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Austin Hall (Harvard University)

 

 
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Austin Hall (Harvard University)
 
 
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Austin Hall is a classroom building of the Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School

Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, it is the United States' oldest law school in continuous operation....
 designed by noted American architect H. H. Richardson
Henry Hobson Richardson

Henry Hobson Richardson was a prominent United States architect of the 19th century whose work left a significant impact on Boston, Pittsburgh, Albany, New York and Chicago, among others....
. The first building purpose built for an American law school, it was also the first dedicated home of Harvard Law. It is located on the Harvard University
Harvard University

Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States, and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the Colonial Colleges institution of higher learning in the United States....
 campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Cambridge is a city in the Greater Boston area of Massachusetts, United States. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England....
.

The hall was built 1882-1884 in Romanesque Revival style. Single-story wings flank a heavy, two-story central mass, with the reading room extending rearwards to form an overall T shape.






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Austin Hall is a classroom building of the Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School

Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, it is the United States' oldest law school in continuous operation....
 designed by noted American architect H. H. Richardson
Henry Hobson Richardson

Henry Hobson Richardson was a prominent United States architect of the 19th century whose work left a significant impact on Boston, Pittsburgh, Albany, New York and Chicago, among others....
. The first building purpose built for an American law school, it was also the first dedicated home of Harvard Law. It is located on the Harvard University
Harvard University

Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States, and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the Colonial Colleges institution of higher learning in the United States....
 campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Cambridge is a city in the Greater Boston area of Massachusetts, United States. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England....
.

The hall was built 1882-1884 in Romanesque Revival style. Single-story wings flank a heavy, two-story central mass, with the reading room extending rearwards to form an overall T shape. A central entryway framed with Romanesque triple arch is set deep within the building's flat front facade, with an asymmetric stairway tower protruding forwards to its right. The building is faced with Longmeadow sandstone in striking polychrome patterns, the light stones forming checkerboards within dark, reddish walls. The arches are of pale Ohio sandstone, as is the thick cornice band incised with a lengthy and sententious motto.

Austin Hall's first floor contains three large classrooms; these were designed to complement the new law school curriculum that was being implemented at the time by Dean Christopher Columbus Langdell
Christopher Columbus Langdell

Christopher Columbus Langdell , United States jurist, was born in the town of New Boston, New Hampshire, of English and Scotch-Irish American ancestry....
, including large core classes employing the Socratic method
Socratic method

The Socratic Method , named after the classical Greece Philosophy Socrates, is a form of philosophy inquiry in which the questioner explores the implications of others' positions, to stimulate rational thinking and illuminate ideas....
. As this curriculum has been imitated by other American law schools, so has the classroom layout first employed at Austin Hall.

The building's second floor contains the Ames Courtroom, where students argue moot cases before panels of judges. A United States Supreme Court justice usually presides over the moot court's final round. The reading room's interior has been judged particularly fine for its ornamented fireplace and tie beams carved with the heads of dragons and boars.