Yale's Whale

Ice hockey has never had as provocative a setting as Yale's new $1.4 million David S. Ingalls Rink, shown here in all its curvilinear splendor. Named for an old Yale hockey star (and father of a current one) who is now one of Ohio's first citizens, the spectacularly unorthodox building is from the board of Architect Eero Saarinen. It has inspired many campus flippancies, such as "the wounded whale," but it is undoubtedly a superb arena for hockey and pleasure skating. The girderless interior permits unobstructed viewing.

Doors and Pillars have sturdy, functional simplicity. These and other entries admit 2,800 persons for hockey, about 5,600 for other events when the ice is not used.

Boldly Shaped, Yale's Ingalls rink has an enormous roof of black plastic, supported by a wood decking attached to suspension cables, and an imposing concrete wall structure.

A Great Arch, the concrete spine of the building, looms over the playing surface. Cables supporting the roof are strung between the arch and side walls. The lighting is fluorescent.

THREE PHOTOS

JERRY COOKE