Paul Milstein Hall

[nyc94]

The post about the new humanities building made me think of this old post.  So, what do people think of Milstein Hall now that it's done?

[Rosey]

I have not seen it in person. Frankly, I am afraid to.

Personally, I think Cornell would have done much better aesthetically if they had divided the campus into zones and kept the architecture in each zone somewhat consistent. Keep the arts quad area stone with slate gable/hip/victorian roofs. (Maybe even add a Llenrock building.) Ag quad=art deco and/or classical/neoclassical. Engineering quad=ugly. ILR=mini-Harvard. Etc. Right now IMO it's a mishmash of conflicting styles that just looks cluttered, and there aren't enough trees to maintain the former illusion of timelessness.

I guess I do care. But it's a bitter, resigned kind of caring, which is worse than not caring at all.

[Josh '99]

Personally, I think Cornell would have done much better aesthetically if they had divided the campus into zones and kept the architecture in each zone somewhat consistent. ...  Engineering quad=ugly.

Well, they did stick with that, anyway.

[Robb]

Hmmmm....

[Rosey]

Hmmmm....

Being in Architectural Digest, I'm guessing this list was devised by surveying the same retards who produce these ugly-ass buildings. When decisions about the campus are made by people who didn't go to Cornell, don't teach there, or are so far removed that they have forgotten what it's like to live there, inviting some self-important douchebag to design a striking building that is nonetheless entirely out of place must seem like a good idea, because it happens on campuses everywhere. I wonder what, if any, cohesive campus-wide philosophy is driving the trustees.

[Trotsky]

I wonder what, if any, cohesive campus-wide philosophy is driving the trustees.

You're giving the trustees way too much credit -- they're just buying what they've been trained to.  The architecture game works on the same principle as the art, music and fashion games: anything human beings find attractive is "pedestrian."  Anything human beings find uncomfortable or annoying is "profound."

I'm sure Thorstein Veblen wrote entire chapters about ginning up prices via clique-reinforced fakery.

"Get off my quad."

Someday people will recovery and we'll pull down every non-hockey building erected since 1929.

[Rosey]

anything human beings find attractive is "pedestrian."  Anything human beings find uncomfortable or annoying is "profound."

I cannot be the only one who finds sitting on the grass under a large tree with tall stone buildings acting as a kind of close visual horizon incredibly comforting.

I never hung out on the Engineering quad, despite having most of my classes there. The Arts Quad OTOH still feels like home. Well, that and Lynah. :-)

[Trotsky]

Central Ave., 1933:

[Trotsky]

Boardman Hall (demolished in 1959 for Olin Library).

[Josh '99]

What happened to those elm trees, anyway?

[Rosey]

What happened to those elm trees, anyway?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_elm_disease

[Tom Lento]

Hmmmm....

Being in Architectural Digest, I'm guessing this list was devised by surveying the same retards who produce these ugly-ass buildings. When decisions about the campus are made by people who didn't go to Cornell, don't teach there, or are so far removed that they have forgotten what it's like to live there, inviting some self-important douchebag to design a striking building that is nonetheless entirely out of place must seem like a good idea, because it happens on campuses everywhere. I wonder what, if any, cohesive campus-wide philosophy is driving the trustees.

I got a brief look at Milstein hall heading south from the Thurston bridge. It looks pretty cool, and at least from that angle didn't look out of place - or at least not any more than the old section of the architecture building did when I was an undergrad. I didn't get the chance to take a closer look, or even check it out from the Arts Quad side, but I don't think the impact on the Arts Quad would be all that stark. For one thing, most of the big changes appear to be on the North and East sides of Sibley. For another, Sibley is so far out to the North end of the quad that even replacing it with, say, Upson Hall wouldn't be as disastrous to the overall feel of the place as a minor change to Goldwin Smith. Not that I'm advocating for making Sibley eng-quad ugly, but you get the point.

A colleague of mine took a closer look and tells me it looks like it makes good use of space and provides comfortable, usable work and lounge areas. He had limited time, so I don't know how it feels to people who actually use the building regularly, but it doesn't seem like the typical architectural monstrosity where some fancy pants designer creates a striking modern (read: ugly and angular) building with absolutely useless interior spaces. I've seen buildings where the design conversation must have sounded like this:

Designer: ... and the most striking feature of the design is this row of triangular offices with tall narrow windows!
University President: These plans don't leave enough room for desks in the offices. Won't people want desks?
Designer: But the space will be so funky! And it'll look *amazing* from outside. You can use them for ad hoc meeting areas if they don't work as offices, and then you can have a centralized open floor plan for the desks out here. It'll promote collaboration!
University President: Isn't that the hallway?
Designer: no, no, it's the open foyer entry. Perfect place for people to do day to day work.
...

Somehow, the plans get approved, and 20 years later there's a building on campus that's old, ugly, dated, and has no room for desks in any of the offices.

[Tom Lento]

Boardman Hall (demolished in 1959 for Olin Library).

I never had any objection to Olin Library until now. What a shame.

[billhoward]

What happened to those elm trees, anyway?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_elm_disease

Cornell IIRC planted gingko trees in the 1970s along East Avenue to replace the dutch elms. Forty years later there should be a leafy canopy. Does anyone else recall a massive planting program ... and the fate of trees? Gingkos are supposed to be very long-lived, more than a century.

[Roy 82]

The architecture game works on the same principle as the art, music and fashion games: anything human beings find attractive is "pedestrian."  Anything human beings find uncomfortable or annoying is "profound."

I find your post to be quite, uh,  "profound". ::innocent::