INTERIOR FEATURES
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The exterior of Baker Hall draws its inspiration from the original
campus buildings by Cram Goodhue and Ferguson and William Ward Watkin.
In particular, buildings like Lovett Hall, Physics (Herzstein Hall) and Chemistry (Keck Hall) utilize
classic beaux arts principles of composition and local symmetry. Their
design, animated by Byzantine eclectic ornamental elements such as
arched windows and door surroundings, stone banding, and modulating
scaling devices like columns, piers and recessed panels all played
off patterns of brick walks and sloped barrel-tile roofs. The
brickwork, laid in Flemish bond with thick bed joints, forms a soft
textural tapestry that underlies the quintessential sensibility of Rice
and provides a framework for the iconographic elements that are
integral to Rice architecture.
In devising the specific iconography for Baker Hall, the architects
used quotes and general ideas from the addresses announcing the Baker
Institute that had been made by James A. Baker, III, and the
institute’s Founding Director Edward P. Djerejian. These
themes included, among other things, the institute as a meeting place
for statesmen, scholars and students and as a bridge between the
world of ideas and the world of action.
Around the building are lamps with inset coins that feature Rice's
mascot — an owl. These owls are special to the institute, however, in
that they are sculpted to show the eyes of important figures in the
institute's history: Secretary Baker, Ambassador Djerejian, Malcolm
Gillis, Ric Stoll and Bob Stein.
At the north face — the building’s main entry — the architects took the
theme of bridging the world of ideas and the world of action and used
it to organize the iconography of both the entry and the building as a
whole. The center doors represent this bridge-building clearly, with
campus life in the middle (student capitols), the world of action
(diplomacy capitols) to the east, and the world of ideas (scholarship
capitols) to the west. Mosaic quotation panels above each door are
developed with related themes. The four ceramic Della Robbias represent
the communities the institute serves: Rice, Texas, the nation and the
world.
At the south face the symbolism is extended. The west entry door
represents “action” and the east door “thought,” with illustrative
mosaic quotations above each. The three second floor double windows
each have a glazed tile with bird representations — the peacock for
renewal, the chaparral for the future and the ibis for wisdom.
On the east and west elevations the double and triple window motifs
incorporate glazed tiles depicting events and activities of the
institute. Traditional fables conveying wisdom and truth are
illustrated. At the side doors, Rice and Texas themes similar to those
of the chemistry building are employed.
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