Blue Ridge Assembly Campus

 

In 1933, John Andrew Rice, Fredrick Georgia, Ralph Lounsburg and Theodore Dreier joined forces to pull off one of the greatest collaborations in educational history, the construction of Black Mountain College. After being dismissed from Rollins College for refusing to sign a loyalty pledge to the university the four decided to create their own school that encouraged the collaboration and experimentation of all forms of art. The closing of the avant garde school, the Bauhaus, heavily influenced the early stages of design for BMC.  It was decided from the start that the school was to base the fundamental principles off this German institution. The mission of Black Mountain College was to create “complete” people. By creating a school centered around the balancing of both art and humanities, as well as including a structure that emphasizes communal living along with manual labor, the school’s founders believed this goal was in hands reach.

 

Black Mountain College originally operated from the YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly buildings, for its first 8 years. Leasing from Blue Ridge College Inc., the school struggled to find a permanent location for the college to exist at. The Robert E. Lee hall was rented by the school to hold both living and classroom facilities. This reinforced the college’s communal ideas of both experimental/ collaboratory teaching strategies and shared community. Even the living quarters were dormitories for both teachers and students. In 1937, the college collectively decided to relocate to a more permanent location to expand its program and to further grow as a school. Sharing a rented space made this impossible and the college had to shut down ever summer. In May 1941, Black Mountain College ended their lease  on Robert E. Lee hall and set off to their new location at Lake Eden to further expand the possibilities the school could provide.

 

Lake Eden Campus

 

Possibly the greatest and most involved collaboration that occurred at Black Mountain College was the construction of the Lake Eden Campus itself. Through the exchange of ideas, labor, and money among a determined population of creatives, the first true collaboration came from the revitalization of the buildings and facilities that allowed for the artwork to flourish. Allowing students to work alongside their professors simultaneously allowed for the college to reach its full creative and experimental potential. This project required the collaboration of nearly all faculty and students that attended the college during the various phases of construction. Even local workers outside of the college had a hand in at least some of the development of this campus.

 

In the case that  Blue Ridge College Inc., the codecided to no longer allow BMC to lease from them, the college began to look for a permanent place to exist in 1935. BMC finally elected to purchase the “Lake Eden Property” from E.W. Grove Estate in 1937. The property, consisting of 14 buildings, had been used by E.W. Grove as a girls camp and as an inn during the summer. The most promising aspect of the property to BMC, however, was the farmland it contained due to the collaborative potential the farmland possessed. The college didn’t immediately begin to renovate the buildings or even think of moving to this location for a few years. However, the college continued to operate the summer inn at Lake Eden as a way of making revenue for renovations. Due to the rustic state of the buildings, the former editor of the Architectural Record suggested that , Josef Albers and Xanti Schawinsky should work with  Walter Gropius Marcel Breuer on a design for a new building to be constructed on the Lake Eden Property. The group began to discuss plans and features they foresaw for the supposed structures. The plans called for dormitories, studios, faculty housing, workshops, a theater, and other facilities. In 1939 the college formally commissioned Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer to design plans for the Lake Eden campus.

 

In 1940, Blue Ridge College Inc. informed BMC that the college would need to vacate their lease by June 1941 due to a more lucrative lease offer that they received. Frustrated by the circumstances, the college was left with few options moving forward. The first was to hope that the new lease to be withdrawn. The second was to temporarily relocate to an undiscovered property until the Gropius-Breuer plans were funded. The last option was to move into the simpler Lake Eden buildings as they were. The college eventually decided on the third option to make the transition to the Lake Eden campus by September of 1941.

 

The Studies Building

 

Because the fundraising for the Gropius-Breuer plans were hardly successful, not even accumulating the $75,000 needed to begin construction, much less the $500,000 needed to complete the project, the college decided to abandon the Gropius-Breuer plans.

 

In the summer of 1940, Lawrence Kocher visited the college and was commissioned to design building plans that can be carried out by students and faculty. His plans for construction included designs for a service building for the kitchen staff, the Jalowitz House, and a barn and the Studies building which was the largest project undertaken at the school. These plans were articulated throughout Kocher’s time at BMC. In order to find ways to simplify the construction job, Kocher was utilized innovative concepts and methods to cut cost and expedite construction. Kocher  prepared students to assist with construction of the school by focusing the art courses on construction and architecture.  

 

From digging ditches to hauling raw materials, the students and teachers of BMC wholeheartedly began to prepare the campus for the Studies building, the first of four buildings proposed by Kocher. If the help from the student body labor wasn't enough, the raw materials necessary for the job were found on or around campus. On one account, professors exploring the campus came across a large deposit of gravel that had been displaced by a past flood, which proved to be a tremendous resource in the construction process.

 

In September 1940, construction began on the Kocher plans for creating a Studies building. As the first steps of the project neared completion for the exterior structure, students and faculty banded together to raise money to continue development of the building. Together, they hosted dinners, concerts, and other events that helped raise money for the next steps in construction:the interior structures. The faculty also agreed to a 60% cut in their salaries, which was a testament to their loyalty to the campus, the college’s creative academic ideals, and their students. These collaborations between students, faculty, and the individuals the locals who offered their time and skills speak to the true interconnected nature of the school.

 

Students and faculty alike campaigned during the fall and winter semesters of 1940-1941 in order to continue to fund the construction of the the Studies building. The college hosted lectures, concerts, and solicited private donations as the main methods of fundraising. By winter break, a celebration was held as the building was crowned with a roof. Construction continued until June of 1941 when the exterior of the building was completed. Progressing to work on the interior of the building wasn’t yet possible as the college waited for more money to come in. They were able to install oak flooring and plywood walls but little more was possible until more materials are able to be purchased.

 

Walls of the studies building were left unfinished until the summer of 1944 when the school accumulated enough chestnut from a variety of sources to panel a few yards of the hallways. Mary Gregory, a faculty member, was able to locate enough chestnut the following year to finish the hallways of the studies building, but it wasn’t until 1947 that the entirety of the walls in the studies building were complete. The fact that students were exposed to the insulation of the walls over the years left many students with rashes from direct contact. During these times of construction, those involved at BMC proved their dedication and passions for BMC.

 

End of an Era

 

The college struggled financially throughout the next decade for many reasons, the main one being political schisms that occurred leaving the campus to sell land to survive. In 1953, the college moved to the lower campus in order to save money, leasing the upper campus out to Eden Rock Park Inc. The overwhelming debt that the college had accumulated over time made it difficult for the school to pay for food. It wasn’t until 1956 the College closed the Lake Eden Campus completely, but continued to sponsor programs in other places in the U.S. such as San Francisco. These sponsorships halted in March of 1957 when the court ruled the college had to pay all debt before it could continue anymore educational programming.