Beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder. I do not recognize the UW-Madison building in that second link- there are several much more iconic buildings on campus. Plus an overview of the views from some hills of buildings and the lake make the campus, not some reviewers view of an obscure building.
Those lists are horrendous. One building does not make a beautiful campus, it is the entire campus. Plus, some of us think most of those iconic buildings are ugly, could be anywhere, etc. Old architecture- so many of the buildings are interchangeable. So many flat, boring campuses make the list. I see very little architecture that fits the surroundings. I also see many depressing buildings that were built to impress but not my style.
They need to look at overall campuses, not have a most beautiful building to make the list. When you look at the photos they are just a bunch of period architecture that is usually fairly boring or ugly.
It’s interesting how they chose rural campuses- they are more likely to have more beauty due to the proximity of nature. There are some more urban campuses that are more beautiful- sometimes an oasis in the midst of a city, or like UW, an oasis in a city lucky to have good natural topography.
Just goes to show how subjective things are. Kudos to those who go for the people part of a campus, not external appearances. Most of those old buildings lack the creature comforts that make for a more pleasant experience- think heating and air conditioning for one.