



The Fine Arts Center at UMASS Amherst, by Kevin Roche and John Dinkeloo, completed in 1974. Photo ©Darren Bradley

UMASS Amherst has one of the finest collections of Modernist architecture in the United States. And they’re very sorry about that.

Campus Center by Marcel Breuer. Photo ©Darren Bradley

If you peruse the website for UMASS Amherst, you learn that it is proudly considered to be the “flagship” campus of the University of Massachusetts system. You learn about their educational programs, extracurricular activities, community engagement, and all sorts of other things. But what you do not learn is that the place is full of Modernist architecture, from some of the 20th century’s greatest names.





They clearly seem to be hiding this fact. Even when looking at the website photo gallery, only one of the photos even hints at this…

Rare photo from the school's website that actually features some of the Modernist architecture.

The rest of the photos show attractive, smiling students in and around the [rather mediocre] newer contemporary buildings on campus, or the old chapel.

Photo from the UMASS website photo gallery.





Photo from the UMASS Amherst Photo Gallery

I’m guessing these omissions of the school's Modernist architecture are not a coincidence.





When you spend your time around like-minded architects and designers like I do, it’s easy to forget that the rest of the world still mostly regards Modernist architecture - especially Brutalism - as “dated”, “cold”, "ugly", or even “oppressive”. So whomever is in charge of marketing for UMASS Amherst clearly decided to sweep that Modernist heritage under the rug.

Photo on the UMASS website featuring the student residential buildings... Looks very traditional New England, doesn't it? They decided NOT to feature the SOM-designed dorms in the Southwest Residential Area... wonder why?

After all, you wouldn’t want to scare all of those bright-eyed kids you’re trying to recruit. And people these days have an expectation that a university campus should either look like Hogwarts or Google’s HQ. Old, stained concrete buildings just won’t do.

In 1966, UMASS Dartmouth was proud of their modern student residential accommodations, which were designed by Hugh Stubbins, Jr. for Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill. Photo from the UMASS Photo Archive.





The smiling students used to pose proudly in front of their Modernist high-rise dormitories. Photo from the UMASS Photo Archive.

That’s a shame, however, because those old, stained concrete buildings are simply magnificent.

Herter Hall was designed by the Coletti Brothers of Boston, MA, and completed in 1969. Photo ©Darren Bradley

I have known about the UMASS Amherst campus for some time, but even I had not realized the extent of their collection. When Sam Lubell and I did our book with Phaidon on East Coast Modernism and were touring around New England a couple of years ago to research and photograph projects, Amherst was on our list. But we ended up skipping over it in the end because of bad weather at the time. We planned to go back but never had the chance. We didn’t really think it was that important. We knew about the Breuer building, but we already had plenty of other Breuer projects in the book.

Bronx Community College by Marcel Breuer... one of my favorite projects by the architect that we featured in the Phaidon East Coast Modernism Guide. Photo ©Darren Bradley

Also, Amherst is in the middle of nowhere and pretty hard to get to. “In the sleepy West, of the Woody East, in a Valley full o' Pioneer”, as Pixies described it their song UMASS . (Pixies lead singer Black Francis met guitarist Joey Santiago while they were both students at the school in the 1980s. Amherst is located in an area called Pioneer Valley).

L-R, David Lovering, Black Francis, Joey Santiago, and Kim Deal of the Pixies. Black Francis and Joey Santiago met while students at UMASS, and then dropped out to form the iconic band.

So anyway, back to architecture... I have lots of excuses for not including UMASS Amherst in our book. Of course now, having finally had the chance to visit, I feel like an idiot. I’m embarrassed. UMASS Amherst is amazing.

Murray D. Lincoln Campus Center by Marcel Breuer. Photo ©Darren Bradley

The building by Bauhaus architect Marcel Breuer is probably the most well known. Situated on a monumental pedestal in the middle of the university, the Murray D. Lincoln Campus Center is easy to spot. The varied patterns in the facade indicate its various functions: the first four floors above the lobby clearly indicate the hotel rooms. The floors above have smaller windows for offices and meeting rooms, and the top floors have terraces on the south side, with screens to shield them from the sun. Stairwell towers on either side also clearly show their function.

Stairwell from Breuer's Campus Center. Photo ©Darren Bradley

Breuer had a real talent for working with concrete. His designs are both futuristic and timeless. More than any other architect, he seemed to understand and appreciate the importance of light and shadows on the building’s facade. There is always a unique pattern which changes as the sun moves across the sky, and the concrete seems almost soft and pliable in his hands. Breuer is clearly “The Concrete Whisperer”…

South elevation of Breuer's Campus Center. Photo ©Darren Bradley

But Breuer wasn’t the only one doing brilliant things on campus with concrete. For me, the most impressive and interesting building there is actually the Fine Arts Center, by Kevin Roche and John Dinkeloo (1972-74). This monumental building presents all of the rooms and studio spaces in a linear manner, suspended 30-ft in the air across a broad expanse. It's incredible to see.

Fine Arts Center by Roche and Dinkeloo. Photo ©Darren Bradley

Adjacent to that is a series of poured concrete shapes that contain additional offices, classrooms, galleries, and studios, but in a much more human scale. The whole place is fascinating to experience.





Fine Arts Center, with the suspended "gateway" structure on the left, and the low slung workspaces on the right. Photo ©Darren Bradley

Kevin Roche and John Dinkeloo worked for Eero Saarinen and took over that office with Saarinen's premature death. They have gone on to have storied careers in their own right.





The other marquis building in the center of campus is the W.E.B. Du Bois Library, which is a brick tower designed by Edward Durell Stone and completed in 1974. This 28-storey building (!) is a rather unconventional design for a university library. Durell Stone was at the top of his game at the time, and was known as the king of New Formalism, incorporating classicist design into Modernism for buildings such as the American Embassy in New Delhi and the Wilshire Colonnade in Los Angeles. Durell Stone originally called for the building to be clad in stone or concrete, but the university leadership wanted red brick...

W.E.B. Du Bois Library Tower, designed by Edward Durell Stone and completed in 1973. Photo ©Darren Bradley

Within a year of its completion, the bricks used for the cladding began to crumble and fall out, posing a grave safety risk. By 1979, the library had to be completely closed and the books moved back into the old building. The tower remained closed for nearly a decade, until an engineering fix could be found. It's back in use now, though.

The Library Tower, seen shortly after its completion. Photo from the UMASS Photo Archives.

Even the stadium there was designed by one of the most famous architects of the Modernist era, Gordon Bunshaft of Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill.

The McGuirk Alumni Stadium was designed by Gordon Bunshaft of SOM in 1964-65. Photo from the UMASS Photo Archives.

But there are also plenty of lesser known but equally beautiful Modernist buildings on campus. Here are just a few that I was able photograph:

Herter Hall, by the Coletti Bros., 1969. Photo ©Darren Bradley





Whitmore Hall, by Campbell and Aldrich, 1967. Photo ©Darren Bradley





Tobin Hall... architect and date unknown. Photo ©Darren Bradley

After decades of neglecting their existing Modernist buildings, UMASS Amherst is experiencing a tremendous building boom at the moment. With all of the new construction, it was a challenge to photograph many of the buildings while avoiding construction fencing, tractors, scaffolding, etc. I just hope that once the dust settles on all of the new construction, this university's Modernist soul will remain intact, and hopefully start seeing some love.



