Norlin Architectural Record

I want to step back to the original construction project. The architect was Charles Z. Klauder. Here you can see one of Klauder’s early conceptual drawings for Norlin. As you’ve walked through the campus, I’m sure you’ve noticed that all the architecture is similar—it all conforms to a common palette. Well, it was Charles Klauder who designed that palette, and it’s still being used (pretty much) today. He created an architectural plan for the campus in 1917 that was used through the 1950s. You can see his model for the campus in the Heritage room in Old Main. It places all the buildings as they were to be erected, but more importantly he created the Tuscan-hill-town style of architecture that distinguishes the campus with the sloping tile roofs, exterior pink and tan native stone walls, and the informal placement of buildings that’s so well suited to the mountain setting.