Op-Ed
Master Plan?
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Though the donation to build Paul Milstein Hall came in the early 1990s, Cornell hopes to finally begin construction on the much-debated architecture building later this fall. But before diving into the controversial building plans, here’s a little scoop on the man (and family) behind the name Paul Milstein.
In 2006, Forbes estimated that Paul Milstein and family — self-made real estate developers — had a net-worth of $3.5 billion, clocking in at number 73 in a list of the 400 richest Americans. The Milstein Family is a major benefactor in the New York City area; the list of their major beneficiaries includes the American Museum of Natural History, New York-Presbyterian Hospital (the teaching hospital for Weill Cornell and Columbia) and the New York Public Library.
So why did the Milstein Family choose to donate $10 million to Cornell’s College of Architecture, Art, and Planning? For starters, three of Paul and Irma Milstein’s children enrolled at Cornell during the 1970s (2 graduated, one transferred to Yale) and, at the time of the donation, their son Howard Milstein ’73 sat on the Cornell Board of Trustees. Additionally, Paul Milstein once studied architecture himself at NYU.
Though the Milstein Family’s donation will enable Cornell to construct a much-needed new architecture building, the University has run into no shortage of obstacles trying to get this project — quite literally — off the ground. When world-renowned architect Rem Koolhaas finally unveiled his plans for the building in 2006, the project seemed to only become more complicated.
The original design for the Milstein Hall, which will suspend from Rand and Sibley over University Avenue, called for a support beam on the opposite side of University Avenue. Upon seeing the plans, the City of Ithaca had major concerns about how the building would impact traffic patterns, drainage, land and air quality, and historic preservation. The city was initially able to make a strong case against Milstein Hall because the support beams would be on Ithaca City property — the street. Though plans have now changed — Milstein will now be cantilevered without beams — the project may be further delayed depending on the outcome of the City of Ithaca Planning and Development Board’s environmental review process.
A concern with Milstein Hall’s location is that the construction and the completed building will impact Ithaca’s natural resources. Given Milstein Hall’s proximity to a gorge, and therefore a water source, it is imperative that Cornell take precautions to protect the water, land and air around the construction site. However, if this can be done, and this is a big if, there is no reason the construction of Milstein Hall should not move forward.
From its infancy, the University engaged in debates over building construction. Even our two co-founders knocked heads over what the campus should look like; Uncle Ezra wanted many durable, useful and plain buildings against the skyline while Andy White pushed for dignified, beautiful and symbolic architecture on ordered quadrangles. The end result was a campus based on the combination of our two founders’ ideals. In his book on the history of Cornell planning, Kermit Parson writes that the west-most buildings on the Arts Quad “recall Ezra Cornell’s rugged, pragmatic approach to building; the … red-brick Sage College and Chapel, President’s House and Barnes Hall evoke Andrew Dickson White’s intellectual commitment to … Romanic idealism.”
Controversy over building has definitely found its way into more recent history as well. The beautiful Boardman Hall was torn down in 1959 to make way for the much-needed new Olin Library. The 1990s addition on Sage Hall was also protested, though there seems to be a more recent attitude, save for a few, that the addition was tastefully done.
The most talked-about building in recent history is arguably the Hebert F. Johnson Museum of Art. In May of 1973, the Johnson Museum opened its doors to both excitement and dismay. An Ithaca Journal article published in 1973 quoted one retired Cornell professor as saying the museum “will polarize people.”
The Johnson Museum was especially contentious because it was built on the location where Ezra Cornell stood when he announced his intentions to found a university in Ithaca. Though architect I.M. Pei took A.D. White’s wish that no building be constructed on this location into consideration, at the Johnson’s opening Pei announced that “to build on this site was an obsession with me and my office.” Today, most Cornellians can’t imagine the slope without the inimitable museum standing on its north corner.
So perhaps what we should take away from Cornell’s architectural history is that the campus has always boasted a unique collection of buildings united by the students pass who through their doors and not necessarily their architectural symmetry. In the final analysis, it is both good and inevitable that Cornell continues to grow to meet the ever-expanding needs of the University and its students. Flip open The Times or turn on NPR and you’ll likely find that Cornell is developing something beneficial to society, patenting a product or cataloging the song of a new bird species. All of this would be impossible without the building resources we have on campus.
So I challenge us all to embrace an environmentally-friendly Milstein Hall. Who knows? A future student who pulls all-nighters in the new building just might be the architect who designs your house, local sports stadium or presidential library.
Sarah Olesiuk is a senior in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She can be contacted at solesiuk@cornellsun.com. Archive This! appears alternate Fridays.