Professor William Whyte has an opportunity few historians are afforded: being instrumental in the very history he researches. Happily, this does not involve dressing up in historic costume, but could well mean wearing a hard hat. For Professor Whyte is an architectural historian, specialising in churches and universities, and he has been charged with steering the creation of the Stephen A Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities - Oxford’s newest, biggest and most ambitious-ever building project, the product of a £185 million donation.
In terms of statements of intent, they do not come larger than this or receive such a very positive green light from the planning authorities. The Centre was approved unanimously last month with speeches of endorsement from all stakeholders, including local politicians and Historic England. But this is no ordinary project. The Centre is intended as a landmark in university architecture, and not just for Oxford. Professor Whyte says enthusiastically, it could transform our understanding of ‘university’ - removing the division between town and gown, exclusive and inclusive. And it is, of course, he says, with considerable emphasis, a massive endorsement for the Humanities.
Historically, Professor Whyte explains, universities were all about keeping some people in and other people out. He says, ‘We’ve inherited a tradition in university architecture of a strong distinction between insiders and outsiders...we need to work more and more with the community, though. And we want people to use this building.’
But this is not just about allowing people access to a university building, which will include a concert hall and a schools space, as well as academic departments and libraries. According to Professor Whyte, it will allow more voices to enter the university space and inform debate.
"We don’t know how important the impact will be,’ he says. ‘In a world where there is open access, what does that do, will it start rethinking what a university is?"
Universities, he explains, very much opened up in the 1870s, which led Oxford to admit a wider constituency than the sons of the upper classes and Anglican seminarians. And, Professor Whyte says, much of what is today seen as ‘Oxford’ – the ‘Bridge of Sighs’, the yellowish stone and the Exam Schools – actually date from this period. Designed by the architect Sir Thomas Graham Jackson (the subject of Professor Whyte’s first book), these renaissance-style buildings were symbols of the victory of the reformers. In the same way, he suggests, the Stephen A Schwarzman Centre will be a new departure on this evolutionary university road.
But what, if any, will be the impact on scholarship?
‘It’s quite a big question for the Humanities,’ he says. ‘How do you preserve the highest possible standards while making reserved spaces available for people who are not part of the reserve?’
Professor Whyte is clearly optimistic, ‘Everything going on in the world, [the pandemic and the war in Ukraine] demonstrates the value of the Humanities. We need history and culture, modern languages and all the other subjects.’
He adds, ‘This building will provide space where we can do new things, ask new questions and look at things in a different way. It’s very exciting....
"This is a really important change – a symbol of the way universities are going."
Being part of the community is key, he says, ‘People need to come...Oxford needs to be much less distant and engage with the public – exchange ideas.’
It’s quite a big question for the Humanities...How do you preserve the highest possible standards while making reserved spaces available for people who are not part of the reserve?
But this does not mean ‘dumbing down’, he insists, ‘If we believe that the Humanities are what make us human, we need to exchange knowledge and reach more people, explain complicated things. It’s not dumbing down but widening.’
Such a vision underpins Professor Whyte’s role in the Centre. He is not the project manager or the designer and is full of praise for the consultants, designers and managers who are the hands-on professionals, ‘There is an amazing team, while I’m essentially the client, representing the university.’
As such, it is his role to ensure the Centre delivers on that new vision and to say what the university wants. It is a massive task – the new Centre will be some 24,000 square metres and will include landscaped gardens, as well as all the academic and social spaces inside.
Although he is still undertaking research and has some DPhil students, the Centre will be his key work for the next three years – it is actually due to be completed on Professor Whyte’s 50th birthday (in September 2025).
This article originally appeared on the Oxford University website. You can read the full profile here.
