Art Deco EMU
An Introduction to the Buildings of R. S. Gerganoff
and the Sculpture of Corrado Parducci at EMU
This website was created to accompany a September 2020 tour exploring the contributions of architect R. S. Gerganoff and architectural sculptor Corrado Parducci to the campus of Eastern Michigan University. This tour was led by author Dale Carlson and Professor of History James Egge, with additional commentary from Associate Professor of Art History Pam Stewart, Associate Professor of Historic Preservation Danny Bonenberger, and University Architect Robert Densic, and was presented as part of the EMU History Speaker Series. Please contact James Egge with any questions about this topic or related future events.
R. S. Gerganoff
Between 1936 and 1956, architect Ralph Stephens Gerganoff (1887-1966, born Rashko Stoyan Gerganoff) surveyed existing buildings at EMU, created campus development plans, and designed 16 new buildings. At the end of these remarkably productive two decades, Gerganoff had created the majority of EMU's buildings, almost all in an Art Deco style, and he had reshaped the campus to express a unified artistic vision.
Recommended Reading and Viewing
"R.S. Gerganoff: An Architect for the 20th Century," by Peg Porter. Ypsilanti Gleanings, Summer 2009.
Architectural work and designs by R.S. Gerganoff, architect. Ypsilanti, MI [no date].
R.S. Gerganoff drawings. Eastern Michigan University Archives.
EMU Buildings Designed by Gerganoff
Business and Finance Building, 1937 (demolished).
Walter O. Briggs Field, north stands, 1938 (demolished).
Rackham Hall, 1938.
King Hall, 1939.
Goodison Hall, 1939 (demolished).
Munson Residence Hall, 1940.
Hover Building, 1941.
Pierce Hall, 1948.
Jones Residence Hall, 1948.
Brown Residence Hall,1949.
600 W. Forest Street, 1949 (demolished).
Goddard Residence Hall, 1955.
Gerganoff also designed a warehouse (1936), a shop building (1940), a greenhouse (1942), and a service building (1956), all of which have been demolished.
Corrado Parducci
Corrado Giuseppe Parducci (1900 – 1981) was Michigan's most accomplished architectural sculptor. His works adorn several of Detroit's most beautiful buildings, including the Penobscot Building, the Detroit Masonic Temple, the Fisher Building, and the Guardian Building. With the 2020 publication of Corrado Parducci: A Field Guide to Detroit's Architectural Sculptor, Dale A. Carlson and EMU History alumnus Einar E. Kvaran documented for the first time that several of the sculptural reliefs that embellish Gerganoff's buildings at EMU were created by Parducci. Carlson and Kvaran have built a strong case for attributing to Parducci the sculptures on King Hall, Munson Hall, Pierce Hall, Jones Hall, and Goddard Hall, as well as the earlier reliefs on Roosevelt Hall (Smith, Hinchman, and Grylls, 1924).
Recommended Reading and Viewing
Corrado Parducci. Video by Jack Johnson.
Trailer for Parducci, the Man Who Made Detroit Beautiful, directed by Jack P. Johnson.
Corrado Parducci: A Field Guide to Detroit's Architectural Sculptor by Dale A. Carlson with Einar E. Kvaran (2020).
"'Field Guide' spotlights Detroit architectural sculptor Parducci," by Michael H. Hodges. The Detroit News February 19, 2020.
"Corrado Parducci (March 19, 1900 - Nov. 22, 1981)" by Jennifer Baross for HistoricDetroit.org
Guardians of Detroit: Architectural Sculpture in the Motor City (Wayne State University Press, 2019) and Guardians of Michigan: Architectural Sculpture of the Pleasant Peninsulas (University of Michigan Press, 2023) by EMU alumnus Jeff Morrison. These gorgeous books contains hundreds of photos of Parducci's work, including photos of Parducci's work at EMU.
Corrado Parducci - Detroit's Architectural Sculptor. Facebook group featuring excellent photographs of Parducci's sculptures.
Conservatory of Music and Old Main Building
View looking west from a point south of Pease Auditorium. The Conservatory (1864), on the left, was replaced by Boone Hall in 1914. The demolition of Old Main (1852, with later additions) following its condemnation by the State Fire Marshal enabled Gerganoff to create the Pierce/Ford/Boone quadrangle in 1948.
Several of Gerganoff's buildings are visible in this photo, as are the Old Main Building and the Normal Gymnasium (the castlesque "Red Gym" to the east of the Water Tower). Forest Street cuts across campus to merge with Washtenaw Avenue; today Forest ends at College Place.
Campus Development Plan by R. S. Gerganoff
The close similarity to the aerial photo above suggests that Gerganoff used that photo to create this drawing. He has erased buildings he proposes to demolish, most notably the Old Main Building, and he has added three new dormitories.
R.S. Gerganoff drawings. Eastern Michigan University Archives. Photo by James Egge.
Campus Development Plan by R. S. Gerganoff
This version adds the Hover Laboratory and greenhouse, Pierce Hall, the Pierce/Ford/Boone quadrangle, and a new design to complete the Briggs Field House. (The present Briggs Hall is the part of the field house designed by Giffels and Vallet and built in 1937, but the main section of the field house was never built). This sketch shows a theater addition on the west end of Pierce Hall. Gerganoff intended for this theater to be added in a later phase of construction but it was never built.
Plan of the Pierce/Ford/Boone quadrangle by R. S. Gerganoff
Gerganoff recognized the existing alignment of Ford and Pease, and he situated Pierce directly across this center line from Boone. The planned theater addition to Pierce would have balanced Pierce and Boone over this center line. Gerganoff defined these geometrical relationships with a stadium-shaped walkway around the lawn. The sight lines on this sketch further show Gerganoff's attention to the relationships between these buildings, and with Forest Avenue and Roosevelt Hall. (North is at the bottom on this drawing.)
Corrado Parducci work register
This register shows receipt of $575.00 in April 1947 for "Mich. Normal College O. W. Burke." O. W. Burke was the contractor for Jones Residence Hall, completed in 1948.
Cover of the 1949 Aurora yearbook showing Old Main and Pierce Hall
Published in Eastern's centennial year, this cover celebrates both tradition and progress by juxtaposing the tower of the recently demolished Old Main Building with the tower of the new and modern Pierce Hall.
Drawing of proposed Pierce Hall by R. S. Gerganoff
Sketches of sculptures for Pierce Hall tower by R. S. Gerganoff
The sculptures built differ completely from these plans.
Pierce Hall reliefs
Pierce Hall reliefs
Goddard Hall relief
Jones Hall reliefs
Proposed Renovation of Jones and Goddard Halls
"The project would include selective demolition of both Jones and Goddard halls to provide the renovation of 44,000 square feet within Jones Hall and a 26,000 square foot-addition from the existing open courtyard space between the two buildings, totaling 70,000 square feet of renovated or new space. The remaining un-renovated Goddard Hall space will be saved for future uses by the University."
Geoff Larcom, "Expansion of engineering programs to meet Michigan workforce needs target of Eastern Michigan University annual capital outlay request to state." EMU Today, October 25, 2018.
Reliefs from Roosevelt Hall and the Alfred Fisher residence
Carlson and Kvaran also attribute the sculptures on Roosevelt Hall (Smith, Hinchman, and Grylls, 1924) to Parducci. The Roosevelt Hall reliefs include several motifs that appear in other Parducci sculptures, such as mustachioed old men.
Drawing of Goodison and King residence halls by R. S. Gerganoff
Note the formal garden planned for the courtyard. In Architectural work and designs by R.S. Gerganoff, architect, this drawing is captioned "Quadrangle of Julia Ann King and Bertha Goodison Dormitory, Michigan State Normal College."
