Prettiest and ugliest college building

College Search & Lists
41

<p>If I had been a Carnegie Mellon student on 9/12/2001, I would have been on top of Wean Hall painting a big bullseye on the roof.</p>

42

<p>I have been to Princeton many many times. I grew up about 30 miles away and we’d go there to eat at the pancake house and shop. Everyone hated the modern style dorms and apparently some of them have been demolished.</p>

<p>"Wilson College and Butler College, located south of the center of the campus, were built in the 1960s. Wilson served as an early experiment in the establishment of the residential college system. Butler, like Rockefeller and Mathey, consisted of a collection of ordinary dorms (called the “New New Quad”) before the addition of a dining hall made it a residential college. Widely disliked for its edgy modernist design, the dormitories on the Butler Quad were demolished in 2007, and the college is being partially housed in converted upperclass dormitories until its reconstruction is completed.</p>

43

<p>Mini, to me, that new library doesn’t look a whole lot better than the one it’s replacing. What do you think?</p>

<p>I spent my undergrad years studying here, and felt honored to do so: </p>

<p>[Google</a> Image Search](<a href=“http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://farm1.static.■■■■■■■■■■/229/510107849_081a387338.jpg%3Fv%3D0&imgrefurl=http://■■■■■■■■■■/photos/22292647%40N00/510107849/&h=340&w=500&sz=198&hl=en&start=2&um=1&usg=___h0FbYcgrY34w2RpVKdeDgavfR8=&tbnid=Rekj9WrAIUAsjM:&tbnh=88&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbapst%2Blibrary%2Bboston%2Bcollege%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN]Google”>http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://farm1.static.■■■■■■■■■■/229/510107849_081a387338.jpg&#37;3Fv%3D0&imgrefurl=http://■■■■■■■■■■/photos/22292647%40N00/510107849/&h=340&w=500&sz=198&hl=en&start=2&um=1&usg=___h0FbYcgrY34w2RpVKdeDgavfR8=&tbnid=Rekj9WrAIUAsjM:&tbnh=88&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbapst%2Blibrary%2Bboston%2Bcollege%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN)</p>

<p>Same building from the outside: [Google</a> Image Result for <a href=“http://www.bc.edu/offices/omc/phdb/meta-elements/jpg/burns_lawn_dusk317x210.jpg[/url]”>http://www.bc.edu/offices/omc/phdb/meta-elements/jpg/burns_lawn_dusk317x210.jpg](<a href=“http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.bc.edu/offices/omc/phdb/meta-elements/jpg/burns_lawn_dusk317x210.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.bc.edu/offices/chancellor/&h=210&w=300&sz=16&hl=en&start=39&um=1&usg=___npmHwS6it8Z2ccoRDoo2hi_Fec=&tbnid=VYdRVLttZ7TZCM:&tbnh=81&tbnw=116&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbapst%2Blibrary%26start%3D20%26ndsp%3D20%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN]Google”>http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.bc.edu/offices/omc/phdb/meta-elements/jpg/burns_lawn_dusk317x210.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.bc.edu/offices/chancellor/&h=210&w=300&sz=16&hl=en&start=39&um=1&usg=___npmHwS6it8Z2ccoRDoo2hi_Fec=&tbnid=VYdRVLttZ7TZCM:&tbnh=81&tbnw=116&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbapst%2Blibrary%26start%3D20%26ndsp%3D20%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN)</a></p>

44

<p>^ That looks amazing. That looks UW-Madison’s library.</p>

<p>[Google</a> Image Result for <a href=“http://bp1.blogger.com/_mlPRV1RQd4Y/R8tWol_WquI/AAAAAAAAAEM/OoLzW7wYs0w/s320/UW+library.jpg[/url]”>http://bp1.blogger.com/_mlPRV1RQd4Y/R8tWol_WquI/AAAAAAAAAEM/OoLzW7wYs0w/s320/UW+library.jpg](<a href=“http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://bp1.blogger.com/_mlPRV1RQd4Y/R8tWol_WquI/AAAAAAAAAEM/OoLzW7wYs0w/s320/UW%2Blibrary.jpg&imgrefurl=http://famsmith.blogspot.com/2008_03_01_archive.html&h=320&w=229&sz=24&hl=en&start=3&sig2=NT6hKbeDla6mhkiY--W9ow&um=1&usg=__aLiKnV3MSqiWZgBixhGDw5agyN4=&tbnid=UhydwhGdKq317M:&tbnh=118&tbnw=84&ei=jfYZSczTB6XqedW45K0O&prev=/images%3Fq%3Duw%2Blibrary%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DN]Google”>http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://bp1.blogger.com/_mlPRV1RQd4Y/R8tWol_WquI/AAAAAAAAAEM/OoLzW7wYs0w/s320/UW%2Blibrary.jpg&imgrefurl=http://famsmith.blogspot.com/2008_03_01_archive.html&h=320&w=229&sz=24&hl=en&start=3&sig2=NT6hKbeDla6mhkiY--W9ow&um=1&usg=__aLiKnV3MSqiWZgBixhGDw5agyN4=&tbnid=UhydwhGdKq317M:&tbnh=118&tbnw=84&ei=jfYZSczTB6XqedW45K0O&prev=/images%3Fq%3Duw%2Blibrary%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DN)</a></p>

<p><a href=“http://www.cs.bilkent.edu.tr/~saksoy/pictures/UW/uw02.jpg[/url]”>http://www.cs.bilkent.edu.tr/~saksoy/pictures/UW/uw02.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Both are very beautiful.</p>

45

<p>Yeah, the old butler dorms were ugly, but they are destroyed now. Completed ones will take their place in less than a year.</p>

46

<p>Was this how it looked, or was this a prank played by some frat boys at Penn?</p>

<p>[Google</a> Image Result for <a href=“http://www.vsba.com/projects/fla_archive/images/2504slideICON.jpg[/url]”>http://www.vsba.com/projects/fla_archive/images/2504slideICON.jpg](<a href=“http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.vsba.com/projects/fla_archive/images/2504slideICON.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.vsba.com/projects/fla_archive/250.html&h=400&w=335&sz=30&hl=en&start=6&um=1&usg=__1u_S9q2HBuUhofNcXhCgsaMufcs=&tbnid=XtXwF6BjfdlyeM:&tbnh=124&tbnw=104&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dprinceton%2Bbutler%2Bcollege%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN]Google”>http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.vsba.com/projects/fla_archive/images/2504slideICON.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.vsba.com/projects/fla_archive/250.html&h=400&w=335&sz=30&hl=en&start=6&um=1&usg=__1u_S9q2HBuUhofNcXhCgsaMufcs=&tbnid=XtXwF6BjfdlyeM:&tbnh=124&tbnw=104&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dprinceton%2Bbutler%2Bcollege%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN)</a></p>

<p>It has been said that the quality of a work of art is in inverse proportion to the amount of words it takes to explain its value. In this case there are 5 paragraphs explaining just how marvelous the building is.</p>

47

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<p>The building was actually built partially as a bomb shelter, as there are lots of corridors which run underneath the large lawn and walkways you can see in the pictures. It was pretty great when it was snowing heavily out, since you could get across most of the academic part of campus without going outside thanks to that.</p>

48

<p>The University of Michigan has one of the ugliest university buildings in the nation and one of the most beautiful:</p>

<p>Ugliest:</p>

<p>The LSA Building</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.plantext.bf.umich.edu/planner/sculpture/central/LSA-facade.jpg[/url]”>http://www.plantext.bf.umich.edu/planner/sculpture/central/LSA-facade.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Prettiest:</p>

<p>Law Library:</p>

<p><a href=“http://i.pbase.com/u11/brownsf/large/6753943.UofMLawLibrary.jpg[/url]”>http://i.pbase.com/u11/brownsf/large/6753943.UofMLawLibrary.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/UMichiganLawLibraryInterior.jpg[/url]”>http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/UMichiganLawLibraryInterior.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“STRATO - Domain not available”>STRATO - Domain not available;

<p><a href=“http://farm3.static.■■■■■■■■■■/2326/2418884808_ee7abd48b1_o.jpg[/url]”>http://farm3.static.■■■■■■■■■■/2326/2418884808_ee7abd48b1_o.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

49

<p>I think Oxford and Cambridge are always going to come out on top in something like this, especially as some of the prettiest at Yale and so on are copies of ours. </p>

<p>The Divinity School at the Bodleian will do for starters:</p>

<p>[Google</a> Image Result for <a href=“http://www.d.umn.edu/~ahartley/bodleian50pc.jpg[/url]”>http://www.d.umn.edu/~ahartley/bodleian50pc.jpg](<a href=“http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.d.umn.edu/~ahartley/bodleian50pc.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.d.umn.edu/~ahartley/marhistcitOED.html&h=425&w=306&sz=32&hl=en&start=2&um=1&usg=__Cyt1CCq-iABLMLsJKkKEmuK3O0o=&tbnid=y7ZY3Caijsc6DM:&tbnh=126&tbnw=91&prev=/images%3Fq%3Ddivinity%2Bschool%2Bbodleian%2Blibrary%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-gb:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7GFRC%26sa%3DN]Google”>http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.d.umn.edu/~ahartley/bodleian50pc.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.d.umn.edu/~ahartley/marhistcitOED.html&h=425&w=306&sz=32&hl=en&start=2&um=1&usg=__Cyt1CCq-iABLMLsJKkKEmuK3O0o=&tbnid=y7ZY3Caijsc6DM:&tbnh=126&tbnw=91&prev=/images%3Fq%3Ddivinity%2Bschool%2Bbodleian%2Blibrary%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-gb:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7GFRC%26sa%3DN)</a></p>

<p>And then there is the front quad at Trinity, Oxford, all of Christ Church, Corpus Christi at Cambridge… </p>

<p>I thought Bates College was pretty when I visited it.</p>

50

<p>You are so right about Tulane’s Irby and Phelps! Was at the Reily Center for a swim meet this weekend, and couldn’t believe they were still there and how bad they looked still! My husband lived in them from 1976 to 1980, and it doesn’t look like they’ve changed at all.
They really do look like the hotels on Airline Highway.</p>

<p>The Reily Center is awesome, as far as a rec center, and there is a pretty field in front of it, with some new dorms on the other side. The new baseball stadium is amazing, on par with some of the newer Double A ballparks.</p>

51

<p>Like the Boston University law school building I showed in post #4, that LSA building at Michigan seems to be from the Let’s-Just-Start-Pounding-Some-Nails-And-See-What-We-Come-Up-With School of architecture, also known as “Improv.”</p>

<p>I’ve seen that law building at Michigan many times, and it never stops amazing me.</p>

52

<p>If you ever find yourself driving through Ypsilanti, looking for Eastern Michigan University, you don’t need a map…you just scan the horizon looking for the gigantic, ah, um…water tower.</p>

<p>[Google</a> Image Result for <a href=“http://img.groundspeak.com/waymarking/display/2554f0d5-e03b-4bc0-9e2f-f5d8d5ab7568.jpg[/url]”>http://img.groundspeak.com/waymarking/display/2554f0d5-e03b-4bc0-9e2f-f5d8d5ab7568.jpg](<a href=“http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://img.groundspeak.com/waymarking/display/2554f0d5-e03b-4bc0-9e2f-f5d8d5ab7568.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMVAZ&h=533&w=400&sz=37&hl=en&start=4&um=1&usg=__zbF6hHSD6jZ9ppFdXSeZYjzrpj0=&tbnid=eMymgrgkGIp_4M:&tbnh=132&tbnw=99&prev=/images%3Fq%3Deastern%2Bmichigan%2Buniversity%2Bwater%2Btower%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26rlz%3D1T4HPIA_en___US247%26sa%3DN]Google”>http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://img.groundspeak.com/waymarking/display/2554f0d5-e03b-4bc0-9e2f-f5d8d5ab7568.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMVAZ&h=533&w=400&sz=37&hl=en&start=4&um=1&usg=__zbF6hHSD6jZ9ppFdXSeZYjzrpj0=&tbnid=eMymgrgkGIp_4M:&tbnh=132&tbnw=99&prev=/images%3Fq%3Deastern%2Bmichigan%2Buniversity%2Bwater%2Btower%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26rlz%3D1T4HPIA_en___US247%26sa%3DN)</a></p>

53

<p>UMichigan’s law school library is very very pretty. :D!</p>

54

<p>Berkeley has some beautiful buildings and some hideous ones:</p>

<p>Beautiful:
South Hall: <a href=“http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/images/history/southhall600.jpg[/url]”>http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/images/history/southhall600.jpg&lt;/a&gt;
Bowles Hall: <a href=“http://farm3.static.■■■■■■■■■■/2304/2368526373_ef7f5e1ec9.jpg?v=0[/url]”>http://farm3.static.■■■■■■■■■■/2304/2368526373_ef7f5e1ec9.jpg?v=0&lt;/a&gt;
Stephens Hall: <a href=“http://farm4.static.■■■■■■■■■■/3262/2406168915_6b9f447e8e.jpg?v=0[/url]”>http://farm4.static.■■■■■■■■■■/3262/2406168915_6b9f447e8e.jpg?v=0&lt;/a&gt;
Valley Life Sciences Building: <a href=“http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/images/history/vlsb600.jpg[/url]”>http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/images/history/vlsb600.jpg&lt;/a&gt;
Campanile: <a href=“http://andrewpkeating.com/files/campanile_at_night.jpg[/url]”>http://andrewpkeating.com/files/campanile_at_night.jpg&lt;/a&gt;
International House: <a href=“http://ihouse.berkeley.edu/a/elderhostel/PanoramicBest.jpg[/url]”>http://ihouse.berkeley.edu/a/elderhostel/PanoramicBest.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Ugly:
Evans Hall: <a href=“http://elsa.berkeley.edu/users/rabin/camp00/evans_w.gif[/url]”>http://elsa.berkeley.edu/users/rabin/camp00/evans_w.gif&lt;/a&gt;
Eshelman Hall: <a href=“http://dsp.berkeley.edu/CAG/Eshleman.jpeg[/url]”>http://dsp.berkeley.edu/CAG/Eshleman.jpeg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

55

<p>This place looks nicer than a lot of the college buildings shown here…though taking a stroll across the quad would be a little iffy:</p>

<p>[Google</a> Image Result for <a href=“http://www.cardcow.com/images/set136/card00310_fr.jpg[/url]”>http://www.cardcow.com/images/set136/card00310_fr.jpg](<a href=“http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.cardcow.com/images/set136/card00310_fr.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.cardcow.com/95600/sunken-gardens-marquette-branch-prison-marquette-us-state-town-views-michigan-marquette/&usg=__DqibwyASZ4WE0l8GrX-0BEpjTAM=&h=381&w=600&sz=48&hl=en&start=13&um=1&tbnid=uUuocH_pOYRWVM:&tbnh=86&tbnw=135&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmarquette%2Bprison%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4HPIA_en___US247%26sa%3DN]Google”>http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.cardcow.com/images/set136/card00310_fr.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.cardcow.com/95600/sunken-gardens-marquette-branch-prison-marquette-us-state-town-views-michigan-marquette/&usg=__DqibwyASZ4WE0l8GrX-0BEpjTAM=&h=381&w=600&sz=48&hl=en&start=13&um=1&tbnid=uUuocH_pOYRWVM:&tbnh=86&tbnw=135&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmarquette%2Bprison%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4HPIA_en___US247%26sa%3DN)</a></p>

56

<p>

</p>

<p>Ahem. <a href=“http://www.lera.com/pimg/woodrowwilson/3649313_large.jpg[/url]”>http://www.lera.com/pimg/woodrowwilson/3649313_large.jpg&lt;/a&gt; The Woody Woo building.</p>

<p>And don’t even get me started on orange and black as a color palate…</p>

57

<p>Penn wins the award for ugliest buildings: the entirety of Superblock. </p>

<p>[Hamilton</a> Village Towers, University of Pennsylvania - Building Types Study - Architectural Record](<a href=“http://archrecord.construction.com/projects/bts/archives/Universities/07_HamiltonVillage/default.asp]Hamilton”>http://archrecord.construction.com/projects/bts/archives/Universities/07_HamiltonVillage/default.asp)</p>

<p>And just look at the lovely deferred maintenance that permeates the low-rise dorms on the periphery!</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.facilities.upenn.edu/dbimages/bi0090.jpg[/url]”>http://www.facilities.upenn.edu/dbimages/bi0090.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>However, Penn also wins the award for most beautiful (and unlike collegiate gothic, original) of buildings: the Furness Library</p>

<p>[World</a> Architecture Images- Fisher Fine Arts Library](<a href=“PANEN138 ## Faster Income With Online Gaming Indonesia Play Now”>PANEN138 ## Faster Income With Online Gaming Indonesia Play Now)</p>

58

<p>Things could be worse. Here’s a list of the worst non-college buildings in the world. Check out the cathedral in Birmingham, England.</p>

<p>[Travel</a> Picks: 10 top ugly buildings and monument - Yahoo! News](<a href=“http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081114/lf_nm_life/us_travel_picks_ugly]Travel”>http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081114/lf_nm_life/us_travel_picks_ugly)</p>

59

<p>Prettiest at Harvard = Annenberg Hall:
<a href=“http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~memhall/images2/annen1.jpg[/url]”>Memorial Hall;

<p>Ugliest at Harvard = Science Center:
[Image:Harvard</a> college - science center.jpg - Wikimedia Commons](<a href=“http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Harvard_college_-_science_center.jpg]Image:Harvard”>File:Harvard college - science center.jpg - Wikimedia Commons)</p>

60

<p>Harvard Science Center…how could they not know that was ugly??</p>