Princeton Weekly Bulletin September 28, 1998
Building relationships
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By Caroline Moseley
Princeton University boasts many beautiful buildings. Campus architecture would not be so striking, however, if the spaces between buildings were not also well designed.
It is the relationship among campus edifices and the areas that connect them that are the particular interest of Daniel Casey, coordinating architect for Physical Planning since 1996.
His job is to think about campus building projects, present and future, not only individually, but in relation to one another. While he manages particular projects (like colleagues in his department), Casey has the additional responsibility of "combining landscape and 'hardscape' design," he says.
He explains: "You have to consider the way buildings relate to their sites, the way outdoor spaces can be made by the positioning of buildings, walks and landscaping. I try to help shape or define those spaces, and link them."
In addition, "For certain new project sites, I do feasibility studies of the proposed building's 'footprint' and its height and massing, looking for connections and alignments with its surroundings."
McCosh Courtyard
Casey's first project for Princeton was the renovation of McCosh Courtyard and its approaches from the Chapel and Murray Dodge Hall. In the summer of 1996, he created a new plaza at the court's west end, "giving clarity to the confluence of roads and paths." He also adjusted the alignment of the road to Prospect, making it parallel to the facades of McCosh and Murray-Dodge halls.
This past summer, that work has continued with a new driveway for Prospect House that includes brick sidewalk on both sides of the drive. "This offers a space for pedestrians and a separate one for vehicles," he points out. "The drive feels more welcoming --and it's safer."
And in front of Prospect, there is a redesigned "true circle" where cars can turn around. "The previous turnaround was somewhat amorphous," says Casey. "I wanted to give it strong form and to return some of the asphalt to grass."
Behind Prospect, in the garden, is a bluestone path with riverstone edge and bluestone curb. "We needed to be able to plow the pathway if necessary," says Casey. "My thought was, why not have something like a garden promenade--something that's nice to walk on and also to look down on from the dining room."
Protecting "Oval with Points"
Another of Casey's summer projects involved the Henry Moore "Oval with Points" that stands next to West College.
"The sculpture base was getting scratched by kicked up gravel," Casey says. "We wanted to protect the piece, but we couldn't move it because there's a vault built underneath." Casey also felt the statue needed "to be anchored visually to its site." His solution was to create "a plaque of paving orthogonal (at right angles) to West College, with the joints in the paving orthogonal to the sculpture base. When you see it, you respond to both alignments."
Down campus, Casey says, the area bounded by McCormick and Dod and Brown halls "just didn't feel like it belonged to any of the buildings." By grading the courtyard, "adjusting its contours" to set off the museum, and by creating a brick-and-concrete pavement in front of Dod, he turned the area into "a sort of outdoor room" that serves the dorms and also subtly separates the Art Museum from neighboring buildings.
This new area, Casey points out, expands upon another related project: "a central mall aligning with the cupola of Nassau Hall, which is nicely framed by Whig and Clio halls." Eventually, he says, "the mall will continue south to a terminus near Patton Hall that is being designed by Machado/Silvetti."
Maps, drawings, rock samples
All such work, Casey says, is reviewed with Director of Planning Jon Hlafter and is usually carried out by the University's departments of Engineering, and Grounds and Building Maintenance. Casey's office is in a temporary out-building near MacMillan Building. Working among campus maps, piles of drawings, and samples of stone, slate and brick, he creates the designs that tie Princeton's buildings together.
Though he has always been interested in campus design, Casey has also had many years of experience as an architect of large buildings, mostly educational and cultural institutions. After earning his BArch at the University of Texas, he worked in several firms, including one he himself founded in Manhattan in 1993.
Among his better known projects are those he led as an associate at the New York firm of Edward Larrabee Barnes Associates, such as the California Palace of the Legion of Honor, which houses the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco's European art collection; the Allen Library at the University of Washington, Seattle; and the Dallas Museum of Art (for which he won the New York State AIA Design Award).
Current projects
Among Casey's current projects are the development of McCosh Walk East, a campus crosswalk that will join McCosh Walk with Scudder Plaza and continue past the planned Wallace Social Sciences Building; here, he points out, "the design team includes landscape architects and architectural firms whose projects will adjoin the walkway."
In addition, he is project manager for the social sciences building, "which will house faculty offices, a high-tech library and classrooms," as well as for the Boat House expansion, which involves restoration of the existing building, plus an addition for training rooms and rowing tanks.
"The University campus is a work of art," Casey says, "but it is also a living organism. The effort to balance continuity and change in campus design is a challenge that is never-ending."