“Rudolph conceived the building as an extension of the site itself. The crescent-shaped building would almost organically complete the top of the hill by accentuating the contours of the land. He assembled the housing units into small separate structures of different heights that join together into a single composition.
The design curves in plan around a large open space that is the focus of the composition. An early scheme shows the building shaped into a single crescent form what wraps around the central space. A second scheme is divided into two crescents of different size, hinged end to end and facing different directions. The central space was intended to function as a piazza in a hill town, accommodating circulation, recreation, gardens, fountains, etc. It was Rudolph’s intention to have a minimum of hard paving and to devote much of the open space to playgrounds, gardens, and courtyards.
By the time of his death, Rudolph had worked on Institution Hill for almost a decade, but the building was never completed.”
De Alba, Roberto. Paul Rudolph: The Late Work. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2003. p. 176.