Martel College, Rice University

Michael Graves
2002




Martel College, the ninth residential hall at Rice, is named for Marian and Speros P. Martel, generous donors to Rice University. Like many of the other campus buildings, the residential hall is constructed of the same rose-colored St. Joe brick and uses decorative brick designs.

The campus-side triumphal entrance

Like many post-modern architects, Graves thinks in terms of the context so the stone columns and cipollinno marble accents echo motifs in the Jones College buildings nearby. See photographs below.
 
Like many of Graves' buildings, this entrance has a clear sense of a base and top, as well as a monumental portal. See Graves Index.
 

The outer side of the quadrangle

 
 

Distant view of Martel College monumental entrance with Jones College to the right

The residential hall is called a college because Rice University students enjoy the "college" system with "Masters" of the college located in nearby houses. The four-story Martel College is built around a central quadrangle, with various entrance points in addition to the monumental entrance, and with a gap by the adjacent Jones Colleges.
 

Martel College quadrangle




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© 2003 Mary Ann Sullivan. I have photographed (on site), scanned, and manipulated all the images on these pages. Please feel free to use them for personal or educational purposes. They are not available for commercial purposes.

Page created by Mary Ann Sullivan