According to Coats, the architect’s sketch of the proposed garden was sent to many friends of Mrs. Like the courtyards, the Margaret Fowler Garden took diverse inspiration from foreign gardens. In May 1968, students occupied the trees, refusing to allow them to be cut down,” wrote Coates. “When the decision was made in 1968 to construct the Humanities Building on this site, many students and alumnae protested the proposed destruction of the gardens, especially the Olive Grove. In 1936, Scripps students protested to get the central quadrangle grassed. The Scripps gardens have also been involved in protest throughout the history of the college. Clark Hall’s Olive Court, for example, was named for an olive tree that shades a corner of the courtyard. Naming Scripps’ courtyards after the natural beauty that they envelop seems to be a Scripps tradition in its own right. “One of the small courts is called Turtle Court, so named because of the turtle fountain in it, and another court on the north side is called the Japanese Garden since all of the original planting was native to Japan.” Coats in Guide to the Scripps College Campus. “The central court in Ellen Browning Hall was called Mañana Court because the original planting, with the exception of the Eucalyptus tree, was all native to Mexico,” writes Professor Bruce A. Browning Hall’s courtyards are named for the foreign fields that inspired these gardens. Scripps’ courtyards are actually quite diverse in their botanical origins. From the beginning, Scripps has valued the beauty of its courtyards. Toll Hall’s courtyards are especially notable because the hall was the first building constructed on the campus. Scripps’ architecture was meant to depart from the status quo of institutional and masculine architecture and this meant building courtyards and constructing a multitude of outdoor spaces. Perhaps that can be attributed to the natural sphere being associated with womanhood and “manmade” institutions being rigid and traditionally male-dominated spaces. Scripps has an abundance of courtyards because courtyards are apparently considered to be architecturally feminine. This has led to fine care in linking walks and vistas to architectural approaches.”Īccording to “Architectural Planning of the American College,” Scripps was intended to be more like a home in comparison to the architecture of most traditional masculine institutions. According to the Bulletin, “the total plan of the campus has always called for artistic connection between buildings and landscape. This seamless unity between the outdoor and indoor spaces on campus is also highlighted in the February 1948 edition of “The Scripps College Bulletin”. “It is a gem not only because of its fine architecture, but because the campus was planned as an artistic whole,” according to a walking tour pamphlet published in 1982 entitled “Walking Tour: The Claremont Colleges.” “The buildings and landscape at Scripps are not separate entities they are carefully and consistently linked through the use of natural geographic features, walks and visual axes.” So how does this abundance of courtyards shape Scripps? If there is one thing that Scripps has an abundance of, it is courtyards. This multi-faceted meaning of the courtyard turns out to be important to Scripps’ identity as a college. They are contained by the walls of man, yet inside those walls are contained gardens of green. Courtyards operate in this in-between place between nature and architecture.
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