Demolished, June, 2009.
“In design terms one of the most erudite new public school buildings to appear in recent years, Architect Paul Rudolph’s Riverview High School in Sarasota is also his first major non-residential structure in the South, where he began both life and professional practice. This is the most acclaimed building of Sarasota’s notable new school-building program, which commissioned a number of architects who never before had attempted schools. The carefully delineated steel frame of Rearview High, filled with glass and concrete brick, creates a consistent rhythm all through the 1,000-student school. This over-all consistency is important, because the various elements of the school are rather firmly separated in plan: the list includes three two-story rows of classrooms and labs, another block which houses the gymnasium, auditorium, and music rooms, and a third major element containing shops, cafeteria, and library. Even the administrative offices and the health suite are built in separate little one-story buildings, within the grass enclave embraced by the bigger buildings. This dividing was necessary to secure free air circulation in all the rooms, large and small. The other trademark of the school is also attributable to Florida’s semitropical climate: tiers of horizontal precast concrete slabs hung in front of the classroom walls for sunshading.”
“Steel Frame in the Pines: Architect Paul Rudolph’s Contribution to Sarasota’s Daring Schoolhouse Program Is a Light and Airy Structure Designed for a Semitropical Climate.” Architectural Forum 110 (April 1959): 112-113.
