The Beaux Arts Era: 1906–1940

Abstract

The founders’ halcyon years of building ended ruinously with the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. During the period of reconstruction, which lasted through the 1910s, the university restored its essential structures—the dorms, the inner and outer quads, and the chemistry building—followed by its more symbolic buildings—Memorial Church and the museum. The quake had a significant impact on Stanford’s campus planning; it checked the piecemeal building initiated by Jane Stanford and spurred the university to return to the planning order of the Quad, albeit without the seemingly endless resources of its founders. Indeed, the outstanding personal features of the specific memorializing and pedagogic programs of the Stanfords, embedded in their planning ideals of the Quad, were for the university no longer memorable, appealing, or possible. (This was clear in the decision not to rebuild Memorial Arch or the original tower of Memorial Church, although rebuilding was contemplated initially.)