Paul Rudolph's Modernist Campus Tour

A Legacy of an Architect Paul Marvin Rudolph:
A World-Class Vision for a Public University

Welcome to the Virtual Self-Guided Architectural Tour of Paul Rudolph's Brutalist campus at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

Tour Summary

Visitors, along the way, will learn about the life and career of renowned international architect Paul Marvin Rudolph. Explore Rudolph’s urbanist campus and become familiar with his aesthetic and design approaches for Southeastern Massachusetts Technological Institute (now UMass Dartmouth). Discover the cultural significance of Rudolph’s Brutalist complex and why many consider this 1960s campus an architectural treasure of the Modernist era. Ultimately, gain an appreciation for this Brutalist icon representing mid-century America, an age of optimism and idealism.

Begin Tour

The tour begins in parking "lot 3" outside the LARTS Building. Follow along the walkways outlined in the virtual map. Each stop includes a brief video highlighting an aspect of Paul Rudolph's Brutalist campus. The guided tour includes thirteen video stops (3-5 minutes each) and takes approximately forty-five (45) minutes to complete. Mobile Instructions (PDF)

Project Overview

In April 2023, UMass Dartmouth launched its first virtual walking tour featuring Brutalist architect Paul Rudolph and his monumental, heroic architecture. The goal was to develop a web and mobile-responsive architecture tour to increase campus and public awareness and knowledge of architect Paul Marvin Rudolph and his contribution to modernist architecture and to instill an appreciation for his world-renowned campus, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. This endeavor was funded by a Creative Economy Initiatives Grant from the UMass President’s Office and supported by UMassBrut.

Stop List

Stop 1: Life & Career of Paul Marvin Rudolph
Stop 2: Paul Rudolph & His Masterplan
Stop 3: Rudolph’s Brutalist Campus
Stop 4: Love at First Sight
Stop 5: Is It Sculpture or Is It Architecture?
Stop 6: Hardly a Concrete Jungle
Stop 7: Raw Concrete: Breaking Boundaries

Stop 8: Architecture is Like Music
Stop 9: A Spatial Interplay
Stop 10: Campanile & The Public Square
Stop 11: Everchanging Perspectives
Stop 12: University Library: In Need of Care
Stop 13: Rudolph's Brutalist Vision Revitalized

Project Staff

Producer: Anna Dempsey, Professor of Art History & Allison J. Cywin, Librarian
Script: Anna Dempsey, Professor of Art History & Allison J. Cywin, Librarian
Director & Project Manager: Allison J. Cywin, Librarian
Researcher & Photographic Researcher: Anna D. Dempsey, Professor of Art History & Allison J. Cywin, Librarian

Video producer & Narrator: David Sardinha, Pineapple Studios
Interactive Map: Allison J. Cywin
Archivist: Judy Farrar, Archivist, Claire T. Carney Library Archives and Special Collections at UMass Dartmouth
Graphic Logo: Michael Swartz

Special Thanks

Special thanks to UMass President’s Office, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, College of Visual & Performing Arts, Claire T. Carney Library Archives and Special Collections at UMass Dartmouth, UMassBrut, Paul Rudolph Institute for Modern Architecture, Library of Congress (Prints and Drawings Department), Harvard University, and The Charnel House for their support with this project.

Special acknowledgments to those dedicated members of the UMass Dartmouth community, including Judy Farrar, Bruce Barnes, Lasse Antonsen, and Frederick V. Grifun, whose efforts to document, interview, and collect materials related to UMass Dartmouth’s architectural heritage through exhibitions, publications, oral histories, and other academic endeavors made this project possible.