Rudolph, Paul (1918-1997), was an American architect. He became best known for his dramatic and complex designs, especially buildings for urban and academic environments. His imaginative use of concrete and the absence of ornamentation in his exteriors show the influence of the French architect Le Corbusier (see Le Corbusier).
Rudolph served as chairman of the architecture department at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, from 1958 to 1965. Several of his important buildings are located in New Haven. Rudolph’s most controversial work is the Art and Architecture Building (1963) at Yale, a complicated, 9-story building with 36 interior levels. The Temple Street parking garage (1963) is an example of his skill in integrating structures into urban settings. The garage is also an attempt to turn a simple, functional building into an object of beauty. During the 1960’s, Rudolph began to design low-cost, prefabricated residential buildings, such as Crawford Manor (1966) in New Haven.
Rudolph was born on Oct. 28, 1918, in Elkton, Kentucky. He studied with architect Walter Gropius at Harvard University from 1941 to 1943 and in 1947. Rudolph died on Aug. 8, 1997.
