It is imperative that we “[connect] the values and mission of the university to the needs of the state and the nation,” as the mission statement of the University of Texas tells us.[2] The University of Texas changes the world, but its roots are still firm in the Texas soil. America recognizes Texas as a unique part of the nation; Texas was its own republic before joining the Union on unconstitutional terms. America wanted Texas to join the Union so badly that the republic was not required to adhere to the Northwest Ordinance’s terms for a territory to become a state. These terms included a mandatory population of sixty thousand property-owning white males and a delegation in Washington that could participate in debate but have no say in the voting process. Texans have a sort of pride that cannot be found in residents of other states. John Steinbeck writes about Texas, “For all its enormous range of space, climate, and physical appearance, and for all the internal squabbles, contentions, and strivings, Texas has a tight cohesiveness perhaps stronger than any other section of America.”[3] From the Battle of San Jacinto, where Sam Houston routed the armies of Santa Anna, to San Jacinto Boulevard, where the national championship Longhorns routed Sam Houston State, Texas is home to a longstanding tradition of pride, excellence, and unique cultures. It is therefore appropriate that the university’s culture reflect the culture and the origin of the state of Texas itself. The Spanish influence that presided over Texas for centuries should not fade into the sunset; the Spanish Renaissance style of architecture exhibited in Battle Hall, Sutton Hall, and the New Main Building should form the basis for the new campus plan for the University of Texas at Austin.
John Steinbeck states “I have said that Texas is a state of mind, but I think it is more than that. It is a mystique closely approximating a religion. And this is true to the extent that people either passionately love Texas or passionately hate it and, as in other religions, few people dare to inspect it for fear of losing their bearings in mystery or paradox.”[4] The Spanish Renaissance form of architecture is perfect for the University of Texas because it “embodies within its very structure all the traits, mysticisms, and enigma of Spain,”[5] which directly influenced the development of the mysticisms and enigmas of Texas. According to H.W. Booton and Andrew N. Prentice, most of the distinguished architects in Spain were foreigners “imbued with the spirit or atmosphere of Spain.”[6] Like Spain under Ferdinand and Isabella, Texas had a special character about it that hypnotized the population of the southwestern United States in the mid 1800s. Thousands of families from Tennessee and other southern states sketched “G.T.T.” with chalk on their front doors: Gone to Texas. At that time Texas was as mystical and strange as Castilian y Leon.
Spanish, or Mediterranean, Renaissance style is based on Plateresque architecture, meaning literally “like silversmith’s work.”[9] The form’s name is typically given to the sixteenth-century style of architecture where “Gothic and Renaissance elements are freely and ingeniously blended.”[10] The style developed primarily into two distinct phases: the Gothic phase and the Renaissance phase. The Gothic, or Isabelline, Plateresque building was adorned with exterior decoration like shells, faceted stones, and heraldic devices and iconography.
It is in this form of architecture
that the shell, a symbol of pilgrimage and accomplishment, became most popular.
Ornamented facades housing small windows were
realized in "austere masonry and lime wash to resemble the retable of
churches,"[11] creating a
frame-like structure often seen behind alters in houses of worship. In
the later Renaissance Plateresque, classical columns mixed with Gothic tracery
and vaulting. The Gothic placement and construction of facades were further
embellished by Florentine decorations and classical motifs. Grotesque elements
like dragons, as illustrated in the Gothic Plateresque vault below, were
combined with classical figurines and intricate details. Layout of the building
was based on “geometric clarity and severity.”[12]
Appreciation for the beauty of Spanish Renaissance style on
the University of Texas campus has not been lost in the past ninety years; many
still consider Battle Hall to be 'the architectural gem of the campus.”[15]
Strict adherence to the original Spanish style campus
building plan is necessary to retain the traditions of the institution. Battle Hall architect Cass Gilbert's vision for campus can
still be seen in the buildings' and their decorations' representation of the
Spanish cultural influence which developed early Texas. His use of
smooth cream limestone as the primary building material reflects the Spanish
heritage of Texas; some of this rock was even quarried in the Austin area and
contains tiny shells. Symbols, icons, and other decorations which include “wide
projecting eaves, ornate coffers with […] a terra-cotta frieze”[16]
further suggest the rich cultural background that Texas comes from; the use of
these elements can be traced back to Castilian and Isabelline Spain. Sutton Hall, another Cass Gilbert
building, is decorated with colorful art and insignia characteristic of the Plateresque
style.[17]
Campus architect Paul Cret continued in the use of limestone and buff-to-orange
brick around campus in the 1930s, and his buildings, like the New Main Building
and Tower, maintain Gilbert’s Spanish Mediterranean Renaissance theme. While
Sutton Hall possesses large iron lanterns on either side of the main entrance,
the windows of Cret’s Waggoner Hall are covered with ornate iron framework. It
is no coincidence that the university’s most prized and acknowledged buildings
are the ones most consistent with the Spanish Plateresque architecture.
The interior of the buildings should be as beautiful as the outside, because all the qualities the Spanish Plateresque style represents – beauty, mysticism, and attention to detail – do not disappear the moment a student enters the building. The necessity for open spaces applies to a building’s interior as much so as the landscaping around its exterior. A large open foyer of a building provides the open space before giving way to smaller, more efficient classroom spaces. While the McCombs School of Business is not an example of the Spanish Plateresque architectural form, the open spaces at its entrances and the Hall of Honors seem as big as Texas itself. Even the student lounge workplace in the McCombs building has a ceiling four stories high. Similar to the landscaping scheme of the campus, open spaces within a building represent the limitless altitudes of success that University of Texas students can achieve. Spanish architectural elements like vaults and arched hallways make the interior of a building more interesting and catch the student’s awareness. Hallways decorated with student or professional artwork can not only enhance the beauty of the space, but also keep students in touch with the unique culture being created every day on the University of Texas campus and remind them of the Texan and American cultures as well. The use of decoration can make the interior of a building more aesthetically pleasing to enrich a student’s learning environment; there is much more room for a student’s mind to expand in a room that forces him to think than a bland rectangular one constructed with cinderblocks. It is vital that students connect to the buildings in which they attend class to unite themselves with the material they are learning.
New buildings must
follow the new Master Plan’s featured Spanish Renaissance architecture and also
allow for more open spaces and landscaping to maintain and respect the vision
of open spaces and nature that campus architect Paul Cret developed in the
1930s. Texas has long been a state of open plains and a hill country dubbed “a
land of false horizons.”[18]
Before Europeans even arrived in the Americas, Texas
has boasted of its connection to nature; Native American tribes like the Apache
and Comanche roamed the open plains of Texas living off of the land. Thus it
would be imprudent to construct a campus that ignored this. The flowing
streams, abundant herds of deer, and knee-high grass made Texas seem like
heaven on Earth for new settlers. In 1836, after arriving from Tennessee to
take part in the Texas Revolution, David Crockett remarked, “I must say as to
what I have seen of Texas it is the garden spot of the world. The best land and
the best prospects for health I ever saw, and I do believe it is a fortune to
any man to come here. There is a world of country here to settle.”[19]
The landscaping of the University of Texas Master Plan should be designed in
the future to portray the “garden spot” that Crockett depicts. While the campus
should not necessarily reflect the flora of Texas to the extent of prickly pears,
the scheme of the landscaping must always retain the availability of open
spaces. The pleasant fields and waters are what invite students to stay and
abide at a university, so it is of utmost importance that the natural elements
of a college campus are respected in new construction and expansion.[20] 
[21]
[22]
The new Master Plan should welcome a return to symmetry and order in the campus’s buildings and landscaping. Cret’s design of the three-lawn system around the Main Building separated the campus into symmetrical geometric portions that provided for plenty of open space and landscaping. The South Lawn is constantly occupied by students studying, playing Frisbee, or sunbathing. Immediately south of the Main Building, hedges are used to provide a sense of boundary while leaving the wide open space intact. However, in more recent construction the respect for symmetry and room for nature has decreased in areas outside the three lawns around the tower. The Red McCombs School of Business and Sanchéz Education building are monoliths that contain all the works of a single school within the same building. Students today are unable to walk outside between classes or even take advantage of the shade provided by a line of well-placed trees to appreciate nature’s beauty. An element of the traditional college campus, the residence hall quad, has been eliminated as the colossal Jester center strives for maximum efficiency over beauty and design. The continued use of low hedges imitating those in the Tower courtyard is encouraged; trees provide much needed shade, but hedges, unlike trees, do not restrict the open space which the University of Texas campus should promote. The campus should feel limitless because the institution itself provides limitless opportunities to its students and faculty. Instead of metal fences outside of a building to create a border around a certain space, hedges should be used to provide the same border without the negative connotation that a black metal fence has.
Hedges provide for a more natural
sort of fence that enhances the beauty of the campus without containing its
open spaces. Wide open landscapes will symbolize the boundless horizons
Longhorn students will encounter in life. However, the beauty of our campus
should offer its own distinct boundary to the surrounding city of Austin to
preserve our own university culture. The university
should not require high walls or thick trees to distinguish its boundaries from
the city; the landscaping and natural beauty of the campus will make this
distinction clear in its own. Oxford’s downfall, according to Newman,
was when they were forced to sell their open spaces and “the country at length
became town.”[23]
To show the pride the University of Texas has for the state that chartered it, the appearance of the institution must reflect and pay homage to the state’s beginnings. Texas’s greatest symbols reflect the state’s legacy and tradition; the Alamo in San Antonio is an example of the Spanish Renaissance style in Texas.
The Alamo Mission in San
Antonio, Texas
The building’s Plateresque features include classical columns, narrow windows, and exterior facades housing detailed sculptures. In the future the campus plan should continue representing the Spanish Style, using red Spanish tile on pitched roofs, constructing small and subtle balconies, and marking the buildings with ornate ironwork and delicate ornamentation. Only through this course will the University of Texas maintain the unique Texas culture that the fine institution was founded on. In 1950, the Board of Regents labeled Battle Hall as a “corner forever Texas.”[27] The university should strive to make the entire campus a “corner forever Texas” as the Austin area continues to grow and the old vision of Texas slowly disappears.
My Second Life Version of Battle
Hall
Notes
- Overall Word Count: 2194.
- Word Count Excluding Captions and Quotes: 1918.
- Pictures not cited were taken by Garrison Taylor in September 2006.
- The Second Life Project, as seen above, is located southwest of the Main Building, where Battle Hall exists in real life. The portrait inside links to:
https://webspace.utexas.edu/grt246/Campus%20Master%20Plan/masterplan.htm?uniq=-g46fb3
