BMarkey said

Here's a new dorm with pitched roofs.



Troy is opening three of these (apartment style with kitchens) buildings this fall. They were built in eight months.

I find it odd that FAU can be called a "commuter" school with 3,000 or so students living on campus, while Troy has about the same amount on campus, yet has never been described in that way.

It would be beautiful if FAU could build this exact thing when they demolish the current Village Apartments. Actually, I'm going to print this out and give it to Tony Texeira for his next meeting with Tom Donaudy, the University Architect. We'll ask him to build the FAU version of this and see what he says.

The only thing is: I think they want to go taller than four stories. That and the visual style would have to be more similar to our campus (meaning pastel colors and probably red clay tile roofs)

Outside of that, I think this would really draw people in. I'd actually like to see the Village Apartments be on both sides of the parking lotto sort of close it in as a mini-"neighborhood".

that whole aprtment thing was a distater…legally and from a construction standpoint…not to mention they dont look very eye appealing either…

the building abouve is beautiful…….

Are there plans to demolish the apartments? How old are they? I know they can't be too old.

illinoisowl said

Are there plans to demolish the apartments? How old are they? I know they can't be too old.

They're not as old as, say, Alognquin, but they're old enough and in so-so shape. I thought I read a review of facilities on-campus that recommended they be demolished… but I could be mistaken. I'll try to find it again.

So I haven't read anything official about demolishing the apartments – just talk going around.

The last rumor I heard is that they did a space utilization analysis and found that the apartments put very few people in a large amount of space and when they redo it they'll build up instead of out.

That being said, I don't think it's in the very near future because the Innovation Village project will hopefully introduce 2-3k more beds, so with all that extra residential space it will be pretty difficult to argue (right now, anyway) that we need to demolish the apartments and build new ones.

Actually, according to one of the Innovation Village plans:

"Housing needs by the year 2010 are projected to exceed four thousand new beds. Future housing needs need to allow for freshman housing as well as accommodating to faculty and staff."

4000 + 2400 currently on campus = at least 6400 people.

So maybe sooner than later?

It especially makes sense to redo the village apartments because they'll be an eye sore compared to the new hospital that will be built across the street from them.

We'll see how it goes. If I hear anything I'll let you know.

I was on campus last year and one thing that I noticed is that is doesn't look like a university campus as much as a business park. The buildings completely lack character. Everything looks so sanitized and pristine and not in a good way.

GO OWLS!!!

owlfan1 said

I was on campus last year and one thing that I noticed is that is doesn't look like a university campus as much as a business park. The buildings completely lack character. Everything looks so sanitized and pristine and not in a good way.

GO OWLS!!!

Very interesting. Can you elaborate? What do you think we should add/change?

I read a similar comment on a college message board by a parent of a prospective student. Apparently they took a tour of the campus and felt it didn't feel like a college campus. The student decided not to attend as a result. I asked what they specificially thought was missing and got no answer.

I'm sure the buildings don't have pitched roofs to save money and as a result students sometimes say HPT reminds them of a prison.

I know the buildings have been painted light colors to reduce the amount of heat they accumulate (the same way that a black car heats up faster than a white car in the Florida sun) and lower our A/C costs.

Brogan told me that the buildings aren't red brick because brick is costly in Florida. Furthermore, if you look at the Architecture element of our newest Master Plan, you'll see repeated recommendations that the university maintain its "aesthetic style". Someone actually likes this ****.

I also know the buildings are square because rounded surfaces cost more. In fact, I heard a story that the new student recreation center initially had all these interesting angles and curves and facilities planning forced them to make everything square to save money.

I could go on for awhile but perhaps the reason why the place has taken on a bit of a business park feel is because FAU wants to appear more professional – hence the overuse of the FAU (with the wave in the A) in lieu of the Owl head.

The good news is that there are several plans in motion to get the Owl logo on-campus. We're looking into streetlight banners and some other projects. I suggested a huge, 6 foot wide birdcage in the bookstore with an Owl inside (doesn't have to be real). I doubt that one is going to come to pass, even though the initial person really liked the idea.

But yes, any details/ideas you can provide would be great.

I went to FAU from 1999 to 2002 and the campus has improved in that it has grown and they have added new buildings that are much nicer than some of the concrete monsters that used to be the main buildings on campus. However, I think the new look seems very business park like because it is very clean and modern looking for all of the reasons that you mentioned such as sharp angles, light colors, no brick, etc.

The landscaping is also very minimalist along with there being very little open space on campus. Buildings seem to be crammed together with concrete walkways in every direction. For some this is a nice look. For me personally, it doesn't look very inviting. I prefer lots of open space, mature trees, and old-style brick buildings with character and charm. FAU doesn't have any such buildings. This makes it fit the physical mold of a "commuter school" even though FAU is trying to shed that image.

The biggest thing is that FAU is an urban campus that is situated right in the middle of a busy area. As such, there is little space to build and also have natural areas. These are a few of my thoughts.

GO OWLS!!!

The new buildings are not too bad, IMO. The nursing building, library expansion, and other new buildings finally have a consistent look. At UF all buildings are built out of red brick. At the very least, I hope FAU can also achieve a consistent, unique look. Some older buildings really need to be painted, though. The SO building is an eyesore!

Lm77 said

The new buildings are not too bad, IMO. The nursing building, library expansion, and other new buildings finally have a consistent look. At UF all buildings are built out of red brick. At the very least, I hope FAU can also achieve a consistent, unique look. Some older buildings really need to be painted, though. The SO building is an eyesore!

Actually, if you look at modern architecture you'll see that poured concrete is a pretty common component. I didn't understand it for awhile but now it's one of my favorite buildings on campus.

My interpretation is that the SO building is life (the trees) in a concrete jungle (the building). That mirrors the idea of social science, which is the study of life (people) in a concrete jungle (i.e. cities)

Does that make sense?

Thank you for responding.

owlfan1 said

I went to FAU from 1999 to 2002 and the campus has improved in that it has grown and they have added new buildings that are much nicer than some of the concrete monsters that used to be the main buildings on campus.

However, I think the new look seems very business park like because it is very clean and modern looking for all of the reasons that you mentioned such as sharp angles, light colors, no brick, etc.

Not surprisingly, very very few places even outside of FAU in Boca (or Delray or Coral Springs, whatever) have red brick. For the most part, it's all the same – light colors and paneling. I know these "other places" aren't colleges but perhaps there's something going on from a cost/architectural standpoint that we don't know (besides what I said).

owlfan1 said

The landscaping is also very minimalist along with there being very little open space on campus.

The landscaping has gotten better in the sense that they started taking care of it. There still are very few wide open spaces (Just the Housing quads, quad outside of SO/Administration) but I think that also has to do with the fact that we don't have as much room as, say, UF or UCF. The available space is even more compacted when you consider there is undeveloped land that we don't touch for ethical owl habitat reasons. That is definitely limiting our growth as well.

owlfan1 said

Buildings seem to be crammed together with concrete walkways in every direction. For some this is a nice look.

I don't think they'll ever tear down the Breezeway but I sure wish they would.

My beef with the sidewalks is actually that they were done haphazardly; large slabs are placed next to thin slabs, sidewalks try to direct traffic in ways that people don't want to go, there are no red brick pavers on the sides of the paths to give it a more distinguished, collegiate look, etc. I'd like them to gut a lot of it out and redo it but I don't see that happening in the near future.

owlfan1 said

For me personally, it doesn't look very inviting. I prefer lots of open space, mature trees, and old-style brick buildings with character and charm.

You and everyone else. That being said, a lot of the old-style brick buildings are either a hundred years old or – in the case with FSU's new college of medicine building – they have to build new ones that LOOK old (collegiate gothic style) to match the surrounding historic campus.

However, I'm going to recommend to people that we start incoporating arches, roman pillars, etched lettering, etc to try to sway the notion a little bit. Again, we're fighting against an architectural recommendation to maintain the look we have and that's not going to be easy without significant student/alumni request for the traditional buildings.

That being said, I want to show you something.

this is our library on the Davie campus:
http://www.stateuniversity.com/assets/logo/image/820/large/lib.jpg

Look how nice that looks compared to our Boca campus library.

Explain that. I sure can't.