Princeton Tour

1. Whig and Clio Halls: Classical Revival (1837)

History: The interest in the principles of ancient Greek and Roman architecture was a reaction to the curvilinear styles of Baroque and Rococo. Greece and Rome were perceived to be enlightened civilizations based on reason and respect for the laws of nature. Jefferson especially was enamored of classic revival and modeled the state capital in Virginia in that style, which was copied for banks, civic buildings, and homes. People were to identify with those great civilizations. One of the most influential neo-classic writers was a French priest, Abbe Laugier, who wrote Essays on Architecture in 1753. Another reason that neo-classicism became popular at the end of the eighteenth century was the History of Arts and Antiquity written by J. J. Winkelmann in 1764. New interest in art and architecture was important.

Mathematics: Both Clio Hall and Whig Hall have tall white pillars in front. Notice that the pillars have a smaller diameter toward the top. This creates the optical illusion of a taller building. If the pillars were the same size from top to bottom, what would be the volume of one pillar? Remember that the formula for the volume of a cylinder is . Discuss means of using your feet, hands, etc. to obtain the measurements you need. Since the pillars are smaller at the top, how will this change affect the resulting volume?

Between Clio and Whig Halls are steps which are adorned with two tigers. Using your own methods of measurement, determine a fraction which represents the change you make vertically divided by the change you make horizontally in moving from the bottom of the steps to the top. As you walk around the campus, see if you can find other steps for which this fraction would be larger or smaller.

Biology: Experience the gentle cooing of the doves as you approach Clio and Whig Halls, especially at sunrise. The careful placement of the twin sugar maples in front of Clio Hall is obvious. Note the pair of Bengal tigers between Clio and Whig Halls, as they face each other - their teeth bared, appearing to be ready to leap from their stone pedestals. Installed late in 1969, the bronze carnivores commemorate the arrival of the first women undergraduates of Princeton University. Can you tell which of these one-third larger than life animals is the male and which is the female? As you walk between the tigers, you will note the holly against each building to your right and left. As you turn left behind Whig, notice the continuity of green in the English ivy which hugs the building. A double row of tall elm trees graces the walk south of the building, interrupted by an occasional beech tree with its smooth gray bark, revealing romantic messages carved there by past students. Variety is accentuated as you turn left and encounter a menagerie of oaks on the green west of Whig Hall. These include deeply-lobed pin oaks, broad-lobed red oaks, willow oaks with narrow smooth leaves, and a lone chinquapin oak at the southwest corner of the green. The elm across the road and slightly east of Whig Hall displays the ravages of invasion by parasites, expressing its revenge through large, unsightly galls near its base.

Using your map, walk to the west and locate Blair Hall.

2. Blair Hall: Tudor or Collegiate Gothic (1897)

History: "Architects in the nineteenth century began to choose Gothic forms for their historical association with the middle ages and for their decorative character" (Reynolds, p. 25). Gothic revival was influenced by English architects who decided to rebuild in the style of ancient English architecture. Blair Hall is an excellent example of collegiate Gothic. "Gothic found at its best in the remaining examples at Oxford and Cambridge fully accords with our desires for Princeton," said Andrew Fleming West, trying to connect Princeton and the education tradition of England. This was a very conscious decision not only at Princeton but at many universities and colleges across America in the nineteenth century. The term "campus" (Latin for field) was coined at Princeton as early as 1774. Neo-Gothic architecture of this period was also glorified in the work of hand craftsmen. In Blair Hall each stone is hand hewn and made. On many Neo-Gothic buildings there is an interest in decoration, and many gargoyles decorate the facades. "Some historians believe that psychologists suggest that gargoyles represent the fears and superstitions of medieval man" (Spires, p. 1).

Biology: Blair Hall, on the south side, has ground cover of Japanese yew, muhgo pine, spreading yew, and Baltic ivy. The trees on this side are golden raintree and yellow poplar or tulip tree. The north side has fire thorn (pyracantha) and flowering dogwood growing up the side of the building.

Mathematics: Blair Hall has a clock on each side of its tower. What kind of numbers are on the clock faces? Explain how the numbers are formed with this numerical system.

On the arch facing Alexander Hall, beneath the clock, are twelve shields. Discuss the symmetry and patterns used to arrange the shields.

Move north to Holder Hall.

3. The Cloister of Holder Hall: Gothic

History: Literature of the nineteenth century exerted an influence on the architecture of the period. "As the novel became more historically sophisticated in such works as Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe, Kenilworth, and The Talisman, architecture turned toward a greater variety of literary sources for inspiration" (Reynolds, p. 26). This interest in the medieval past can be seen in a book written by Mrs. Ann Ward Radcliffe in 1797 called The Italian. In this novel, she delighted readers with a description of high vaulted aisles in twilight perspectives and dimly lit churches with monks and pilgrims crossing them. In Holder Hall and many other Gothic structures, note that the vault is an arched covering. Other distinctive features of this hall are the heavy slate roof, leaded casement windows, and four bronze tiger weather vanes, all distinctive details of Gothic architecture.

Biology: As you approach the building from the south, you will find a honey locust with its characteristic large thorns at the east end of this wall. Follow the wall to the west end and walk through the arched entrance. Inside the courtyard you will find a redbud tree. Notice that its leaves are heart-shaped. Growing on this tree's trunk are several galls which are analogous to human warts. Find door number six. The stone flowers would be classified as dicots because they have five petals. Many of the stone carvings in this building are bordered with grapes. In fact, fruit is very abundantly used in the stone carvings under the northwest archway: acorns amid oak leaves, the composite sunflowers with its many seeds. These symbols are appropriate in this setting, if one considers knowledge as the "fruit" of the intellectual endeavor.

Mathematics: Look at the tiles on the roof of Holder Hall. What do you notice about their size? (As the tiles approach the top of the roof they become smaller. Just like the columns at Clio Hall and Whig Hall, they give the illusion of a taller building.)

If you look just below the windows of several of the rooms you will notice stars. Each star represents a former student who was killed in a war. A star was placed outside each student's room. How many stars can you find at Holder Hall?

Sit and rest a minute on a bench nearby. If three people sat on the bench, in how many different arrangements could they sit?

Continue Princeton Trail

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