This collection is available for use by appointment in the Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. For further information and to make an appointment, please email avery-drawings@library.columbia.edu.
This collection consists primarily of writings, correspondences, research material, patent documents and architectural drawings of Halle's devoted career in developing ways to reduce the cost of building and housing construction. Dated from 1950 to 1992, the material is arranged into three series: Professional Papers, Halle Building System, and Architectural Drawings.
This series is comprised of documents related to his writings, research, and his involvement and contribution to Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Division of National Institute of Building Science (NIBS), primarily on the topic of reducing the building cost through building components and system.
Series II: Halle Building System
The series includes his research and correspondence on prefabrication as a basis of a building method, the patent documents of US and abroad, and the company records of the Halle Building System Company Inc.
Series III: Architectural Drawings
The series contains his architectural drawings pertaining to the research, projects and correspondence in the previous two series. The majority was co-created with Pedersen & Tilney as consulting architects and Severud-Elstad-Krueger-Associates as consulting engineers, these structural drawings illustrated the design and development of his building system.
1943-1992
The collection is made up of three series: Professional Papers, Halle Building System, and Architectural Drawings.
This collection is available for use by appointment in the Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. For further information and to make an appointment, please email avery-drawings@library.columbia.edu.
Columbia University is providing access to the materials in the Library's collections solely for noncommercial educational and research purposes. The unauthorized use, including, but not limited to, publication of the materials without the prior written permission of Columbia University is strictly prohibited. All inquiries regarding permission to publish should be submitted in writing to the Director, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. For additional guidance, see Columbia University Libraries' publication policy.
In addition to permission from Columbia University, permission of the copyright owner (if not Columbia University) and/or any holder of other rights (such as publicity and/or privacy rights) may also be required for reproduction, publication, distributions, and other uses. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of any item and securing any necessary permissions rests with the persons desiring to publish the item. Columbia University makes no warranties as to the accuracy of the materials or their fitness for a particular purpose.
Roger Halle papers and architectural drawings, 1943-1992, Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University.
Accession number--1999.004.
Columbia University Libraries, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library
This collection was processed by Chialin Chou (Archives Intern), under the supervision of Shelley Hayreh, Avery Archivist, in 2013.
2013-09-06 File created.
2019-05-20 EAD was imported spring 2019 as part of the ArchivesSpace Phase II migration.
Roger Halle was born in 1919. He studied architecture at Princeton University and worked under several architects including Edward Durell Stone and Wallace K. Harrison during the late 1940's. While with Harrison and Abramovitz, he helped produce the design for the United Nations Secretariat building. Halle later started his own firm as a research architect in New York City and Caracas, Venezuela, focusing his career on reducing the cost of construction by implementing prefabricated modules and building systems. He held 12 patents in the United States and abroad related to the method of building, which constituted what was introduced in 1964 as the Halle Building System.
In May 1972, Halle incorporated Halle Building System Company Inc., with the primary purpose to provide consulting or design services related to the construction of buildings and their components, in particular to system or industrialized building.
The architect gave talks and lectures on reducing building and housing costs, participated in the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) held conferences, and was a member on the Technology Division of National Institute of Building Science (NIBS) where he prepared and proposed research plans for the Housing Technology Research Agenda. Halle also published many articles in several publication including
Halle died in 1993 at the age of 74.
The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches for other collections at Columbia University, through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, and through ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.
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Box 1 Folder 1
List and copies of the articles and talks, primarily on industrialization of the building process
Box 1 Folder 2
Article inProgressive Architecture;includes the original magazine and 5 reprints
Box 1 Folder 3
Article inArchitecture & Engineering News;includes 38 copies of the reprints
Box 1 Folder 4
Article inArchitecture & Engineering News;includes reprints, 1 album and 10 photographs
Box 1 Folder 5
Talk at Building Research Institute (Washington, D.C.); contains 8 copies of transcripts and 3 copies ofCatalog of Parts - Structure
Box 1 Folder 6
Correspondence and texts
Box 1 Folder 7
Includes "Home Owners Taken For A Ride - Mobile Home" by Robert Cassidy forThe New York Times
Box 1 Folder 8
5 copies of the texts
Box 1 Folder 9
Includes Letters to the Editor, "To Revive Stalled Housing Starts" and the Op-Ed Page
Box 1 Folder 10
Includes the original version in Sep and Dec, 1980, the talk version at NYIT in 1981 and the addendum "Total Building Systems - Why Not Before Now"
Box 1 Folder 11
Talk at HUD-NIBS Conference (Orlando, FL); full version and draft
Box 1 Folder 12
Article inNational Building News,includes original newspapers and photocopies
Box 1 Folder 13 to 16
WithArchitectural & Engineering News, Architectural News, Progressive Architecture, The Architecture Forum, The Architectural Record, The Reader's Digest, The New York Times, The Wall Street JournalandFortune Magazine
Box 1 Folder 17
3 drawings of various projects and 4 Photostats of course work at Princeton
Box 1 Folder 18
Application of Improved Housing Systems Concepts for Large Volume Production
Drawer 202 Folder 1
Final booklet of the Application, and a print of the trademark
Box 1 Folder 19
Includes Robertson Ward Jr. article in 1971 Mar AIA Journal: "Breakthrough?", "Where I Stand" article in 1972 MayArchitectural Newsand correspondence with the Industrialization Forum at Harvard GSD
Box 2 Folder 1 to 3
Correspondence with Department of Housing and Urban Development
Box 2 Folder 4 to 6
Box 2 Folder 7
Texts, HUD User Research Information brochures, HUD publication: "Earth Sheltered Housing: Code, Zoning and Financial Issues," drafts of unsolicited proposal and the correspondence with William J. White
Box 2 Folder 8 to 9
Correspondence, meeting minutes, press release, final report, texts and research articles
Box 2 Folder 10
Proposals for action and comments before HUD Cost of Housing Task Force
Box 2 Folder 11
Organizational brochures, magazine clippings and report to the President booklets
Box 2 Folder 12
Box 2 Folder 13
Notes, committee meeting minutes and questionnaire
Box 3 Folder 1 to 4
Membership certificates, communication letters, memorandums to Technology Division members, newsletters and directories
Box 3 Folder 5 to 8
Correspondence, memorandum, research plan and proposals, draft and final version of status and reports, presentation, drafts and final version of "Federal Government Role in Housing Technology Research: Responses to a Sampling of Building Community Viewpoints"
Box 3 Folder 9 to 11
Material and publication on modular system, prefabrication, school buildings, steel buildings and Hills Dry Building System
Drawer 202 Folder 2
Hills Dry Building System Section 2 Standard Drawing
Box 3 Folder 12
Office of Technology Report, NASA Publication, articles and newspaper clippings
Box 3 Folder 13
Dept. of Labor Statistics booklet, other articles and construction cost report by Nielsen, Wurster & Assoc, Inc
Box 4 Folder 1
Information of American enterprise Institute, Brookings Institution, Ford Foundation, Building Research Council, AIA Research Corporation, National Science Foundation
Box 4 Folder 2 to 4
Housing Act of 1968, US General Accounting Office 1982 Report, housing cost data, housing starts, smart housing and housing in Japan
Box 4 Folder 5
Includes "A Modern School" by Abraham Flexner, "Behind the Scene and Under The Rug" by Howard E. Shuman, articles about Geo W.W. Brewster, andProfilemagazine
Box 4 Folder 6 to 12
Information about structure, building components & material, insulations, panels, partitions, gasketing and extrusion
Box 5 Folder 1 to 3
Information about structure, building components & material, insulations, panels, partitions, gasketing and extrusion
Box 5 Folder 4 to 6
With Office of The President, US Senate, US Congress Subcommittee on Housing & Urban Development, Office of Technology Assessment, etc.
Box 5 Folder 7 to 9
Notes, articles, cost, prospective manufacturers and investors
Box 5 Folder 10
European Coal and Steel Community; contains correspondence, 10 Photostat negatives and 8 positives of the entry on boards
Box 6 Folder 1
Correspondence, drawings, bidding research and information
Box 6 Folder 2 to 3
Draft of "A Basis for a Method of Building". Contains 2 photos, 3 films, 13 photos of model and 20 display boards
Box 6 Folder 4 to 5
Box 6 Folder 6
About the Straus Garage
Box 6 Folder 7
Contains cost reports
Box 6 Folder 8 to 13
With Minister of Education, Minister of Public Building & Works, Minister of Health, The Modular Society Ltd., British Constructional Steel Work Association, Hills Ltd., etc; also includes 2 photos and negatives, articles fromRIBA Journal, Architect's JournalandArchitectural Review
Box 7 Folder 1 to 4
Includes Executive Office of the President, Congress, House of Representatives, Dept. of Health, Education & Welfare, Dept. of Commerce, Dept. of Post Office, Dept. of Defense and Dept. of Housing and Urban Development
Box 7 Folder 5 to 13
With Educational Facilities Labs, Inc., New York State Council on Architecture, New York State Urban Development Corp. and some international entities in Canada, Italy, West Germany and France
Box 8 Folder 1 to 10
With Building Research Institute, Building Research Advisory Board, Battelle Columbus Laborites, Holiday Inns, Inc., Keene Corporation and miscellaneous
Box 8 Folder 11
Box 8 Folder 12
Tax payment notice and applications
Box 8 Folder 13
Box 9 Folder 1 to 2
Box 9 Folder 3 to 8
Drafts, application, correspondence, original drawings and Photostat negatives
Box 9 Folder 9 to 10
Application, correspondence and Photostats
Box 9 Folder 11
Applications and correspondence
Box 9 Folder 12 to 15
Letter Patent, Patent documents, applications and correspondence. Countries include: US, Canada, UK, West Germany, France, Belgium, Luxemburg, Switzerland, Italy, Norway, Sweden, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Japan, Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil, Yugoslavia, Argentina, Israel, Austria and Russia
Box 10 Folder 1 to 7
Letter Patent, Patent documents, applications and correspondence. Countries include: US, Canada, UK, West Germany, France, Belgium, Luxemburg, Switzerland, Italy, Norway, Sweden, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Japan, Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil, Yugoslavia, Argentina, Israel, Austria and Russia
Box 10 Folder 8
Patent document, application and correspondence. Countries include: US and UK
Box 10 Folder 9
Applications and correspondence. Countries include: US and UK
Box 10 Folder 10
Applications and correspondence. Countries include: US and UK
Box 10 Folder 11 to 12
Letters Patent, Patent document, application and correspondence. Countries include: US, Canada, UK, France and West Germany
Box 11 Folder 1 to 2
Patent document, application and correspondence. Countries include: US and UK
Box 11 Folder 3 to 4
Letters Patent, Patent document, application and correspondence. Countries include: US, Canada, UK and France
Box 11 Folder 5
Letters Patent, application and correspondence
Box 11 Folder 6 to 7
Letters Patent, Patent document, application, tax receipts and correspondence. Countries include: US, Canada, UK, France, West Germany
Box 11 Folder 8
Original Registration, application and correspondence
Box 11 Folder 9
Includes clippings from 1964 OCT U.S. Progress in Preassembly
Box 11 Folder 10
Incorporation proposal drafts
Box 11 Folder 11 to 12
Minutes & By Laws, certificates, Stock transfer ledger, correspondence, filing and operational files
Box 11 Folder 13
Photograph of company trademark, 5 photographs of the system and negatives
Box 11 Folder 14
2 Sketches, 5 HBS drawings and 3 Singer Learning Center drawings by SMS Architects
Box 11 Folder 15
2 copies of each booklet of Company Presentation, Summary Description, The System. Also includes drafts and superseded pages
Box 11 Folder 16
Inquiries, correspondence and newspaper clippings
Box 11 Folder 17
8 copies of the guidelines, correspondence and testing report from McKee Berger Manueto, Inc.
Roll A221.03
72 sheets
Roll A221.04
31 sheets
Roll A221.05
74 sheets
Roll A221.06
24 sheets. Other Creators: Pedersen & Tilney, Consulting Architects; Severud-Elstad-Krueger-Associates, Consulting Engineers. Project No. 14 originally housed with Roll 15
Roll A221.07
36 sheets. Other Creators: Pedersen & Tilney, Consulting Architects; Severud-Elstad-Krueger-Associates, Consulting Engineers
Roll A221.08
55 sheets. Other Creators: Pedersen & Tilney, Consulting Architects; Severud-Elstad-Krueger-Associates, Consulting Engineers
Roll A221.09
64 sheets. Other Creators: Pedersen & Tilney, Consulting Architects; Severud-Elstad-Krueger-Associates, Consulting Engineers
Roll A221.10
17 sheets. Other Creators: Pedersen & Tilney, Consulting Architects; Severud-Elstad-Krueger-Associates, Consulting Engineers. Originally housed with roll 19: Montrobac School
Roll A221.11
24 sheets. Other Creators: Pedersen & Tilney, Consulting Architects; Severud-Elstad-Krueger-Associates, Consulting Engineers. Also contains drawings for Cost Study Building (1 story and 3 stories)
Roll A221.12
38 sheets. Other Creators: Pedersen & Tilney, Consulting Architects; Severud-Elstad-Krueger-Associates, Consulting Engineers
Roll A221.13
12 sheets. Other Creators: Douglas Kingston, Jr. (New Canaan, CT), WmF. Pedersen Assoc. Consulting Architects, Fischer-Sadler Assoc. Consulting Engineers.
Roll A221.14
25 sheets. Project No. 12 originally housed with Roll 13
Roll A221.15
20 sheets. Project No. 16 originally housed with Roll 12
Roll A221.16
35 sheets
Roll A222.01
19 sheets. Primary Creator: SMS Architects.
Roll A222.02
13 sheets