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Vassar College has changed dramatically since its founding in 1861. Originally built for the descendants of aristocrats, this prestigious liberal arts school is now known for having one of the most diverse and progressive student populations in the United States. James Renwick, Jr. was the original architect of the campus—he also designed the Smithsonian Castle on the National Mall and St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan. But other luminaries such as Eero Saarinen also joined the campus in Poughkeepsie, New York, making it a hodgepodge of old and new.
LEFT Architects is the latest studio to emerge at Vassar College. The studio was founded in 2005 by Ziad Jamaleddine and Makram el Kadi and has offices in New York and Beirut. LEFT transformed the Pratt House, one of Vassar’s oldest buildings, into a multi-faith spiritual center. This historic building evolved into Vassar College’s Center for Religious Life, symbolizing the institution’s transformation since the 19th century into a center of multicultural higher education grounded in diversity.
The Pratt House is a 3-story masonry building donated by Charles M. Pratt, a wealthy industrialist and Vassar trustee. It was completed in 1915 as the Warden’s House and designed by York & Sawyer Architects. Thanks to the renovation by LEFT Architects, the Pratt Building has been transformed from a bourgeois residence into a haven for students of all faiths to worship, reflect and respectfully debate one another. “As a multi-faith center, we really don’t want to turn this building into the kind of interfaith space we see at airports,” Jamatin told one. “You know? Like a generic gray room with carpeting and lack of personality that tries to fit everyone but inevitably alienates everyone,” he continued. “Instead, the idea is not to iron out differences but to find common ground; acceptable overlap and layering between religious groups rather than trying to find some neutral position.”
During the schematic design process, LEFT Architects discovered precedents for religious buildings around the world that were able to accommodate different religious groups over time, notably Hagia Sophia in Istanbul and the Great Mosque of Damascus. The next step is to apply the lessons learned from the two case studies to smaller buildings and budgets. “It’s interesting for us to work on such a familial, intimate scale,” Jamaluddin said, “as opposed to a religious, celebratory, commemorative scale. We believe that for religious student communities and spiritual communities in the 21st century For families, it’s a more appropriate size. They don’t need a huge, monumental, symbolic statement, just a space that meets their needs.”
Transforming this 1915 building into a modern, energy-efficient, ADA-compliant building was a daunting task. But most original materials have been retained or repurposed: wood panels and stone, for example, have been upgraded in doors, walls, floors and exterior landscaping.
Within the Pratt Building, LEFT retained the building’s existing kitchen and inserted a second “ceremonial kitchen” into the envelope, equipped with all the equipment needed to provide adequate dining space for worshipers of different religions. Solutions include extra-long iftar tables and kitchens with both kosher and halal cooking areas. The ground floor houses staff offices, negative Stations (or ablution pools) for religious groups to perform ritual washing before prayer, and a meeting room. The second-floor ceiling was removed to create a light-filled, multi-level prayer space topped with wooden rafters.
Bathing sinks that worshipers wash before praying require custom designs, but the Justice Department’s ADA codebook is “secular,” meaning it does not prescribe how to design compliant religious installations. Therefore, Jamadine looked to countries around the world, namely Malaysia, for design inspiration.The result is a beautiful, customized negative It is easily accessible for people in wheelchairs and painted a warm powder blue.
Just outside, a maze designed by LEFT and Vassar faculty who specialize in ancient ritual sites sits underground. The maze, made from leftover building materials accumulated over the years by general contractors working for Vassar, is located in a part of campus colloquially known as the “cemetery.” Jamatin and his team cataloged every piece of material there, and the final labyrinth is a beautiful new form made from Vasa ephemera.
“It’s a very iterative process,” Jamatin said. “We are constantly discussing with the director new possible productions, changing the space, and how to adapt the space to the needs of the students.”
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