Dwinelle Hall
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Dwinelle Hall is the second largest building on the
campus A campus traditionally refers to the land and buildings of a college or university. This will often include libraries, lecture halls, student centers and, for residential universities, residence halls and dining halls. By extension, a corp ...
of the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
. It was completed in 1952. It is named after John W. Dwinelle, the state assemblyman responsible for the
Organic Act In United States law, an organic act is an act of the United States Congress that establishes an administrative agency or local government, for example, the laws that established territory of the United States and specified how they are to ...
that established the
University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...
in 1868, and who went on to serve as one of the first
Regents of the University of California The Regents of the University of California (also referred to as the Board of Regents to distinguish the board from the corporation it governs of the same name) is the governing board of the University of California (UC), a state university sys ...
. Dwinelle is home to many of the
humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...
and
social sciences Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of society, societies and the Social relation, relationships among members within those societies. The term was former ...
departments of the College of Letters and Science: namely, the departments o
Ancient Greek & Roman StudiesEast Asian Languages and Cultures
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,
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,
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,
comparative literature Comparative literature studies is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across language, linguistic, national, geographic, and discipline, disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role ...

South and Southeast Asian Studies,
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,
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,
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, Italian studies, Scandinavian,
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,
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and Portuguese, and
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and
women's studies Women's studies is an academic field that draws on Feminism, feminist and interdisciplinary methods to place women's lives and experiences at the center of study, while examining Social constructionism, social and cultural constructs of gender; ...
. Although many myths surround the odd construction of the building, Dwinelle Hall was designed by Ernest E. Weihe, Edward L. Frick, and Lawrence A. Kruse, with landscape artists Eckbo Royston & Williams. Construction was completed in 1953, with expansion completed in 1998. The southern block of Dwinelle Hall contains three levels of classrooms as well as four lecture halls, and the northern block houses seven stories of faculty and department offices. While the northern office block of Dwinelle is often referred to as the "Dwinelle Annex," it should not be confused with the Dwinelle Annex, which is a wooden building located to the west of Dwinelle Hall. The Dwinelle Annex was designed by
John Galen Howard John Galen Howard (May 8, 1864 – July 18, 1931) was an American architect and educator who began his career in New York before moving to California. He was the principal architect at several firms in both states and employed Julia Morgan early ...
and built in 1920. Until 1933, it was used for
military science Military science is the study of military processes, institutions, and behavior, along with the study of warfare, and the theory and application of organized coercive force. It is mainly focused on theory, method, and practice of producing mi ...
, after which it was used for
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from 1933 to 1958. During these periods of use, it was called the Military Sciences Building and the Music Building. Some remodeling was done in 1933 to accommodate the music department, and in 1949, it was enlarged to include a music library. Dramatic Arts and Comparative Literature moved into the building in 1958. More recently, the College Writing Program occupied the top floor. The annex is currently occupied by the Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies.


Construction

The location and design of Dwinelle Hall was chosen to allow easier access for the expanded student body after
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, as well as for faculty after the center of campus shifted southward towards Sather Gate. Dwinelle's odd shape was not created on a whim or by accident. The north wing and office block are aligned with Berkeley's older buildings like California Hall,
Wheeler Hall Wheeler Hall is a building on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley in Berkeley, California in the Classical Revival style. Home to the English department as well as the university's College Writing Programs department, it was na ...
, and Doe Memorial Library (which are all aligned along a southwesterly axis pointing towards the
Golden Gate The Golden Gate is a strait on the west coast of North America that connects San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. It is defined by the headlands of the San Francisco Peninsula and the Marin Peninsula, and, since 1937, has been spanned by ...
), while the southern wing is aligned with the (at the time) newer section of campus containing Sproul Hall as well as the city grid to the south. Norman Jensen oversaw the construction of Dwinelle Hall, and the same firm that constructed
San Francisco City Hall San Francisco City Hall is the seat of government for the City and County of San Francisco, California. Re-opened in 1915 in its open space area in the city's Civic Center, it is a Beaux-Arts monument to the City Beautiful movement that epito ...
, Arthur Brown, Jr., selected the company of Weihe, Frick and Kruse to construct the building. The construction site was initially intended for two separate buildings, and the annex was to be built with lower ceilings, and simple heating and ventilation systems, because it was designed to house offices rather than classrooms.
Reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete, also called ferroconcrete or ferro-concrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having higher tensile strength or ...
was used in construction because "granite was no longer a viable facing option." The Dwinelle Expansion Project began in 1996 and was completed in 1998. The project included the addition of two new floors to the office block, cost $10 million, expanded the building about 20%, and required the temporary removal of the roof. Dwinelle is frequently referred to as the "Freshman Maze" because of its confusing architecture. Soon after the building's construction, according to author
William Rodarmor William Rodarmor (born June 5, 1942) is an American journalist, adventurer, and translator of French literature. He is notable in the field of literary translation for having won the Lewis Galantière Award from the American Translators Associat ...
, students would "enter Dwinelle in their freshman year and emerge, blinking in the sunshine, just in time for graduation." As it was constructed on a slope, there are separate entrances to the building that connect directly to the first, second, third, and fourth floors. Classrooms require higher ceilings than offices, so the two wings' floors do not match up. On every floor, there is a hallway or staircase to connect the classroom wing to the office wing, and it is possible, positioned in certain areas of the building, to view five staircases, two elevators, and four hallways.


Floor plan

The office wing consists of seven floors, A (bottom) through G (top). There are exits on levels A and B. Level B has access to Ishi Court, a courtyard in the center of the office wing. Offices have four-digit numbers. The 1000s are located on level A, the 2000s on level B, the 3000s on level C, etc. There is also an attic area in the office wing. The classroom wing consists of five levels, B through F. There are exits on levels C and D; level B is underground. Levels C, D, and E in the classroom wing connect to levels C, D, E, and F in the office wing. Level F in the classroom wing connects directly to level G in the office wing. Classrooms have two- or three-digit numbers. Classrooms on level B have numbers beginning with "B", such as B55. Classrooms on level C have two-digit numbers. Level D consists of the 100s, level E of the 200s, and level F of the 300s. Cal Dining operates the Common Grounds cafe (temporarily closed) on level F of the classroom wing.


References


Citations


Works cited

*


External links

* Archived copy of a
official Dwinelle Website



The mysterious and mildly interesting story of Dwinelle Hall
an article on ''
The Daily Californian ''The Daily Californian'' (''Daily Cal'') is an independent, student-run newspaper that serves the University of California, Berkeley, campus and its surrounding community. History 20th century ''The Daily Californian'' became independent fro ...
''
Dwinelle Navigator
a virtual map used for step-by-step directions between classes at Dwinelle Hall {{coord, 37.87068, N, 122.26044, W, display=title University of California, Berkeley buildings University and college academic buildings in the United States John Galen Howard buildings 1952 establishments in California