Page 4
THE BATTALION
THURSDAY, MAR. 25, 1976
Agriculture building
style still impressive
DETAIL FROM SCOATES
Without a doubt, the most distinc
tive architecture to be found on the
A&M campus is that of the agricul
ture buildings of the 1920s and 30s.
The observer can discover a mul
titude of animal heads and skulls,
ears of corn, sheafs of grain, cor
nucopias overflowing with fruits and
vegetables and assorted boll weevils,
bees, owls and rodents, each care
fully carved on the buildings’
facades.
Agriculture buildings originally
dominated the eastern part of cam
pus, the “outback” as it was called
when A&M’s main entrance faced
the railroad tracks. Barns and other
animal shelters were clustered on
what is now the golf course and polo
field.
That situation has since been re
versed and the barns, stables and
farms now stretch west to Easter-
wood Airport and the Brazos River.
The stark, new concrete structures of
the West Campus will soon comprise
the agriculture department’s
academic center on campus.
Still standing, however (fortu
nately), in the middle of the main
campus is the Animal Husbandry
Pavilion, built in 1917 at a cost of
$49,000. Now used mostly for
warehouse and storage purposes, its
9,600-square foot arena still hosts
animal judgings and livestock auc
tions. Most of the building’s prop-
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AGRICULTURE PEDIMENT FROM ANIMAL INDUSTRIES RUILDING
osed architectural details were omit
ted for lack of funds, but a few col
umns and arches give it a hint of the
Romanesque style.
The Agriculture Building, located
east of the Library, was constructed
in 1922 as the crowning jewel in the
developing agriculture quadrangle.
It was designed in the classical order
that was the faddish architectural
mode of the era.
Limestone Ionic columns were
tacked to the front of the gray brick
building and other classical pedi
ments and details found their way
into the design.
In the early 1930s, two
buildings—Animal Industries and
Scoates Hall—were constructed ac
ross an open green space from each
other, east of the Agriculture Build
ing along Spence Street.
It was in these two buildings that
Ag-architecture flourished.
The exterior trim and entrance-
ways are decorated with various ag
rarian features. The pests of the
farmer—boll weevils, rodents and
assorted insects—are depicted in
concrete, crawling around near the
base of the building.
The “good guys” of agriculture,
such as owls, horses, cattle and
sheep, can be found higher up on the
buildings’ facades. Pediments over
the doorways feature corn, grain and
other field products, along with
sculpted serving platters and Latin
phrases.
Large WPA-like murals of agricul
tural scenes dominate the labs and
classrooms inside. The doors, lamps
and stair railings are crafted of de
tailed ironwork. Ceramic tiles can be
found throughout the buildings.
Rather than imitating the Greek,
Roman and Chinese styles of mil-
leniums before, these buildings re
flected agricultural education at the
A. & M. College of Texas. Its
“southwestern motif’ was not one
contrived by a New York designer.
— Jim Peters
Photos
hy
Douglas Winship
ANIMAL HUSBANDRY PAVILION
SCOATES SOUTH ENTRANCE
STILL BLOWING IT OFF?
(it isn’t painful)
IF YOU ARE A SOPHOMORE OR A
JUNIOR YOU HAVE A CHANCE TO
YOUR PHOTO IN THE NATION’S LARGEST
YEARBOOK - THE AGGIELAND
UNIVERSITY STUDIOS HAS EXTENDED THi
DEADLINE TO GIVE YOU A BREAK.
FINAL CHANCE OR YOU’LL HAVE TO
WAIT ANOTHER HUNDRED YEARS . . .
APRIL 12