King-lui Wu
Encyclopedia
King-lui Wu was a Chinese-American architect
and professor at Yale University
from 1945–1988.
(Canton), China
in 1918. Wu's father was a businessman, but despising the work, he also pursued painting
and poetry
writing. As a boy, Wu attended the Lingnan Middle School in Hong Kong
where he was further exposed to Western art
, culture
and ideas. Impressed by the engineering
feats then occurring in industrializing China, he decided early in life to become an architect
. In 1937, he entered the University of Michigan
to begin his studies. In 1938, he transferred to Yale University
, attending until 1942. He subsequently switched to Harvard University
.
The graduate school of architecture
at Harvard, at this time, was under the direction of Walter Gropius
, former director of the Bauhaus
, who had arrived in the United States
in 1937. This was a transitional time for the study of architecture and design
at the school. The curriculum
had changed radically as Gropius invited other former Bauhaus instructors to join the faculty. Wu's classmates and instructors Marcel Breuer
, Landis Gores
, John Johansen and Philip Johnson
would achieve fame for their subsequent groundbreaking modern work in New Canaan, Connecticut
as members of the "Harvard Five
". Other noted classmates included I. M. Pei
, Paul Rudolph
and Edward Larrabee Barnes
.
After graduating with his Masters in Architecture, Wu moved back to New Haven, Connecticut
in 1945 and began teaching at Yale. He also opened his own design office at 320 York Street (later moving to 75 Howe Street). His first large commission came in 1947, when he was selected to design new buildings for the Yali Middle School and the Changsha Medical Center in Changsha, China. Wu spent several months in China, charged by the trustees with the task of creating buildings that were "simple and inexpensive to construct" with a beauty being "that of grace and proportion rather than of decoration and monumental design". Wu produced designs and studies for thirty-seven new buildings that included dormitories, libraries, classroom
s, medical offices and related facilities.
Wu reported on the problem of introducing new architectural forms for old China. He believed such a solution should combine "the scientific method
", which he felt was "the distinctive merit of Western Civilization" with a "just conception of the ends of life", being "the distinctive merit of the Chinese". Wu believed the fusion of these two qualities would be the guiding principle for organic growth in creating new forms. The conflict inherent in the architectural synthesis of these two distinct cultures was one often repeated by Wu. He called this the "battle between the head and the heart". Throughout his creative work, Wu sought to integrate the Western enthrallment with technology
, as seen in rationalism
of the Bauhaus, with Chinese romanticism
, as in his belief in the intrinsic calming aspect of the home expressed in his preference for the warmth of organic materials, natural light and picturesque views. The Chinese Civil War
ultimately halted the project, which never moved beyond the design phase.
The 1950s were a prolific time for the architect. The young professor
's ideas attracted the attention of members of the academic community, who typically possessed more open-mindedness than money. Wu designed some of his finest works, relying on architectural creativity
rather than large budget
s to create beauty. In addition to the Rouse house, he designed the cruciform
DuPont House with its interior courtyard
; a virtual one-room house raised into the side of a hill for Abertus Magnus College professor Dorothea Rudnick; a small brick house with covered patio
that neatly included a private rental apartment for psychologist Maria Rickers in Storrs
; and an unbuilt house and carport
that presented a blank façade to the street in crowded New Haven for Dr. Delgado. Nearly all of these works combined huge expanses of plate glass, wood siding and a variety of natural materials. Floor plan
s were open and flowing with public façades that exuded mystery and privacy.
Highlights of the 1960s work include the urban clubhouse for the Manuscript Society
, one of Yale's secret societies
, and the only one with a modern building. This structure, along with houses for Dr. Andrew Wong and New York advertising
executive Frank Stephenson were published in the architectural press. By now, the earlier rectilinear
plans had evolved into more complex forms, with brick and rough textured block replacing wood for siding and structure. Ceiling heights were varied, and interior room configuration was impossible to discern from the outside. Wu continued to use large, fixed expanses of plate glass and relied on moveable openings on window sills for natural ventilation
, as he had done in the earlier houses. He used skylight
s and the changing of daylight for effect. The meeting of interior planes was emphasized by the use of either wood trim in some houses or recessed negative joints in others.
Wu's work evolved, yet certain themes remained. His single-family houses typically revolved around a central core (or courtyard as in DuPont) from which all rooms emanated. He frequently used changes of room height to follow terrain or define space. Windows dominated, at times seeming to reach toward the light, often rising above the roofline to do so. The neat, rhythmic pattern of glass in the early houses evolved into an often incomprehensible and varied placement of window
s of various sizes and shapes in the later work. Large expanses of glass remained a constant. Indeed, one of Wu's long-running courses at Yale, "Daylight and Architecture" emphasized his belief that daylight was "the most noble of natural phenomena".
Like many modern architects of the time, Wu strove for total design of the home. When budgets and clients permitted, he designed furniture
for his houses. Chairs and tables utilized planar surfaces with arms and legs integrated into their structure. Upholstery
was simple and non-patterned. In at least one house, the Johnson, the woven textiles of Josef Albers
' wife, Anni
, were used for curtain
s.
Wu continued to both teach and design and twice received Architectural Record
magazine's Distinguished House Award, in 1966 for the Paul Johnson residence and again in 1975 for the Adrienne Suddard house (although mystifyingly the house was planned, constructed and previously published several years earlier in 1971). His last published work was the small country house for longtime client, T. C. Hsu
, in 1976.
In the late 1970s and after living in New Haven for 32 years, Wu finally designed and constructed a home for himself and his family. Located on a corner lot in a developed residential area
, the white aggregate block walls of the Wu house reveal little of the rich interiors within. After passing through two imposing entry doors, the visitor steps into a two-story foyer. Upon climbing a short set of open-treaded stairs, one reaches a central living area, lit by skylights. It is filled with simple, rectilinear wood furniture designed by Wu. There are no hallways; all other rooms in the house are reached from the corners of this central interior room. Stark white walls, trimmed with wood at the joints, are typical Wu features.
Wu retired in 1988, after teaching at Yale for 43 years. Paul Goldberger
, his former student and then New York Times architecture critic wrote:
King-lui Wu died in 2002. He was remembered as "one of the great threads of the school", by Dean Robert A. M. Stern
. In addition to Stern himself, other former Wu students include leading architects Stanley Tigerman
, Maya Lin
, Norman Foster, Richard Rodgers, and Hugh Newell Jacobsen
. Paul Goldberger wrote, "His long, quiet tenure and courtly manner contrasted with a changing cast of large and sometimes clashing egos on the faculty." "I don't think the school of architecture would have maintained its stability if it wasn't for him," said Charles Gwathmey
, another former student. "Really, he was the rock through all the transitions, all the ups and downs."
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
and professor at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
from 1945–1988.
Life and work
King-lui Wu was born in GuangzhouGuangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
(Canton), China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
in 1918. Wu's father was a businessman, but despising the work, he also pursued painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
and poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
writing. As a boy, Wu attended the Lingnan Middle School in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
where he was further exposed to Western art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
, culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
and ideas. Impressed by the engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
feats then occurring in industrializing China, he decided early in life to become an architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
. In 1937, he entered the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
to begin his studies. In 1938, he transferred to Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, attending until 1942. He subsequently switched to Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
.
The graduate school of architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
at Harvard, at this time, was under the direction of Walter Gropius
Walter Gropius
Walter Adolph Georg Gropius was a German architect and founder of the Bauhaus School who, along with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier, is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of modern architecture....
, former director of the Bauhaus
Bauhaus
', commonly known simply as Bauhaus, was a school in Germany that combined crafts and the fine arts, and was famous for the approach to design that it publicized and taught. It operated from 1919 to 1933. At that time the German term stood for "School of Building".The Bauhaus school was founded by...
, who had arrived in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1937. This was a transitional time for the study of architecture and design
Design
Design as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...
at the school. The curriculum
Curriculum
See also Syllabus.In formal education, a curriculum is the set of courses, and their content, offered at a school or university. As an idea, curriculum stems from the Latin word for race course, referring to the course of deeds and experiences through which children grow to become mature adults...
had changed radically as Gropius invited other former Bauhaus instructors to join the faculty. Wu's classmates and instructors Marcel Breuer
Marcel Breuer
Marcel Lajos Breuer , was a Hungarian-born modernist, architect and furniture designer of Jewish descent. One of the masters of Modernism, Breuer displayed interest in modular construction and simple forms.- Life and work :Known to his friends and associates as Lajkó, Breuer studied and taught at...
, Landis Gores
Landis Gores
Landis Gores was an American architect, native to Cincinnati, Ohio. Landis was known for his modernist Gores Pavilion, the Gores Family House, and the House for All Seasons.-Early life:...
, John Johansen and 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...
would achieve fame for their subsequent groundbreaking modern work in New Canaan, Connecticut
New Canaan, Connecticut
New Canaan is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, northeast of Stamford, on the Fivemile River. The population was 19,738 according to the 2010 census.The town is one of the most affluent communities in the United States...
as members of the "Harvard Five
Harvard Five
The Harvard Five was a group of architects that settled in New Canaan, Connecticut in the 1940s: John M. Johansen, Marcel Breuer, Landis Gores, Philip Johnson and Eliot Noyes...
". Other noted classmates included I. M. Pei
I. M. Pei
Ieoh Ming Pei , commonly known as I. M. Pei, is a Chinese American architect, often called a master of modern architecture. Born in Canton, China and raised in Hong Kong and Shanghai, Pei drew inspiration at an early age from the gardens at Suzhou...
, Paul Rudolph
Paul Rudolph (architect)
Paul Marvin Rudolph was an American architect and the dean of the Yale School of Architecture for six years, known for use of concrete and highly complex floor plans...
and Edward Larrabee Barnes
Edward Larrabee Barnes
Edward Larrabee Barnes was a American architect.Barnes was born in Chicago, Illinois into a family he described as "incense-swinging High Episcopalians", consisting of Cecil Barnes, a lawyer, and Margaret Helen Ayer, recipient of a Pulitzer Prize for the novel Year of Grace...
.
After graduating with his Masters in Architecture, Wu moved back to New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
in 1945 and began teaching at Yale. He also opened his own design office at 320 York Street (later moving to 75 Howe Street). His first large commission came in 1947, when he was selected to design new buildings for the Yali Middle School and the Changsha Medical Center in Changsha, China. Wu spent several months in China, charged by the trustees with the task of creating buildings that were "simple and inexpensive to construct" with a beauty being "that of grace and proportion rather than of decoration and monumental design". Wu produced designs and studies for thirty-seven new buildings that included dormitories, libraries, classroom
Classroom
A classroom is a room in which teaching or learning activities can take place. Classrooms are found in educational institutions of all kinds, including public and private schools, corporations, and religious and humanitarian organizations...
s, medical offices and related facilities.
Wu reported on the problem of introducing new architectural forms for old China. He believed such a solution should combine "the scientific method
Scientific method
Scientific method refers to a body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on gathering empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of...
", which he felt was "the distinctive merit of Western Civilization" with a "just conception of the ends of life", being "the distinctive merit of the Chinese". Wu believed the fusion of these two qualities would be the guiding principle for organic growth in creating new forms. The conflict inherent in the architectural synthesis of these two distinct cultures was one often repeated by Wu. He called this the "battle between the head and the heart". Throughout his creative work, Wu sought to integrate the Western enthrallment with technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
, as seen in rationalism
Rationalism
In epistemology and in its modern sense, rationalism is "any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification" . In more technical terms, it is a method or a theory "in which the criterion of the truth is not sensory but intellectual and deductive"...
of the Bauhaus, with Chinese romanticism
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
, as in his belief in the intrinsic calming aspect of the home expressed in his preference for the warmth of organic materials, natural light and picturesque views. The Chinese Civil War
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang , the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China , for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China and People's Republic of...
ultimately halted the project, which never moved beyond the design phase.
The 1950s were a prolific time for the architect. The young professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
's ideas attracted the attention of members of the academic community, who typically possessed more open-mindedness than money. Wu designed some of his finest works, relying on architectural creativity
Creativity
Creativity refers to the phenomenon whereby a person creates something new that has some kind of value. What counts as "new" may be in reference to the individual creator, or to the society or domain within which the novelty occurs...
rather than large budget
Budget
A budget is a financial plan and a list of all planned expenses and revenues. It is a plan for saving, borrowing and spending. A budget is an important concept in microeconomics, which uses a budget line to illustrate the trade-offs between two or more goods...
s to create beauty. In addition to the Rouse house, he designed the cruciform
Cruciform
Cruciform means having the shape of a cross or Christian cross.- Cruciform architectural plan :This is a common description of Christian churches. In Early Christian, Byzantine and other Eastern Orthodox forms of church architecture this is more likely to mean a tetraconch plan, a Greek cross,...
DuPont House with its interior courtyard
Courtyard
A court or courtyard is an enclosed area, often a space enclosed by a building that is open to the sky. These areas in inns and public buildings were often the primary meeting places for some purposes, leading to the other meanings of court....
; a virtual one-room house raised into the side of a hill for Abertus Magnus College professor Dorothea Rudnick; a small brick house with covered patio
Patio
A patio is an outdoor space generally used for dining or recreation that adjoins a residence and is typically paved. It may refer to a roofless inner courtyard of the sort found in Spanish-style dwellings or a paved area between a residence and a garden....
that neatly included a private rental apartment for psychologist Maria Rickers in Storrs
Storrs, Connecticut
Storrs is a census-designated place and part of the town of Mansfield, Connecticut located in eastern Tolland County. The population was 10,996 at the 2000 census...
; and an unbuilt house and carport
Carport
A carport is a covered structure used to offer limited protection to vehicles, primarily cars, from the elements. The structure can either be free standing or attached to a wall. Unlike most structures a carport does not have four walls, and usually has one or two...
that presented a blank façade to the street in crowded New Haven for Dr. Delgado. Nearly all of these works combined huge expanses of plate glass, wood siding and a variety of natural materials. Floor plan
Floor plan
In architecture and building engineering, a floor plan, or floorplan, is a diagram, usually to scale, showing a view from above of the relationships between rooms, spaces and other physical features at one level of a structure....
s were open and flowing with public façades that exuded mystery and privacy.
Highlights of the 1960s work include the urban clubhouse for the Manuscript Society
Manuscript Society
Manuscript Society is a senior secret society at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Toward the end of each junior year, 16 undergraduates are "tapped" to be inducted into the society, which meets twice weekly for dinner and discussion...
, one of Yale's secret societies
Secret society
A secret society is a club or organization whose activities and inner functioning are concealed from non-members. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence agencies or guerrilla insurgencies, which hide their...
, and the only one with a modern building. This structure, along with houses for Dr. Andrew Wong and New York advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
executive Frank Stephenson were published in the architectural press. By now, the earlier rectilinear
Rectilinear
Rectilinear may refer to:* Rectilinear grid, a tessellation of the Euclidean plane* Rectilinear lens, a photographic lens* Rectilinear locomotion, a form of animal locomotion* Rectilinear polygon, a polygon whose edges meet at right angles...
plans had evolved into more complex forms, with brick and rough textured block replacing wood for siding and structure. Ceiling heights were varied, and interior room configuration was impossible to discern from the outside. Wu continued to use large, fixed expanses of plate glass and relied on moveable openings on window sills for natural ventilation
Ventilation
Ventilation is movement of air in and out of an enclosed space, including a body. It is used in the following contexts:* Ventilation * Ventilation * Ventilation * Ventilation * Ventilation...
, as he had done in the earlier houses. He used skylight
Skylight
Skylight may refer to:* Skylight * Skylight , by David Hare* Skylight of a lava tube, a hole in the ceiling of the tube* Skylight, Arkansas* Skylight, a short film by David Clayton Rogers* Skylight Pictures, a film company...
s and the changing of daylight for effect. The meeting of interior planes was emphasized by the use of either wood trim in some houses or recessed negative joints in others.
Wu's work evolved, yet certain themes remained. His single-family houses typically revolved around a central core (or courtyard as in DuPont) from which all rooms emanated. He frequently used changes of room height to follow terrain or define space. Windows dominated, at times seeming to reach toward the light, often rising above the roofline to do so. The neat, rhythmic pattern of glass in the early houses evolved into an often incomprehensible and varied placement of window
Window
A window is a transparent or translucent opening in a wall or door that allows the passage of light and, if not closed or sealed, air and sound. Windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent material like float glass. Windows are held in place by frames, which...
s of various sizes and shapes in the later work. Large expanses of glass remained a constant. Indeed, one of Wu's long-running courses at Yale, "Daylight and Architecture" emphasized his belief that daylight was "the most noble of natural phenomena".
Like many modern architects of the time, Wu strove for total design of the home. When budgets and clients permitted, he designed furniture
Furniture
Furniture is the mass noun for the movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating and sleeping in beds, to hold objects at a convenient height for work using horizontal surfaces above the ground, or to store things...
for his houses. Chairs and tables utilized planar surfaces with arms and legs integrated into their structure. Upholstery
Upholstery
Upholstery is the work of providing furniture, especially seats, with padding, springs, webbing, and fabric or leather covers. The word upholstery comes from the Middle English word upholder, which referred to a tradesman who held up his goods. The term is equally applicable to domestic,...
was simple and non-patterned. In at least one house, the Johnson, the woven textiles of Josef Albers
Josef Albers
Josef Albers was a German-born American artist and educator whose work, both in Europe and in the United States, formed the basis of some of the most influential and far-reaching art education programs of the 20th century....
' wife, Anni
Anni Albers
Annelise Albers was a German-American textile artist and printmaker. She is perhaps the best known textile artist of the 20th century.-Life:...
, were used for curtain
Curtain
A curtain is a piece of cloth intended to block or obscure light, or drafts, or water in the case of a shower curtain. Curtains hung over a doorway are known as portières...
s.
Wu continued to both teach and design and twice received Architectural Record
Architectural Record
Architectural Record is an American monthly magazine dedicated to architecture and interior design, published by McGraw-Hill Construction in New York City. It is over 110 years old...
magazine's Distinguished House Award, in 1966 for the Paul Johnson residence and again in 1975 for the Adrienne Suddard house (although mystifyingly the house was planned, constructed and previously published several years earlier in 1971). His last published work was the small country house for longtime client, T. C. Hsu
T. C. Hsu
Professor T.C. Hsu , , was a Chinese American cell biologist. He was the 13th president of American Society for Cell Biology, and known as the Father of Mammalian Cytogenetics .- Life :Hsu was born Tao-Chiuh Hsu in Shaoxing, Zhejiang, China...
, in 1976.
In the late 1970s and after living in New Haven for 32 years, Wu finally designed and constructed a home for himself and his family. Located on a corner lot in a developed residential area
Residential area
A residential area is a land use in which housing predominates, as opposed to industrial and commercial areas.Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include single family housing, multi-family residential, or mobile homes. Zoning for residential use may permit...
, the white aggregate block walls of the Wu house reveal little of the rich interiors within. After passing through two imposing entry doors, the visitor steps into a two-story foyer. Upon climbing a short set of open-treaded stairs, one reaches a central living area, lit by skylights. It is filled with simple, rectilinear wood furniture designed by Wu. There are no hallways; all other rooms in the house are reached from the corners of this central interior room. Stark white walls, trimmed with wood at the joints, are typical Wu features.
Wu retired in 1988, after teaching at Yale for 43 years. Paul Goldberger
Paul Goldberger
Paul Goldberger is the Architecture Critic for The New Yorker, where since 1997 he has written the magazine's celebrated "Sky Line" column. He also holds the Joseph Urban Chair in Design and Architecture at The New School in New York City...
, his former student and then New York Times architecture critic wrote:
- "Your continued presence has been the one thing on which students, faculty, alumni and observers of the School could count. But it is more than just your physical presence—I think you have given generations of students a sense that the practice of architecture was a matter of integrity and commitment and not of frivolity. You have brought students into a heavy and profound world without being heavy-handed yourself, and I think they have come out of it feeling that architecture has a sense of grace."
King-lui Wu died in 2002. He was remembered as "one of the great threads of the school", by Dean Robert A. M. Stern
Robert A. M. Stern
Robert Arthur Morton Stern, usually credited as Robert A. M. Stern, is an American architect and Dean of the Yale University School of Architecture....
. In addition to Stern himself, other former Wu students include leading architects Stanley Tigerman
Stanley Tigerman
Stanley Tigerman is an American architect, theorist and designer. He studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Chicago Institute of Design, and Yale University. After serving several years in the United States Navy, he assumed the role of draftsman and designer in a series of offices...
, Maya Lin
Maya Lin
Maya Ying Lin is an American artist who is known for her work in sculpture and landscape art. She is the designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.-Personal life:...
, Norman Foster, Richard Rodgers, and Hugh Newell Jacobsen
Hugh Newell Jacobsen
Hugh Newell Jacobsen is a prominent United States architect.-Education and early career:Hugh Newell Jacobsen was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1929. Educated at the University of Maryland, he received a BA in 1951. He also attended the Architectural Association School of Architecture in...
. Paul Goldberger wrote, "His long, quiet tenure and courtly manner contrasted with a changing cast of large and sometimes clashing egos on the faculty." "I don't think the school of architecture would have maintained its stability if it wasn't for him," said Charles Gwathmey
Charles Gwathmey
Charles Gwathmey was an American architect. He was a principal at Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects, as well as one of the five architects identified as The New York Five in 1969...
, another former student. "Really, he was the rock through all the transitions, all the ups and downs."