Newhouse 1
"Newhouse Communications Center I" by King and King Associates , 1962 - 1964
Newhouse I is the original building in the three-building complex that houses the Newhouse School of Public Communications. Newhouse I has a square shape, Newhouse 2 has a rectangular shape, and Newhouse 3 is has a long and curvy shape. The architect for Newhouse I, I.M. Pei, took inspiration from Frank Lloud Wright’s unity temple. The Newhouse I building is shaped in a cruciform shape with a flat roof. The center of the building, Dedication Hall, includes a 32’ high ceiling with a skylight. The building includes three floors above ground and two floors below ground. Pei described the building as “an iceberg” since nearly half of the building is underground. At the dedication ceremony on August 5, 1964, then President Lyndon Johnson delivered his historic Gulf of Tonkin speech, publicly divulging the deployment of U.S. air strikes against North Vietnam in retaliation for the alleged attacks on U.S. ships in the Gulf of Tonkin by North Vietnam.
Publishing magnate and SU trustee Samuel I. Newhouse donated $15 million towards a project to expand the growing School of Journalism into what would ultimately become the prestigious S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. This project included the construction of the Newhouse I building. Prior to the construction of Newhouse I, the School of Journalism had been housed in the Women’s Building since 1953. The Haven Hall dormitory and several cottages had to be torn down to make way for the construction Newhouse I. At the dedication ceremony for Newhouse I, Newhouse explained “It is right and fitting that such a communications center be located within a dynamic university with world-embracing interests.” The architect for Newhouse I, I.M. Pei, received the American Institute of Architects’ National Honor Award for his design.
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