Kallmann McKinnell & Wood
Encyclopedia
Kallmann McKinnell & Wood is an architectural design firm based in Boston
, Massachusetts
, established in 1962 as Kallmann McKinnell & Knowles by Gerhard M. Kallmann, Michael McKinnell, and Edward Knowles.
in 1962. Soon reconstituted as Kallmann McKinnell and Wood, ("Kallmann, the eldest member of the team, [is] German born and English educated. ... McKinnell [is] English born and educated. ... Both have served as ... educators at the Harvard Graduate School of Design." Henry A. Wood "joined the firm in 1965.") the firm would go on to design structures across the United States and abroad.
While the firm's "early period" consisted of bold structures of poured and pre-cast concrete, its later innovative work more often utilized brick, stone, copper, slate and cast stone, among other materials, for buildings that were less Brutalist in style and more postmodernist. In particular, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
in Cambridge, Massachusetts, established KMW's new direction with a copper-roofed villa set amidst a stand of woods.
KMW buildings have won the Harleston Parker Medal
, given out for the best new building in Greater Boston, more times than any other firm in the history of the medal.
In breaking with the smooth, curtain-wall surfaces and the simplified forms of the then-popular post-Miesian corporate modernism, Kallmann, McKinnell and Knowles' design asserted the civic presence of City Hall on the large surrounding plaza. McKinnell spoke of how concrete allowed architects to return to early modernist principles of truthful expression of structure and materials, while reacting critically to the corporate architectural establishment of the time. "After we won the City Hall competition, we were walking along Madison Avenue, and we spied [Philip] Johnson
coming towards us, waving his arms in typical Johnsonian fashion. 'Ah! I’m so happy for you two young boys who have won this competition. Absolutely marvelous. I think it’s wonderful. And it’s so ugly!' We thought that was the greatest praise we could get."
Boston City Hall has remained sharply controversial. Said McKinnell: "As we all know, Boston’s mayor
wants to sell or preferably tear down City Hall. But as [structural engineer] Bill LeMessurier
once said, it will take a controlled nuclear device to get rid of this building. So in a very real way, perhaps, we have made our legacy using concrete because it is so bloody difficult to get rid of.... We were right in the sense that architecture had to be rethought as something which is long-lived and, over time, could be decorated, embellished, and adorned by subsequent generations."
As of March 2011, plans are underway to re-think the building and its surrounding plaza.
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, established in 1962 as Kallmann McKinnell & Knowles by Gerhard M. Kallmann, Michael McKinnell, and Edward Knowles.
History
The firm originated when it won an international competition to design the Boston City HallBoston City Hall
Boston City Hall is the seat of the municipal government of Boston, Massachusetts. Architecturally, it is an example of the brutalist style. It was designed by Kallmann McKinnell & Knowles...
in 1962. Soon reconstituted as Kallmann McKinnell and Wood, ("Kallmann, the eldest member of the team, [is] German born and English educated. ... McKinnell [is] English born and educated. ... Both have served as ... educators at the Harvard Graduate School of Design." Henry A. Wood "joined the firm in 1965.") the firm would go on to design structures across the United States and abroad.
While the firm's "early period" consisted of bold structures of poured and pre-cast concrete, its later innovative work more often utilized brick, stone, copper, slate and cast stone, among other materials, for buildings that were less Brutalist in style and more postmodernist. In particular, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
in Cambridge, Massachusetts, established KMW's new direction with a copper-roofed villa set amidst a stand of woods.
KMW buildings have won the Harleston Parker Medal
Harleston Parker Medal
The Harleston Parker Medal was established in 1921 by J. Harleston Parker to recognize “such architects as shall have, in the opinion of the Boston Society of Architects. ....
, given out for the best new building in Greater Boston, more times than any other firm in the history of the medal.
Boston City Hall
The firm's design for Boston City Hall was considered by some to solve the complex building program in a dramatic, logical manner, and, despite its concrete massing, the building was seen by some to engage the historic city in ways that other competition entries did not. Shortly after the building's opening, New York Times architecture critic Ada Louise Huxtable wrote: "Boston can celebrate with the knowledge that it has produced a superior public building in an age that values cheapness over quality as a form of public virtue. It also has one of the handsomest buildings around, and thus far, one of the least understood.... It is a product of this moment and these times.... The result is a tough and complex building for a tough and complex age, a structure of dignity, humanism, and power." Public opinion, however, has been mixed, and remains so to this day.In breaking with the smooth, curtain-wall surfaces and the simplified forms of the then-popular post-Miesian corporate modernism, Kallmann, McKinnell and Knowles' design asserted the civic presence of City Hall on the large surrounding plaza. McKinnell spoke of how concrete allowed architects to return to early modernist principles of truthful expression of structure and materials, while reacting critically to the corporate architectural establishment of the time. "After we won the City Hall competition, we were walking along Madison Avenue, and we spied [Philip] Johnson
Philip Johnson
Philip Cortelyou Johnson was an influential American architect.In 1930, he founded the Department of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and later , as a trustee, he was awarded an American Institute of Architects Gold Medal and the first Pritzker Architecture...
coming towards us, waving his arms in typical Johnsonian fashion. 'Ah! I’m so happy for you two young boys who have won this competition. Absolutely marvelous. I think it’s wonderful. And it’s so ugly!' We thought that was the greatest praise we could get."
Boston City Hall has remained sharply controversial. Said McKinnell: "As we all know, Boston’s mayor
Thomas Menino
Thomas Michael "Tom" Menino is the mayor of Boston, Massachusetts, United States and the city's first Italian-American mayor...
wants to sell or preferably tear down City Hall. But as [structural engineer] Bill LeMessurier
William LeMessurier
William James LeMessurier was a prominent American structural engineer.Born in Pontiac, Michigan, LeMessurier graduated with an AB from Harvard, went to Harvard Graduate School of Design and then earned a master's degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1953. He was the founder and...
once said, it will take a controlled nuclear device to get rid of this building. So in a very real way, perhaps, we have made our legacy using concrete because it is so bloody difficult to get rid of.... We were right in the sense that architecture had to be rethought as something which is long-lived and, over time, could be decorated, embellished, and adorned by subsequent generations."
As of March 2011, plans are underway to re-think the building and its surrounding plaza.
Designs
- Boston City HallBoston City HallBoston City Hall is the seat of the municipal government of Boston, Massachusetts. Architecturally, it is an example of the brutalist style. It was designed by Kallmann McKinnell & Knowles...
and City Hall PlazaCity Hall Plaza (Boston)City Hall Plaza in Boston, Massachusetts, is a large, open, unadorned public space in the Government Center area of the city. The architectural firm Kallmann McKinnell & Knowles designed the plaza in 1962 to accompany Boston's new City Hall. The multi-level, irregularly-shaped plaza consists of red...
, Boston, Massachusetts - Becton, Dickinson and Company headquartersBecton, Dickinson and Company headquartersThe Becton, Dickinson and Company Corporate Headquarters is a corporate campus in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey. Built between 1986 and 1992, the buildings serve as the corporate and divisional headquarters of the Becton, Dickinson medical technology company...
- Back Bay (MBTA station)Back Bay (MBTA station)Back Bay station, located at 145 Dartmouth Street, between Stuart Street and Columbus Avenue, is a train station in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston...
, Boston, Massachusetts - Blanton Museum of ArtBlanton Museum of ArtThe Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art is the art museum and research center of the University of Texas at Austin. Formerly under the College of Fine Arts, the museum director now reports to the University's...
- University of Massachusetts BostonUniversity of Massachusetts BostonThe University of Massachusetts Boston, also known as UMass Boston, is an urban public research university and the second largest campus in the five-campus University of Massachusetts system. The university is located on on Harbor Point in the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States...
, Boston, Massachusetts - Phillips Exeter Academy athletics building, Exeter, New Hampshire (1970)
- William T. Young LibraryWilliam T. Young LibraryThe William T. Young Library, located on the campus of the University of Kentucky in Lexington, is named for William T. Young, a prominent local businessman, horse breeder, philanthropist and alumnus of the university, who began fund raising efforts with a donation of $5 million...
, Lexington, Kentucky - American Academy of Arts and SciencesAmerican Academy of Arts and SciencesThe American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
, Cambridge, Massachusetts
External links
- Google news archive. Articles about Kallmann McKinnell & Wood.
- Google news archive. Articles about Kallmann McKinnell & Knowles.
- Historic New England. Kallmann, McKinnell and Wood architectural collection, 1950-1995