Austin Hall

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Austin Hall is a classroom building of the Harvard Law School designed by noted American architect H. H. Richardson. The first building purpose built for an American law school, it was also the first dedicated home of Harvard Law. It is located on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Law School (colloquially, Harvard Law or HLS) is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. ... Henry Hobson Richardson, portrait by Sir Hubert von Herkomer Trinity Church in Boston is one of Richardsons most famous works. ... Harvard University (incorporated as The President and Fellows of Harvard College) is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA and a member of the Ivy League. ... Location in Massachusetts Coordinates: , Country United States State Massachusetts County Middlesex County Settled 1630 Incorporated 1636 Government  - Type Mayor-council city  - Mayor Kenneth Reeves (D) Area  - City  7. ...

The hall was built 1882-1884 in Romanesque Revival style. Single-story wings flank a heavy, two-story central mass, with the reading room extending rearwards to form an overall T shape. A central entryway framed with Romanesque triple arch is set deep within the building's flat front facade, with an asymmetric stairway tower protruding forwards to its right. The building is faced with Longmeadow sandstone in striking polychrome patterns, the light stones forming checkerboards within dark, reddish walls. The arches are of pale Ohio sandstone, as is the thick cornice band incised with a lengthy and sententious motto. Year 1882 (MDCCCLXXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1884 (MDCCCLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... A style of building in the late 19th century (roughly 1840 and 1900) inspired by the 11th and 12th century Romanesque style of architecture. ...

Austin Hall's first floor contains three large classrooms; these were designed to complement the new law school curriculum that was being implemented at the time by Dean Christopher Columbus Langdell, including large core classes employing the Socratic method. As this curriculum has been imitated by other American law schools, so has the classroom layout first employed at Austin Hall. Christopher Columbus Langdell (May 22, 1826 _ July 6, 1906), American jurist, was born in New Boston, Hillsborough county, New Hampshire, of English and Scotch-Irish ancestry. ... Socratic Method (or Method of Elenchus or Socratic Debate) is a dialectic method of inquiry, largely applied to the examination of key moral concepts and first described by Plato in the Socratic Dialogues. ...

The building's second floor contains the Ames Courtroom, where students argue moot cases before panels of judges. A United States Supreme Court justice usually presides over the moot court's final round. The reading room's interior has been judged particularly fine for its ornamented fireplace and tie beams carved with the heads of dragons and boars. The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C. The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C., (large image) The Supreme Court of the United States, located in Washington, D.C., is the highest court (see supreme court) in the United States; that is, it has ultimate judicial authority within the United States...

References

• Jeffrey Karl Ochsner, H. H. Richardson: Complete Architectural Works, MIT Press, 1985, page 76. ISBN 0262650150.
• Harvard Law School walking tour