Roger Halle papers and architectural drawings, 1943-1992

Summary Information

Abstract

Roger Halle (1919-1993), a research architect who devoted his professional practice to reducing the cost of construction. After receiving a graduate degree in architecture from Princeton University, he worked for several architectural firms; and.later started his own practice in New York City and Caracas, Venezuela. Halle held 12 patents in 17 countries for his work. In 1964, he introduced the Halle Building System, and in 1972 he established Halle Building System Company Inc. He wrote many articles to promote his ideas on how to build more with less cost and was published in several publication including Architecture & Engineering News, Progressive Architecture, and The New York Times. He also gave talks and lectures at Princeton University, New York Institute of Technology and HUD-NIBS Conference.

At a Glance

Arrangement

Arrangement

The collection is made up of three series:

• Series I: Professional Papers
• Series II: Halle Building System
• Series III: Architectural Drawings

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Description

Scope and Content

This collection consists primarily of writings, correspondences, research material, patent documents and architectural drawings of Halle’s devoted career in developing ways to reduce the cost of building and housing construction. Dated from 1950 to 1992, the material is arranged into three series: Professional Papers, Halle Building System, and Architectural Drawings.

Series I: Professional Papers

This series is comprised of documents related to his writings, research, and his involvement and contribution to Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Division of National Institute of Building Science (NIBS), primarily on the topic of reducing the building cost through building components and system.

Series II: Halle Building System

The series includes his research and correspondence on prefabrication as a basis of a building method, the patent documents of US and abroad, and the company records of the Halle Building System Company Inc.

Series III: Architectural Drawings

The series contains his architectural drawings pertaining to the research, projects and correspondence in the previous two series. The majority was co-created with Pedersen & Tilney as consulting architects and Severud-Elstad-Krueger-Associates as consulting engineers, these structural drawings illustrated the design and development of his building system.

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Using the Collection

Access Restrictions

 The bulk of this collection is stored in Columbia University Libraries' off-site storage facility. Materials will be recalled by request. This collection is available for use by appointment in the Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. For further information and to make an appointment, please call (212) 854-4110 or email avery-drawings@libraries.columbia.edu.

Restrictions on Use

Columbia University is providing access to the materials in the Library's collections solely for noncommercial educational and research purposes. The unauthorized use, including, but not limited to, publication of the materials without the prior written permission of Columbia University is strictly prohibited. All inquiries regarding permission to publish should be submitted in writing to the Director, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. For additional guidance, see Columbia University Libraries' publication policy.

In addition to permission from Columbia University, permission of the copyright owner (if not Columbia University) and/or any holder of other rights (such as publicity and/or privacy rights) may also be required for reproduction, publication, distributions, and other uses. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of any item and securing any necessary permissions rests with the persons desiring to publish the item. Columbia University makes no warranties as to the accuracy of the materials or their fitness for a particular purpose.

Preferred Citation

Roger Halle papers and architectural drawings, 1943-1992, Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University.

For Further Information

For more information about using the collections and conducting research in the Department of Drawings & Archives, please see our FAQ.

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About the Finding Aid / Processing Information

Columbia University Libraries. Avery Architecture and Fine Arts Library. Department of Drawings and Archives; machine readable finding aid created by Columbia University Libraries Digital Library Program Division

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Chialin Chou (Archives Intern), under the supervision of Shelley Hayreh, Avery Archivist, in 2013.

Machine readable finding aid generated from MARC-AMC source via XSLT conversion September 6, 2013 Finding aid written in English.

2013-09-06 File created.

CLIO ID: 10450651 View CLIO record

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Index Terms

The names and terms listed below are represented in this collection. Links below allow searches at Columbia University through the Archival Collections Portal and through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, as well as ArchiveGRID, a consortial/union catalog offered by OCLC that allows users to search the holdings of multiple archives and libraries.

All links open new windows.

Subjects

Heading	CUL Archives: Portal	CUL Collections: CLIO	Nat'l / Int'l Archives: ArchiveGRID

United States.--Department of Housing and Urban Development.

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ArchiveGRID

Architecture--United States--Designs and plans.

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CLIO

ArchiveGRID

Buildings, Prefabricated.

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CLIO

ArchiveGRID

Prefabricated houses--Design and construction.

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CLIO

ArchiveGRID

Housing--United States.

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CLIO

ArchiveGRID

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History / Biographical Note

Biography

Roger Halle was born in 1919. He studied architecture at Princeton University and worked under several architects including Edward Durrell Stone and Wallace K. Harrison during the late 1940's. While with Harrison and Abramovitz, he helped produce the design for the United Nations Secretariat building. Halle later started his own firm as a research architect in New York City and Caracas, Venezuela, focusing his career on reducing the cost of construction by implementing prefabricated modules and building systems. He held 12 patents in the United States and abroad related to the method of building, which constituted what was introduced in 1964 as the Halle Building System.

In May 1972, Halle incorporated Halle Building System Company Inc., with the primary purpose to provide consulting or design services related to the construction of buildings and their components, in particular to system or industrialized building.

The architect gave talks and lectures on reducing building and housing costs, participated in the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) held conferences, and was a member on the Technology Division of National Institute of Building Science (NIBS) where he prepared and proposed research plans for the Housing Technology Research Agenda. Halle also published many articles in several publication including Architecture & Engineering News, Progressive Architecture, and The New York Times, and was closely involved in the preservation of the Halle Ravine and other nature preserves in Pound Ridge, N.Y. as well as a founding trustee of the Lower Hudson chapter of the Nature Conservancy.

Halle died in 1993 at the age of 74.

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