James Rossant papers, 1950s-1990s

Series III: Academic Papers

Series III includes several folders covering James Rossant's teaching at Harvard University, New York University, and especially Pratt Institute, organized by institution, then by course or project. Also included is a small amount of correspondence and documentation relating to hiring and faculty issues at these institutions, and the contents of two binders, "Cities" and "Cities Plans Slides II." These last total 1,200 35mm slides, and likely comprise some portion of the contents of Rossant's long-running courses on the history and design of cities.


Box 7 Folder 6 Academic Resumes and General Correspondence, undated

resumes and biographical summaries filed with academic papers; application materials and letter of reference for Bogliasco Fellowship Program; miscellaneous academic job offers and related correspondence; 4 4x6 photographic prints of James Rossant attending a design review (unknown date and location)


Box 7 Folder 7 Harvard: Correspondence, 1984-1985

Harvard University Graduate School of Design job description and paperwork, including submitted course description; certificate recognizing Conklin Rossant fellowship contribution


Box 7 Folder 8 Harvard: Urban Revitalization Studio (West Midtown / Jacob Javits Exposition Center), 1985

schedule of studio option presentations; draft and final versions of syllabus; loose copies of site plans; student list; 2 copies of schedule for off-site activities on two days; handwritten notes; letters to outside presenters, guest jurors, and filmmaker Hiroshi Teshegahara (regarding Antonio Gaudi)


Box 7 Folder 9 Harvard: Syllabi of Other Instructors, 1980-1985

syllabi of Harvard urban design courses by other instructors


Box 7 Folder 10 NYU: Correspondence, 1977-1980, 1985, 1996

New York University Graduate School of Public Administration letters of offer; syllabus for "Service Systems and Site Planning" (Stephen J. Johnston); 1 pay stub; correspondence relating to later jury participation


Box 7 Folder 11 NYU: Introduction to Physical Design, Workshop in Urban Design (with Elliot Willensky), 1977-1980

syllabi; notes for one lecture ("Warfare - From Persopolis to the National Defense Highway Act"); questions for Master's Comprehensive Examination; student course evaluations from Urban Planning Students Committee


Box 7 Folder 12 Pratt: Correspondence and Miscellaneous Documents, 1985-2003

Pratt Institute letters of offer; faculty telephone listing; various intra-faculty memoranda, invitations, newsletters, etc.; letter of reference for Theo David


Box 7 Folder 13 Pratt: Theories of Urban Design, 1992-1997

syllabi (including one sample from previous instructor)


Box 7 Folder 14 Pratt: City Design: History and Theory, 1995-1998

syllabi; seminar session notes


Box 7 Folder 15 Pratt: Culmination Studio, 1997-1999

syllabi; assignment descriptions


Box 7 Folder 16 Pratt: Wilmington 2000 Study (Wilmington, DE), 1996-1997

correspondence and drafts; loose notes; site plan; 2 bound presentation documents including various illustrations


Box 7 Folder 17 Pratt: Beirut Study (Solidere Area B), 1997-1998

correspondence, particularly with Prof. Tarek Al-Kazzaz (American University of Beirut)


Box 7 Folder 18 Pratt: Waterfront Seminar, 1983-1986

correspondence, lecture notes, schedules and promotional brochure for guest lecture in "Waterfronts Summer Studio / Seminar"


Box 7 Folder 19 Pratt: Miscellaneous Classes and Projects, 1982-2001

correspondence and course materials relating to various courses at Pratt Institute, including "International Practices," "The City House and the Country House," "4-Hour Sketch Problem: The Design of a New Hotel for SoHo," "The Metropolis Re-Configured," "History and Analysis of New York," renovation of the Brooklyn Bar Association building, untitled collaboration with the National University of Singapore


Box 7 Folder 20 Miscellaneous Academic Papers, undated

loose papers filed with academic material, including: partial reading lists; copy of Rosalind Krauss's "Grids" (1979); unidentified notes; mailer from Amtrak and the Department of Transportation including New York Times article "The Philosopher as a Hero Maker"; reprint of Antonio di Bitonto and Paolo Montani, "Un Edificio Problematico L' 'Oratorio' Dell'Osteriaccia Presso Portaria" (1985); syllabus of Urban Design Seminar at Columbia University taught by D.G. Shane (1996); photocopied site plan of central Bangkok


Box 7 Folder 21 "Cities 1" 1/3, undated

196 35mm slide transparencies from binder "Cities 1," with photographs and some published drawings of various world cities including Prague, Brasilia, San Gimignano, Alberobello, Siena, Pisa, Savannah, Versailles, Atlanta, Manaus, San Francisco, Amsterdam, Laon, Rio de Janeiro, Lucca, Florence, Mexico City, Cairo, Agrigento, Panama City, Warsaw, Milton Keynes, Radburn, and others; specific projects including the Guggenheim Museum (Frank Lloyd Wright, New York City), the Convent of La Tourette (Le Corbusier, Evry), V.C. Morris Gift Shop (Frank Lloyd Wright, San Francisco), Staatsgalerie (James Stirling, Stuttgart)


Box 7 Folder 22 "Cities 1" 2/3, undated

175 35mm slide transparencies from binder "Cities 1," with photographs and some published drawings of various world cities including Letchworth, Rome, Milan, Rome, Las Vegas, Siena, Cairo, Monreale, Warsaw, Mayagüez, Cambridge, San Francisco, Brasilia, Palermo, Prague, Manaus, SoHo (New York City), Istanbul, and others; specific projects including the proposed Garden City (Ebenezer Howard), the Centre Pompidou (Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers, Paris), the Unité d'habitation (Le Corbusier, Marseilles), the Philharmonic Hall (Hans Scharoun, Berlin)


Box 7 Folder 23 "Cities 1" 3/3, undated

154 35mm slide transparencies from binder "Cities 1," with photographs and some published drawings of various world cities including Istanbul, Brussels, Paris, Rome, Prague, Agrigento, Nairobi, and others; specific projects including the Hubertus House (Aldo Van Eyck, Amsterdam), the Marin County Civic Center (Frank Lloyd Wright, northern California), and El Capricho (Antoni Gaudí, Cantabrilla, Spain)


Box 7 Folder 24 "Cities Plans Slides II" 1/3, undated

198 35mm slide transparencies from binder "Cities Plans Slides II," with photographs and some published drawings of various world cities including Rome, Venice, Paris, Pisa, Siena, Jerusalem, Bath, Florence, Cairo, Pompeii, London, Los Angeles, Agrigento, Palermo, Thimphu, Warsaw, and others; specific projects including the Bauhaus (Walter Gropius and Adolf Meyer, Dessau), Lloyd's Building (Richard Rogers, London), structures for the 1968 Olympic Games (Frei Otto, Munich), Centre Pompidou (Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers, Paris), El Capricho (Antoni Gaudí, Cantabrilla, Spain), Garden City project (Ebenezer Howard), New Lanark Mills (Robert Owen, Scotland)


Box 7 Folder 25 "Cities Plans Slides II" 2/3, undated

258 35mm slide transparencies from binder "Cities Plans Slides II," with photographs and some published drawings of various world cities including Athens, Rome, Los Angeles, Cairo, Siena, Mexico City, Paris, Florence, San Gimignano, Tivoli, Prague, Cyprus, Rotterdam, San Francisco, Charleston, Berlin, Brasilia, Samarkand, Evry; specific projects including Cumbernauld Town Center (Geoffrey Copcutt, Leslie Wilson, et al.), Lloyd's Building (Richard Rogers, London), Learning From Las Vegas(Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown, Steven Izenour), V.C. Morris Gift Shop (Frank Lloyd Wright, San Francisco), Peachtree Center and hotel interiors (John Portman, Atlanta), Casa del Fascio (Giuseppe Terragni, Como), Marin County Civic Center (Frank Lloyd Wright, Northern California), convent of La Tourette (Le Corbusier, Evry), Centre Pompidou (Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers, Paris), Altesmuseum (Karl Friedrich Schinkel, Berlin), Staatsgalerie (James Stirling, Stuttgart), Glasgow School of Art (Charles Rennie Mackintosh), Jewish Museum (Daniel Libeskind, Berlin)


Box 7 Folder 26 "Cities Plans Slides II" 3/3, undated

219 35mm slide transparencies from binder "Cities Plans Slides II," with photographs and some published drawings of various world cities including San Juan (Puerto Rico), Mexico City, Pisa, Milan, Orange, Warsaw, Brussels, Panama City, New Delhi, Pisa, Beijing, Bruges, Pompeii, Rome, Prague, Charleston, Mantua, Brasilia, Sao Paulo, Palermo; specific projects including Tristan Tzara House (Adolf Loos, Paris), Centre Pompidou (Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers, Paris), Lijnbaan (Bakema & van den Broek, Rotterdam), Peachtree Center (John Portman, Atlanta), Altesmuseum (Karl Friedrich Schinkel, Berlin), Glasgow School of Art (Charles Rennie Mackintosh), Lloyd's building (Richard Rogers, London), Staatsgalerie (James Stirling, Stuttgart)


Oversize 2 National University of Singapore Plaque, undated

fritted glass or lucite plaque given to James Rossant on occasion of guest lecture at National University of Singapore (August 25, 2000)