Battle Hall, a building that was part of the original Forty Acres at The University of Texas at Austin, celebrates the 100th anniversary of its completion in 2011. The School of Architecture, the Texas Exes and the University of Texas Libraries will host the Centennial Celebration on Nov. 11 accompanied by the exhibit “Our Landmark Library: Battle Hall at 100” featured in the Architecture and Planning Library’s reading room through May 2012.
From the Battle Hall Centennial Celebration news release:
Designed by newly appointed University Architect Cass Gilbert in 1910, Battle Hall was completed in 1911 for about $280,000. Beyond serving as the university’s first independent library building (later known as “the Old Library”), it was also the first home to the new College of Fine Arts (1938) and later to the new Barker Texas History Center (1950), bringing together for the first time the University Library’s archives and rare books collections. In 1973, when the Barker Center vacated the building, it became home to the Architecture Library and was renamed for former university president Professor William J. Battle.
The building was the first designed for the campus in the now-familiar Spanish-Mediterranean Revival style, and in 1970 it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. In 2007, Battle Hall was listed by the American Institute of Architects as one of the top 150 architecture projects in the organization’s “America’s Favorite Architecture” poll.
Today, Battle Hall is home to the Architecture and Planning Library, the Alexander Architectural Archive and the School of Architecture’s Center for American Architecture and Design.
View more photos and read additional history about Battle Hall in the University of Texas Libraries online exhibit.
