Newton Falls

Generic World War II buildings are often considered an architectural subset of their own.  The war was, according to some, “a major factor in driving innovation in building technology, and in turn, architectural possibilities.  Industrial demands resulted in a supply shortage (of such things as steel and other metals), in turn leading to the adoption of new materials, and advancement or novel use of old ones.  At the same time, there was a rapid demand for structures during the war (such as military and governmental facilities) as well as for housing after the war.  These factors encouraged experiments with prefabricated buildings.  The U.S.O. Building, however, is not the result of wartime experimentation or improvisation.   It is a conventional pre-war design from a mainstream New York City company of architects.

The building was designed in the International Style of architecture. The term, International Style of architecture, was effectively coined in 1932 as the result of an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  The most common characteristics of International Style buildings are said to be:  (1) rectilinear forms; (2) light, taut plane surfaces that have been completely stripped of applied ornamentation and decoration; (3) open interior spaces; and (4) a visually weightless quality engendered by the use of cantilever construction.  Importantly, it includes one of the earliest examples of the internal floor plan which allowed the interior office walls to be non-structural and non-load-bearing.  As such, the interior and partition walls are mostly plywood, and are easily reconfigurable.  This was a radical change in construction for the time period.  Because these long horizontal windows were impossible with traditional heavy enclosures, they became emblematic of a new direction in architecture. The ribbon windows along the front and the side of the building are one of its most conspicuous features. Decades later, ribbon windows are a fairly common element in modern and contemporary houses.  

The U.S.O. building meets all of these criteria.  Further, the transparency of building, construction (called the honest expression of structure), and acceptance of industrialized mass-production techniques contributed to the International Style's design philosophy.  The flat roof is characteristic of the International style, and the introduction of a peaked roof into the auditorium of the U.S.O. Building may seem untypical.  But a dance hall cannot have internal supporting pillars, and the U.S.O. program was a national building project that had to be applicable to all climates. 

The F.S.A. erected both large and small recreation buildings and renovated many existing facilities.  The available evidence indicates that it borrowed plans from several sources, including the military, Works Progress Administration, and other Federal agencies involved in construction.  However, the designs for its larger centers were prepared specifically for the USO program by the prestigious New York City architectural firm of Ely Jacques Kahn and Robert Allan Jacobs.

Standardized plans for the U.S.O. building program, including the Newton Falls U.S.O. Center, were designed by the New York architectural firm of Kahn and Jacobs.  In the words of his biographers, Jewel Stern and John A. Stuart, “Ely Jacques Kahn (1884-1972) was a leader in design circles of his time and a significant . . . contributor to the city’s rich urban fabric as a prolific architect, educator, and writer. . . .  Kahn’s most widely known work is associated with the 1920s building boom in New York City, during which over 35 extant examples of his design were erected. . . .  The New York Times has called him “one of New York’s most important commercial designers.” 

Robert Allan Jacobs (1905-1993) was a graduate of Columbia University and a second-generation New York City architect.  Early in his career Jacobs worked in Paris, he absorbed the principles of the International style, which became the dominant architectural form of the second half of the 20th century.  His partner, Ely Jacques Kahn was chiefly responsible for the firms Government contracts.

Also involved in the design work for the U.S.O. project was a junior member of Kahn & Jacobs named André Remondet (1908-1998).  A graduate of the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux Arts in Paris, he also attended George Washington University in Washington, DC, and the New York Structural Institute.  In 1973, as the result of an architectural competition, Remondet was selected as the designer for the new French Embassy complex in Washington, DC.

Kahn & Jacobs prepared templates for three large recreation centers, known in ascending order of size and complexity as the Type A, Type B, and Type C.  These flexible designs featured large auditoriums or “social halls” with projecting lobbies and flanking wings that could easily be modified to adapt the structures to their surroundings.  In the Type A Building, the smallest and most compact of the three and the type of the Newton Falls U.S.O. Center, the auditorium was located directly behind the lobby and its wings, which contained the lounges, staff offices, showers, rest rooms, and kitchen.  The Type B and C Buildings were L-shaped, allowing visitors to enter the lobby or the auditorium separately.  All three designs were International in style.  The Type A is especially distinctive with its severely utilitarian façade, flat lobby roof, ribbon windows and industrial sash.   The Newton Falls Historic U.S.O. Building & Community Center, a Type A, is thus noteworthy both for distinguished pedigree and architectural significance. 

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