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All the United States Connecticut New Haven Ingalls Rink

Ingalls Rink

It looks like a whale, it's part of Yale, and it's best-known by a nickname you can probably work out for yourself.

New Haven, Connecticut

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The Yale Whale (but technically, Ingalls Rink)   Carol M. Highsmith via Library of Congress
Interior, looking down the length of the arch   joevare
In the belly of the Whale   joevare
Twilight under the tail   joevare
Underside of tail / cosmic owl spirit guide   joevare
  DronerCT / Atlas Obscura User
  Calvin the Courageous / Atlas Obscura User
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  DronerCT / Atlas Obscura User
  Calvin the Courageous / Atlas Obscura User
Near the main entrance   Ragnar of Ballard / Atlas Obscura User
  Ragnar of Ballard / Atlas Obscura User
  Calvin the Courageous / Atlas Obscura User
the book   teddrake / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Yale is well-known for its elite students and faculty, spooky Illuminati frats, and Collegiate Gothic architecture. However, there is one landmark building on campus that doesn’t fit that last category: Ingalls Rink, aka the Yale Whale.

Ingalls Rink was designed by Eero Saarinen, the architect behind the St. Louis Arch, the TWA Flight Center at JFK, and the “Tulip Chair,” an icon of modern furniture design. A graduate of the Yale School of Architecture, Saarinen was hired to design a new hockey rink for his alma mater. Building began in 1953 and the resulting Ingalls Rink officially opened in 1958, featuring a gracefully curving humpbacked roof and overhanging “tail” which gave it the rhyming nickname by which it is principally known.

The striking effect is achieved by the reinforced concrete arch that serves as the backbone of the building, forming a reverse catenary from which a cable net is suspended that supports the flowing contours of the timber roof. Another happy consequence of this design is that it involves no interior support beams or columns, allowing for unobstructed views from every seat in the arena, which accommodates a capacity audience of 3,500. The rink itself is 200 feet long and 85 feet wide, and the ceiling is 76 feet tall at the highest point of the “hump.”

Ingalls Rink received a great deal of attention when it opened, with coverage in Sports Illustrated and Architectural Forum, which called it “one of the most surprising new buildings in the world.” Not bad for a hockey rink. The superlatives keep being offered up decades later, with a 2011 report by the Wall Street Journal awarding the Yale Whale with the fairly niche accolade of “best-designed rink in college hockey.” And regardless of any press or praise, it remains one of the best-known and most easily identifiable buildings in New Haven.

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Edited By

RHyzer, teddrake, Ragnar of Ballard, DronerCT...

  • RHyzer
  • teddrake
  • Ragnar of Ballard
  • DronerCT
  • Calvin the Courageous

Published

March 29, 2016

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  • http://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/2011/02/11/yale-whale-the-best-rink-in-college-hockey/
  • http://www.archdaily.com/157708/ad-classics-david-s-ingalls-skating-rink-eero-saarinen
  • http://www.wired.com/2015/07/worlds-beautiful-hockey-rink-gets-big-upgrade/
  • http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2009/10/30/the-whale-resurfaces/
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingalls_Rink
Ingalls Rink
73 Sachem St
New Haven, Connecticut, 06511
United States
41.316706, -72.925223
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