This Owl flew back to Rice University in Houston last weekend for Homecoming. Under rain-threatening skies, I walked around the beautiful campus to see what was new.

I always admire this sleek barn owl sculpted by Geoffrey Dashwood, which sits behind the Rice Chapel.

But what I was really curious to see was the redesigned and newly reopened Academic Quad. Landscape architecture firm Nelson Byrd Woltz was brought in to transform this highly visible and symbolic space. The quad was formerly an inert and unshaded formal space: a rectangle of lawn accented with skinny rows of ailing Italian cypress, with the founder’s statue on a tall pedestal near the center. Boring — no matter how fond the memory of friends at Wiess College pranking the university by turning that statue around in 1988. I’ll never forget walking through the quad that April morning to see the statue facing backward, and the jubilant faces of friends I immediately suspected of being behind it. A legendary prank.

But it was time for a change. As founder, William Marsh Rice gave a generous and lasting gift to the city of Houston, and to generations of students, with his endowment. At the same time, in his 1891 charter, the former slave owner denied black students and other people of color a place at the school. Trustees belatedly amended the charter in 1962, removing that barrier to entry. But the continued prominence of the monument and what it represented was, by 2020, spurring regular protests.

The new design de-centered the founder’s statue by relocating it to one corner and bringing it down to earth, sans pedestal. It also allowed the university to reimagine the quad as a gathering place rather than simply a pass-through space with a lawn for formal ceremonies.

An article in Rice Magazine provides the design vision behind the move:

“Explaining the symbolism behind the new location, Woltz says, ‘When you begin the narrative of Rice…you begin with his gift, and then you move on. You move on to the faculty, to the future, to the students, to the incredible results of his gift.’

At the heart of the quad is the commons zone, featuring a central plaza framed with long, curving benches. Shaded by the evergreen Monterrey oaks and a bosque of deciduous trees surrounding the plaza, visitors sitting on the benches will have a clear view of the area’s centerpiece, a small platform made from the granite plinth that once supported the Founder’s Memorial.

‘We thought that base has carried one narrative since it was installed,’ Woltz says, reflecting on the platform’s symbolism. ‘[We wanted to] repurpose that same stone base and say, “Now it carries the collective narrative of all the voices of Rice’s community.”‘ The plinth is designed to invite the campus community to speak, perform, protest and debate.”

The new plinth is marked with a quote by President John F. Kennedy from a speech he gave at Rice in 1962:

“We meet at a college noted for knowledge, in a city noted for progress, in a state noted for strength, and we stand in need of all three.”

Near the library, new benches and tables shaded by contemporary pergolas offer additional gathering and study spaces. Pines, oaks, and other native trees are planted to create bands of shade throughout the quad. The redesign is beautifully done. It invites students to adopt the quad as the living heart of the university, not merely a symbolic one.

Through all the changes over the decades at Rice, the campus’s mighty live oaks continue to grace the park-like grounds. Next time you’re in Houston, go for a stroll around campus and enjoy them. The neo-Byzantine architecture and public art like James Turrell’s Skyspace will also captivate you.

Many years ago, this place was home for a short time. It’s still good to come home.

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Digging Deeper

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