You are here

Iowa » Central » Des Moines » Des Moines, Northwest » Drake University

Drake University

-A A +A
University Ave. and 26th St.

Drake University was established in 1881 on what was then the outskirts of the city. The rectilinear nature of its large three-block site has conditioned the layout of its landscape, street and walk patterns, and the location of its buildings, down to the present day. The most extensive updating of its original grid plan occurred in 1959, with a new scheme drawn up by Sasaki, Walker and Associates (with Harry Weese). The design of its buildings and landscape today is primarily Modernist. The only older buildings that still strongly assert themselves are Old Main and Cowles Library. As the buildings discussed below indicate, the university sought out a number of the most famous architects of the time—Mies van der Rohe, Eero Saarinen, Edward Larabee Barnes, and Harry Weese—to bring the campus up-to-date.

Writing Credits

Author: 
David Gebhard and Gerald Mansheim

If SAH Archipedia has been useful to you, please consider supporting it.

SAH Archipedia tells the story of the United States through its buildings, landscapes, and cities. This freely available resource empowers the public with authoritative knowledge that deepens their understanding and appreciation of the built environment. But the Society of Architectural Historians, which created SAH Archipedia with University of Virginia Press, needs your support to maintain the high-caliber research, writing, photography, cartography, editing, design, and programming that make SAH Archipedia a trusted online resource available to all who value the history of place, heritage tourism, and learning.

,