Name: DeSmet Hall
Address: St. Louis University Campus
Date of Demolition: 1977
Designation: City Landmark
History:
DeSmet Hall is important as much for the urban design statement it makes as for its individual architecture. A handsome building, DeSmet recalls the architecture of England´s William Butterfield and shows the influences of American architect John Ruskin. Ruskin is well known for his unusual style of Gothic architecture, which emphasized contracting colors and the use of natural materials. DeSmet Hall with its red brick and contrasting stone is a good example of this style. DeSmet, however, is more important for the way the distinctive red brick building defines the space of Saint Louis University´s campus. The placement, scale, detail, mass and roofscape of DeSmet acts in conjunction with neighboring DuBourg Hall to define an area that is as much a hallmark as the quadrangle of Washington University or the yard at Harvard University. It was demolished in 1977.
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This site was funded in part by Federal funds administered by the Missouri State Historical Preservation
Office, Missouri Department of Natural Resources, The National Park Service, and the U.S. Department of the Interior.
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