2008 Woodie Awards
Architecture of the Academy
How physical structures can influence education
Spencer Hutchins
Issue date: 10/1/07 Section: Opinion
The starry-eyed freshmen who have recently stepped onto our campus can hardly know the changes which have occurred in the past few years. In just three years since this humble correspondent began his stint at our fair university, a litany of buildings, developments, face-lifts, and retrofits have only begun to touch the surface of what has and will continue to happen in the aesthetic life of Gonzaga University. As we prepare to embrace more new structures on this campus, it is wise to ask ourselves what value architecture has for a Christian student in the modern Jesuit academy. We must not shrug off the artistry of our surroundings as some kind of superfluity. Instead, let us see architecture as a pivotal element of our way of living and thinking.
Colleges across the country have in recent times experienced a renaissance of building, the likes of which has not been seen since the 1950's and '60's. As the Cold War set in, back in those days long past, the United States found itself gripped with fear that the USSR would edge us out in a race for the development of space and aeronautic technologies. It was thus decided that our universities must place themselves on the frontlines of this scientific battle. So, buildings went up across the land-at first only science facilities but gradually buildings of all purposes. Since then, we, the contemporary students, have been the inheritors of this boom in college building. And now we bear witness to a new age of growth.
A consistent theme which runs through this column is the incredible ability of college-age people to ignore or dismiss otherwise important and interesting subjects. Campus architecture is a prime example. Who on this campus has not walked into the COG or Herak, or set foot in dorms such as Catherine-Monica, Dooley, or Crimont? The fact is we are surrounded by mediocre, utilitarian buildings which sacrificed aesthetically pleasing qualities for the ease of reinforced concrete and aggregate. While it would be too much to say that students do not recognize ugliness when confronted with it, one is confident in suggesting that the average student will pay little heed to how it affects their image of the university, their approach to school, and their level of pride and satisfaction in their experience.
Colleges across the country have in recent times experienced a renaissance of building, the likes of which has not been seen since the 1950's and '60's. As the Cold War set in, back in those days long past, the United States found itself gripped with fear that the USSR would edge us out in a race for the development of space and aeronautic technologies. It was thus decided that our universities must place themselves on the frontlines of this scientific battle. So, buildings went up across the land-at first only science facilities but gradually buildings of all purposes. Since then, we, the contemporary students, have been the inheritors of this boom in college building. And now we bear witness to a new age of growth.
A consistent theme which runs through this column is the incredible ability of college-age people to ignore or dismiss otherwise important and interesting subjects. Campus architecture is a prime example. Who on this campus has not walked into the COG or Herak, or set foot in dorms such as Catherine-Monica, Dooley, or Crimont? The fact is we are surrounded by mediocre, utilitarian buildings which sacrificed aesthetically pleasing qualities for the ease of reinforced concrete and aggregate. While it would be too much to say that students do not recognize ugliness when confronted with it, one is confident in suggesting that the average student will pay little heed to how it affects their image of the university, their approach to school, and their level of pride and satisfaction in their experience.
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