Week 1 - The Axes of the University

The first architecture walk was very eye opening for me. I had never been in the stock pavilion before, and I appreciated our discussion about bringing people together, even when referring to people showing cattle for show. It made me realize that architecture is not necessarily just about making something correct or beautiful, but there are deeper meanings behind how things are designed. I also found the ideas of axes very interesting. It had never occurred to me that the main buildings on the quad actually were supposed to line up along a “main axis.” I had never stood at the bell tower before and realized the stock pavilion, Foellinger Auditorium, and the Illini Union lined up almost perfectly, and it made sense to me that these were some of the more important buildings on campus not only today, but also historically. The military axes also caught my attention. What interested me most was the historical context of why the military axis is actually called “the military axis” and how that changed over time due to the war and new student housing being put.

I found it funny that Professor Hinders commented on the poor execution of the ACES library and how it was almost an imitation of Foellinger. While the ACES library was meant to line up along the military axis (going east to west) with the bell tower and the old military parade field, it wasn’t done very well. The door faces south towards a parking lot instead of west toward the quad. This gives an almost unwelcoming feeling as if it were not even part of the south quad itself. Speaking of the south quad, it actually does seem a little too wide. Although there used to be Elm trees along the edges over a hundred years ago, they long sinced died due to Dutch Elm Disease. Now there are slightly smaller trees that help make the south quad a little less wide, but it still has a bit of an empty of unwelcoming feeling to it. I had always noticed it was a better place to play baseball in the early part of the fall semester but had not thought of the wideness of the grassy area in that way. Finally, our discussion on the bell tower was interesting. I think they chose a good spot for it, on the main axis instead of the location of the old farmhouse. However, the design really irks me. I would love a traditional bell tower much better. I don’t know who designed that tower or what they thought they were accomplishing.