Email #24 - Once We Were Orange

The historic photo in this email is courtesy of UW Special Collections. It shows the steel frame structure of Architecture Hall on Aug. 27, 1908. The small color picture was taken Aug. 27, 2006.

When built, the structural steel was painted orange, based on the evidence visible today. Virtually every exposed steel column shows traces of this orange paint, as shown in the color photo taken on the 2nd floor of the South Wing.

In the historic photo, I colored orange the same column as in the contemporary photo, which was taken on the top floor. I imagine that virtually the entire structure was orange on Aug. 27, 1908. And Rem Koolhaas wasn't even born yet!

John Stamets
Aug. 27, 2006

See also #24a, #31 and #71