Greene Building, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
The Greene Building is home of the Rensselaer School of Architecture at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). Named for Benjamin Franklin Greene, it has its own library for use by the architecture students. The second floor contains a gallery for students’ work. The basement, third, and fourth floors contain multiple studios; which open 24 hours a day for students and faculty to complete projects. The architecture library contains 30,000 books and 100,000-plus slides.
The majority of the first basement level houses the wood shop. This state-of-the-art shop includes a milling machine, two laser cutters, many wood working machines, and space for students to construct models. The remainder of the first basement level contains a few more class spaces while the second basement level and mezzanine contain offices.
History
The building was completed in 1931 at a cost of $400,000, shortly after the School of Architecture was founded. The building was named in memory of Benjamin Franklin Greene, Director of Rensselaer from 1847 to 1859, who first proposed a school of architecture at the institute. The names of fifteen of the most renowned deceased American architects were cut in stone above the second-story windows: Bulfinch, Burnham, Goodhue, Hooker, Hunt, Jefferson, Latrobe, McComb, McIntyre, McKim, Mills, Renwick, Richardson, Sullivan, and Upjohn.
External links
Coordinates: 42°43′48″N 73°40′52″W / 42.73001°N 73.68110°W