Arps Hall is located on the very eastern tip of campus, bordered by 18th Avenue and the Arps Garage to the north, the Wexner Center to the south, High Street to the east, and the Theatre Building to the west.

History

The Education Building’s original appearance, undated. (University Archives)

Arps Hall was designed as the Education Building by university architect Joseph N. Bradford in 1924. Construction work began that October by D. W. McGrath & Sons, which was fully concluded by June 1926 at a cost of $341,324. The College of Education’s offices moved in on March 25 of that year.

The Education Building’s original footprint.

Arps Hall was also built on the site of Ohio Field, the original home of the football team before Ohio Stadium was built. Subsequent interpretive signs have been built on the lawn to the east of the building, which immortalize Ohio Field to the average passerby.

A rendering of the addition of Arps Hall by Sims, Cornelius, and Schooley. (University Archives)

In 1956, the firm Sims, Cornelius, and Schooley (predecessor to Schooley Caldwell) designed an addition to Arps Hall. This Mid-Century Modern design extends northward from the original building on both its east and west ends. Work began in December 1956, with Frank Messer & Sons as the general contractor, and the new space was assigned for usage in February 1959. The addition cost about $1.5 million and brought the building to a total of 74,064 square feet.

Arps Hall’s current footprint.

Arps Hall’s addition seems to be a rare case of Modernist additions to older buildings on Ohio State’s campus that respond to the original architecture, as the proportions are similar and the stone string-courses between each story are carried over. Additionally, the original structure was not defaced (at least on the exterior). The three-dimensionality, varying materials, and even applied ornament of this design make the other campus architecture of banal brick boxes look like child’s play. Although the ornamentation extends to metal spandrels and grills on the eastern entry, this was an uncommon move for Modernist-era architecture. The elaborate decoration of earlier designs was viewed as frivolous and even ugly, detracting from the simple tectonic nature of what a building should be, hence the glass boxes that generally proliferated during the era. (Obviously I disagree, but I’m being objective for once.) This is made even more confusing considering the automobile design trends of the era, which were full of ostentatious detail.

Detail of Arps Hall’s east entrance c. 1965. (Buckeye Stroll)

In March 1971, a janitor started three fires in the basement of Arps Hall, causing $10,000 worth of damage. He was charged with arson.

According to John Herrick, the only inhabitants as of 1986 were the College of Education, the Education Library, and the Department of Psychology after it separated from the College of Education in 1968. The Dean of Education’s offices are still inside, though today Arps Hall also houses the Department of Human Sciences, the Department of Economics, and the American Language Program.

Recently, Arps Hall received a masonry and cornice restoration, which was done by Dublin firm eS Architecture. This is probably why the brick of the older building appears more vibrant and clean than the mid-century additions.

The Education Building was renamed “Arps Hall” by the Board of Trustees in September 1939, after George F. Arps. Arps was the dean of the College of Education from 1920 to 1937, later serving as the Dean of the Graduate School until his death in 1939.

Photos

It’s tough to get a straight-on shot of Arps Hall’s main facade, since there is only a narrow strip of sidewalk (which used to be 17th Avenue) between it and the Wexner Center. Angled is the only way to get everything:

The entry projection specifically is one of my favorite facades on campus, only surpassed by Hayes and Orton Hall.

Just look at all those details! I busted out the zoom lens and got started documenting them. First is the entablature and tympanum above the door:

The central arch and broken pediment:

The interior panel of the arch features a circular window and ornamental panels carved with cornucopias. The arch’s keystone is emblazoned with a face.

Zooming into the molding of the pediment, the dentils and egg-and-dart molding are in line with the established Ionic order. The stone is stained with soot, and it looks like the mortar needs repointing:

I like these elaborate Ionic capitals, too.

Here’s the corner of the Modernist addition as it relates to the original building:

It’s remarkable how similar the two are, even though they’re designed in different styles:

This is due to the well-integrated nature of the newer design. Again, this addition is unusually detailed for a work of Modernist architecture, and it carries over many elements from the original building. It maintains the same proportions and height, materiality, fenestration (though no vaulted windows on the first floor), string courses, and even the same recessing in the brick bond. The main differences are the lack of Greek orders (obviously), a different shade of brick, and the window styles, which is partially due to the black mullions of the original building being contemporary replacements.

It starts to get wonkier on the east side, though. Here, you can see the various Modernist-era design choices:

The central entrance:

Detail of the entrance and the surrounding ornamental metal grills:

The spandrels are pretty cool too:

Looking southwest at the facade:

If I had a time machine and went back 110 years ago, I wonder if I would get flattened by Chic Harley here. (This was where Ohio Field used to stand.)

In back, the building makes a sort of U-shape:

The original building has a plethora of lovely window shapes. It’s a shame these beautiful arched windows are confined to the back, out of view:

Detail--I wonder what’s up with it being suddenly cut off like this, I'm unsure that Bradford designed it that way:

I can’t get over this brickwork--it really imitates stone so effortlessly here:

The western half of the Modernist addition has this grimy fire escape:

Okay, this next one has to be one of my best campus photos yet…this lighting is off the charts:

Now do you see why I like three-dimensionality and ornament in architecture? The way light hits it creates these kinds of wondrous moments. I felt like I was walking through a city street during the turn of the 20th century.

Again, my back was right up against the Theatre Building here, but I tried my best to get a good picture of this portion of the facade:

The entrance:

These Ionic brick pilasters are really interesting and unique:

This next one isn’t quite framed to my liking, but I was trying to accentuate the cast-iron spandrels and balusters.

The interior is pretty cool too. This is your view entering from the main south entrance:

It’s definitely been millennial gray-ified, but at least the original molding is there.

I don’t think this glass treatment is original, though the portico definitely is:

Original wooden doors, too!

The hallways are vaulted, too. That’s a pretty unique historic feature.

It unfortunately yields to the gross drop ceiling in the Modernist addition, though.

Gross carpet, too…no more fancy terrazzo floors:

I thought this wood molding was cool, too:

The stairs are really funky and swoopy:

The first floor is mostly offices, and it’s where the College of Education and Human Ecology is headquartered. The second floor has some classrooms, too.