Eugene/Architecture/Alphabet: J

Main entry porch, Johnson Hall (photos by me unless noted otherwise)

This is the next in my Eugene/Architecture/Alphabet series of blog posts, the focus of each being a landmark building here in Eugene. Many of these will be familiar to most who live here but there are likely to be a few buildings that are less so. My selection criteria for each will be threefold:  

1. The building must be of architectural interest, local importance, or historically significant.
2. The building must be extant so you or I can visit it in person.
3. Each building’s name will begin with a particular letter of the alphabet, and I must select one (and only one) for each of the twenty-six letters. This is easier said than done for some letters, whereas for other characters there is a surfeit of worthy candidates (so I’ll be discriminating and explain my choice in those instances).

This entry’s selection begins with the letter J, for which my choice is Johnson Hall on the campus of the University of Oregon.
 
Johnson Hall

 

North facade

Johnson Hall stands out as a unique example of the American Renaissance Style on the University of Oregon campus. State of Oregon Architect William C. Knighton designed what would become and remains the university’s main administration building. Completed in 1915, the building is named after John Wesley Johnson, the first president of the University of Oregon. Johnson Hall is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
 
The American Renaissance Style was popular during the period spanning 1876 to 1917. According to Wikipedia, the style was an expression of the opinion among academics of the time that the United States was the heir to Greek democracy, Roman law, and Renaissance humanism, and that the architecture of the country’s institutions should accordingly emulate classical Greek and Roman architecture. The 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago would be particularly influential in promoting neoclassical principles of symmetry and balance in architectural design.
 
Perhaps fitting for the seat of the university’s administration, Johnson Hall stands out along 13th Avenue, thanks to the colossal Ionic columns of its 2-story tall, north-facing portico. At the same time, the building’s scale, brick veneer, and glazed terra cotta details complement and fit comfortably among its earlier, variously styled neighbors:  University/Deady Hall (1876), Villard Hall (1886), Friendly Hall (1893), and Fenton Hall (1906). Together, this eclectic assemblage formed the Old Quadrangle, with Johnson Hall as its southern terminus. The later ensemble of Hendricks Hall (1918), Susan Campbell Hall (1920), and Gerlinger Hall (1921) likewise joined Johnson Hall to shape the Women’s Memorial Quadrangle.
 
The axial organization imparted by the building’s relationship to the two quadrangles extends through its interior. The main floor and second floor lobbies dominate the plans; the first-floor space retains its original marble wainscoting, coffered ceilings, and varnished wood details, while the second-floor lobby originally featured a large, Tiffany-style skylight.

 

South entrance

In addition to the housing the president’s office and the university’s administrative functions, Johnson Hall once contained the Condon Geological Collection and the 200-seat Guild Theater. The 1949 Robinson Theater (now the Miller Theater Complex) addition to Villard Hall rendered the Guild Theater unnecessary, so the university removed it for expansion of the administrative offices within Johnson Hall.
 
Notably, Johnson Hall was one of the first examples of reinforced concrete construction in Eugene, and the first on the University of Oregon campus.
 
Until 2020, The Pioneer statue—dedicated to the pioneer spirit of the west—faced Johnson Hall across 13th Avenue, while The Pioneer Mother sat upon a pedestal within the Women’s Quadrangle, similarly oriented toward and on axis with Johnson Hall. Activists toppled both sculptures in an act of protest to draw attention to racial injustice and the darker side of 19th century western settlement, dragging The Pioneer onto the steps of Johnson Hall. Following the incident, the university placed both sculptures into storage, where they remain today.
 
The toppling of the statues was not the first time Johnson Hall occupied center stage amid periods of civil unrest. During April of 1970, as many as 200 students occupied the building, conducting a sit-in to protest U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War and the on-campus presence of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC). A further 700 protestors surrounded Johnson Hall, and some would clash with the police and National Guard, leading to numerous arrests. As a manifest symbol of the university’s authority, the building has since been the site of countless protests drawing attention to UO’s role in racial, economic, and environmental injustices. Most recently, the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation rallied at Johnson Hall, demanding safer, healthier working conditions and action by the university to stem the on-campus spread of COVID’s omicron variant.
 
Johnson Hall enjoyed its star turn as the administration building of the fictional Faber College in the 1978 movie Animal House. John Belushi’s manic prancing about the front of the building is comedy gold. The filmmakers shot the subsequent horse scene in what today is UO President Michael Schill’s conference room, which looks today much as it did then.

 

D-Day, Flounder, and Bluto sneak Doug Neidemeyer's horse into Dean Wormer's office (still from the movie Animal House).

The University of Oregon campus is home to Eugene’s single-best collection of noteworthy pre-World War II buildings. While I did not intend my Eugene/Architecture/Alphabet series to necessarily focus on older architecture, I am drawn to buildings with history—buildings that figure meaningfully in the memories of longtime Eugene residents. Newer buildings here simply haven’t accrued enough of these consequential memories, something only the passage of time may remedy. By virtue of its history, we view Johnson Hall today as a significant work of early 20th century architecture, remember it as a front-row witness to tumultuous, era-defining student demonstrations, and relish its place within popular culture.