Oxbridge's Tudor Gothic Influences on American Academic Architecture

Abstract

Since the founding of Harvard College in 1636, Oxford and Cambridge have significantly influenced American institutions of higher learning. Yet, their architectural legacy has received scant attention. This article addresses this important dimension in four ways. First, the architectural historiography of American higher education is discussed by reviewing both comprehensive works and institutional histories of colleges and universities. The second section explores the meaning of the Gothic architectural style, with particular attention devoted to its theological and mystical dimensions. Insights from Aquinas and Bonaventure are used to explain the rationales for building the earliest Gothic cathedrals and the meaning of their structures. The large third section then describes the importation of these Gothic and Tudor Gothic designs to American campuses, as noted in architectural digests and institutional histories. There appear to be four overlapping stages in the adoption of this academic architectural style in the United States: (1) the early Gothic up to 1880; (2) the Tudor Gothic from 1880 to 1920; (3) the Gothic Revival from 1892 to 1930; and (4) the modern Tudor Gothic from 1930 to the present, particularly developed at church‐sponsored colleges and universities. Finally, a coda focuses on the relationship between the recurring crises in American undergraduate education and the recourse to strengthening residential life. It suggests that college leaders embroiled in curricular upheavals often embraced Tudor Gothic architecture as a way to reclaim the historic English collegiate ideal for their campuses.