Residential colleges at Harvard and Yale

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
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<p>Yes, that argument could be made, but unfortunately it would be wrong. Yale has always made it plain that the archtecture was copied directly from Oxford and Cambridge, which DO date directly to the medieval gothic period.<br>
<a href="http://www.yaleherald.com/archive/frosh/2001/blue/p54.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.yaleherald.com/archive/frosh/2001/blue/p54.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>My Yale tour guide told the story of how they even poured acid over the new Yale building stones to copy the aged look of medieval stones with the result that the acid weakened some of the stones so much that chunks broke off, endangering passersby below.</p>

<p>But again, there is nothing wrong with the Yale look being a copy. It still looks great.</p>

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<p>My point was that the collegiate gothic trend was well underway, influenced by the victorian gothic trend (which is very well represented at yale. Not all of the gothic at Yale is perpendicular/medieval). Yale only took it to a unique extreme. Yes, the Law School was inspired by King's College at Cambridge, the Gym was designed to resemble elements of Lincoln Cathedral, and the Library to feel like, well, just a medieval cathedral. The point is that these were inspirations, not exact models. How many medieval cathedrals have marble carvings depicting the signing of the declaration of independence on the walls? I doubt King's College has gargoyles that are early 20th century police officers. All of this was first inspired by a movement that was already taking place to bring this architecture to a modern context. It happens all of the time: look at the neo-classical architecture of washington DC or gothic revival buildings in London. "Copy" is the wrong word. You are right that James Gamble Rogers designed the perpendicular buildings with an eye towards antiquity, however.</p>

<p>By the way, Yale is not nearly all gothic. Some of the most beautiful Yale buildings are indeed neoclassical, georgian/colonial, and modern.</p>

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<p>From the above Yale Herald link:</p>

<p>"Yale, however, hired architect James Gamble Rogers to give the school an older feel. The University sought to imitate Britain's venerable Oxford and Cambridge Universities: established bastions of academic prestige. "</p>

<p>I'm not sure there is enough difference in meaning between the verbs "copy" and "imitate" to support your point. But I guess we could go with "Imitation-Gothic" if that is the more appropriate term.</p>