View Full Version : [Tulsa] Oral Roberts University
I am from Tulsa, Oklahoma.
As a child, long before I was ever involved in the architecture / design world, i was always fascinated by the architecture of the Oral Roberts University campus. It was surreal.
It has a 60's - 70's Bruce Goff / Frank LLoyd Wright kind of vibe throughout (the name of the architect who designed the majority of the buildings escapes me at the moment). I find few people have ever heard of it. On my last trip home I thought I would take some photographs and try to share it with the world. It is a truly unique place. Check it out. Feel free to ask questions. If I can answer I will.
JRD
stourleyk 16-02-2008, 09:14 Nice stuff. Ostalgic.
kschetan 16-02-2008, 09:37 The campus was built in 1963 with a noted futuristic look and architecture. By 2007 its appearance was described as "a perfect representation of the popular modernistic architecture of the time... the set of the Jetsons" but also "shabby" and "dated, like Disney's Tomorrowland."[3][4][5] Maintenance of the many unique but aging buildings, structures and architectural details on campus has been cited as a growing problem for the university.[6]
The main entrance onto campus is a divided, landscaped roadway called The Avenue of Flags, lined with lighted flags representing the more than 60 nations from which ORU students have been drawn. The main academic building on campus is the John D. Messick Learning Resource Center / Marajen Chinigo Graduate Center, an immense 900,000 square foot (80,000 m˛) facility with many pylon-like columns, gold-coloured windows and a lozenge shaped footprint which university publicity says was styled after King Solomon's Temple. The Howard Auditorium is a gold, Buckminster Fuller style geodesic dome which is used for movies, theatre productions, classes and seminars. Bi-weekly university chapel services are held in Christ's Chapel, a 3,500 seat building constructed in drape-like fashion as an echo of Oral Roberts' early tent revivals. The Googie style Prayer Tower at the center of campus was intended to resemble "an abstract cross and Crown of Thorns" and also houses a visitor center. The Mabee Center is an 11,000 seat arena on the southwestern edge of campus and is used for basketball games, concerts, church services and satellite television productions. In 1981 the City of Faith Medical and Research Center opened adjacent to the south side of campus with a 60 story hospital but closed in 1989 because of financial problems. In 2007 some floors remained uncompleted since construction 26 years earlier. The facility is now mostly leased out as commercial office space under the name CityPlex. A 60 ft (18.2 m), 30 ton sculpture called Praying Hands cast in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico in 1980 which had originally stood in front of the complex (and was reportedly the largest bronze structure in the United States) was moved to the nearby campus entrance in 1992.
kschetan 16-02-2008, 09:41 Amazing works JRD.... thanks for the posts...
gaffaman 17-02-2008, 01:42 It has a 60's - 70's Bruce Goff / Frank LLoyd Wright kind of vibe throughout (the name of the architect who designed the majority of the buildings escapes me at the moment). I find few people have ever heard of it.
You're right. I have never been there and had no idea the campus looked like this. Thanks for sharing.
If I could make a suggestion, could you label what each of the buildings are in your photos so we can get an idea of what they're used for? Thanks.
Definitely let us know who the architect(s) were. :cheers:
Morvantes 17-02-2008, 08:37 did a little scrounging on the net and found that the original commission including the master planning went to Stanfield and Imel. They were eventually replaced by Frank Wallace, a Tulsa native trained by Goff at OU.
Fantatsic set of images! thank you. But as gaffaman says the thread should be better organised. There are some duplicate images and we need to knwo the name of each building. Also Kschetan was your text in post 20 a quote? If so can you provide a reference please
:cheers:
"By 2007 its appearance was described as "a perfect representation of the popular modernistic architecture of the time... the set of the Jetsons" but also "shabby" and "dated, like Disney's Tomorrowland."[3][4][5] Maintenance of the many unique but aging buildings, structures and architectural details on campus has been cited as a growing problem for the university"
The above quote (from wikipedia ) posted by kschetan couldn't be more accurate.
When touring the campus you are filled with a melancholic sense of amazement.
The architecture is so unique and intriguing, yet you can't escape the knowledge that cost restraints and insensitive repair/renovations will will ultimately lead to the future demise of many of these buildings. Tulsa (surprisingly) has incredible modern architecture, but lacks the overall preservationist attitude required to protect these and other amazing buildings.
If design/architecture was viable industry in Tulsa, I would move back in a second. It is a beautiful town.
As for the general layout of the post, sorry about the mixed up images, the photos didn't post like I thought they would. As for labeling each image and a description/name of each building - no chance of that. It would take hours.
However, If you are interested you can find most all of the info on the campus map at the following link...
http://www.oru.edu/aboutoru/campus_tour.php
Regards
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