Architectural Imagery
Figure 1: Map of Cranbrook Educational Community Campus
Cranbrook School for Boys & Interior Courtyard highlighted in red
Source: Cranbrook House & Gardens, [Map], 2018, accessed March 30, 2023, https://science.cranbrook.edu/sites/default/files/images/cec.pdf
Figure 2: Aerial View of Cranbrook School
The Cranbrook School Quadrangle is defined by the four main Cranbrook School buildings:
Hoey Hall along the west; Stevens Hall along the north; Page and Marquis Halls along the east;
and the Dining Hall and two faculty houses (originally farm buildings) along the south.
Source: Balthazar Korab, Aerial view of the Cranbrook Campus Quadrangle with a view of the Hoey Tower,
Photograph, Cranbrook Archives, 1980.
Figure 3: Cranbrook School Courtyard View Towards Hoey Hall & Observation Tower
View of Hoey Tower from the Interior Courtyard, in the foreground, one can observe the school's reproduction of a fountain
from the Monreale Cathedral cloister in Palermo, Italy, crafted by the Chiurrazi Company of Naples.
Source: L. House, April 2023.
Figure 4: Axonometric View of Cranbrook School
Photo taken from the Track Field; structure seen in the foreground is the Upper School for Boys. The stepped form of the chimney is reminiscent of the Art Deco style.
The Hoey Tower, located in the background, presents an homage to the Cranbrook Estate's first incarnation as a farm; the tower is built where the grain silo once stood.
Source: Doctor Casino, Cranbrook School, Photograph, Flickr, February 19, 2012,
https://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorcasino/6787749088/in/photostream.
Figure 5: Cranbrook School Walkway
The open quadrangle and adjoining courts are approached through archways and paths from all sides, making the Cranbrook School the social and spatial center of the Educational Community.
The columnettes integrated within the arches along the left of the walkway, were spoila brought over from the Booth's travels in Italy, (Adkisson).
Source: L. House, April 2023.
Figure 6: Cranbrook Page Hall, Dining Hall, and Welcome Archway
Some of the most finely detailed examples of the Arts and Crafts brickwork and ornamental detailing can be seen in the brick and limestone "quilt" facade of the Cranbrook Dining Hall (Adkisson).
Source: L. House, April 2023
Figure 7: Cranbrook School Elevations
Source: Eliel Saarinen, Cranbrook School: South Wing Addition, September 1929, Cranbrook Archives.
Figure 8: Brookside School Architectural Sketches
Original sketch drawn by George Gough Booth for planned Cranbrook children's school, pencil on tracing paper.
Source: George Gough Booth, Brookside School: Plan and Elevation, ca 1923, Cranbrook Archives.
Figure 9.1: Cranbrook Dining Hall Brickwork
The East facade of the Cranbrook Dining Hall. Of note are the Collegiate Gothic fenestrations, implemented in limestone, with delicate art deco stained glass. Arched brick insets highlight the gabled form as it ascends towards "tumbled-in" gable ends crafted from roof tiles (Adkisson).
Source: L. House, April 2023
Figure 9.2: Cranbrook Hoey Hall Entry Brickwork
Entrance to Cranbrook's Hoey Hall, of note is the exquisite masonrywork, integrating clay fire tile and Roman brick in intricate arched bond patterns
Source: L. House, April 2023
Figure 10.1: Ornamental Grotesque Carvings
These ornamental stone carvings, designed by Eero Saarinen, are displayed on the second and third bays of the Page Hall Dormitory, on the interior side of the courtyard.
Source: Eero Saarinen, Drawing of Revised Ornaments, February 6, 1929, Cranbrook Archives.
Figure 10.2: Ornamental Grotesque Carvings
The term grotesque, can have connotations beyond religious ornamentation in Gothic design, here for example, referred to as such for its caricaturistic exaggeration.
Source: L. House, April 2023.
National Register of Historic Places Plaque
The Cranbrook Property was added to the
National Register in March 1973,
and was elevated to the status of a
National Historic Landmark in August 1989.
The nomination of the Cranbrook campus was based on Cranbrook’s significance "as one of the most important groups of educational and architectural structures in America," (Pitts).
Source: L. House, April 2023
Stag Cast Iron Detailing
George Booth was an industrial welder during his youth, and had an affinity for wrought iron craftswork.
These gateway arches were designed by Eero Saarinen and crafted by the Cranbrook blacksmith, John C. Burnett, (Adkisson).
Source: L. House, April 2023
Dragon Cast Iron Detailing
The head and hooves of the iron form have the appearance of a horse, despite the gate being labeled as that of a dragon.
Eero Saarinen would later claim during his career that, "If a man can draw a horse, you know he can do anything," often charging architects he would interview with the task of drawing a horse to ascertain their drawing skills, (Adkisson).
Source: L. House, April 2023
Cranbrook Crane Brick Detailing
The Academy of Art Administration Building (designed by Swanson and Booth) features a crane brick pattern on the south façade of the building.
The tail feathers of the crane are composed of roofing tiles, while the water at the base of the circle are constructed from terracotta drain pipes.
The derivation of the Cranbrook name, which began with the Old English words “cran broc” which means “crane marsh.”
Source: L. House, April 2023