I was back at Rutgers last week for the first time in a couple of years, and, given that I had the better part of a day to myself, thought I'd go explore some of the new buildings. My reactions were varied, so I thought that I'd write them up. Marks are scored out of 10.
NJ Institute for Food, Nutrition, Health Building, Cook Campus:
This building is amazing. You walk from what was an utterly unspectacular part of RU, up through a prairie garden, and into a light, open pastel-colored space with seating to your left and a nutrition/global cuisine cafe to your right. The food the cafe serves is incredible, and as you eat, you can gaze up to the building's upper floor. Walk towards the stairwell, all decorated with glass etchings, and there's a huge vertical plant garden that scents the air notably. It's like breathing in the aromas from a forest. The spaces up and down (labs, children's spaces, etc) are beautiful, well-thought through, inviting. You can exit the building through the play area and there's more green space and seating outside. The labs and work spaces are open-plan yet don't feel like some corporate office-farm. It's a place you could hang out and study (or socialize) in for hours, and it utterly changes the feel of the whole Dudley Road conglomeration of buildings, etc. Details here (color, glass, plant wall, furniture) all contribute to the building's airy, light, open, welcoming feel. I love it. Now let's get some nice new dorms on Cook! 11/10.
Honors College, College Avenue Campus:
Wow. And I mean: WOW. I (obviously) didn't get inside here, but looking at all the study and social spaces on the ground floor almost made me drool. It anchors the whole corner/entry of the CA campus. You see it from 18, drive towards it on the exit ramp, and past it on George. It 's restrained, dignified, and makes you immediately feel like you're on the campus of a major university. The chairs, the carpets, the pictures, the lights all give the ground floor an elite, storied, private, almost Ivy feel. It connects with all of Rutgers' past in a way that the brick and concrete boxes of the 50s and 60s utterly fail to do. The quad is beautiful, and you immediately feel like you're in a community. No idea what the rooms are like, but at least (and unlike BEST), the windows are large and inviting, and not small and prison like. This is a statement building. It does what Rutgers has so conspicuously failed to do for so long: that is, create links and continuities between its present self and its storied, deep, private collegiate history. Chris Paladino and Devco deserve an ovation for this. Grade: 11/10
Global Village Learning Center, Douglas Campus:
This is a small, yet pretty addition to the otherwise underwhelming Douglass Residential College quads (Jameson, etc). These are pretty buildings, but let down by an almost total lack of work and care with regards to paths, gardens, grass (barely grows in some areas). In short, it used to be almost an essay in how to make a promising campus space feel forlorn, cheap, and neglected. So: it's very Rutgers! The new building anchors the entrance to the quads, and improves the feel of the whole hugely, but it still needs a flower bed or two, some gardening TLC, some inviting benches. The building and (as far as I could tell) the space within is well done, but the whole still needs a good amount of landscape work. Think of how much the gardens improved the Bishop quads. Not there yet. Grade: 7/10.
The 'Yard', College Ave Campus:
Given that (even with the trucks) this used to look like some abandoned lot in inner city Detroit, the Yard represents a welcome change and a Yuuuuuge improvement. It marks and seals off C/A from the jumble further along Hamilton, and it looks better than I thought it would. In particular, the building entrance behind the boardwalk is classy and inviting. The grass is a really welcome/important addition, and people gather, relax, sit, chat in a way that makes you just want to stop and spend time there. This works. I'm not, however, a fan of the screen, that was playing some mindless news stuff when I was there. It's also not helped by the frats and the ugly, decrepit old university houses that still line C/A from here to the new Hillel. The sooner these see a bulldozer the better. It's not pretty in any collegiate sense, more 'town' than 'gown,' but is a hugely welcome addition. C/A needs these congregational, social spaces. Grade: 7.5/10.
Academic Building, College Ave:
Wow, lots to say/think/wonder about here! Firstly, it looks great, rising behind Voorhees as you walk towards it. After the jello mold, this is an almost unimaginable improvement. The stone looks great/ works well with the brick, and the granite steps are soooOOooOOooo superior to concrete. It's imposing, inspiring even, to walk up between on the stair ramp. You look up at rows of windows, lit up at twilight/night, with doors inviting you to enter. There's a good front desk space on the bottom of the right-side building Incidentally, the left building is far more complex with its offset angles than I realized from the plans. It's almost perfectly positioned in terms of the Honors College (and not too close to it as I thought it was from photos). It makes C/A feel grand, majestic, a lively, dignified, appropriate center (or heart) of the major university that we are. This is all fantastic.
Now, it's not yet quite finished inside, so my criticisms may be rectified, but there's also a lot of flaws/missed opportunities here, imo. Firstly, when you enter the buildings from the center, you arrive in these large, long, empty corridors, with tile floors and minimal furniture. These are large, impersonal, and anodyne; they feel like some mass-transit space in an airport or depot. It's the opposite of cosy or welcoming or inviting. There seems to have been little thought put into designing these spaces, into how to make them feel less like large, impersonal, empty corridors that noise echoes down. They don't work: pedestrians seem to hurry through them, in search of somewhere more intimate and welcoming. While Devco has to contend with high numbers using the buildings, it seems a waste of square feet, and a failure of design and planning imagination.
This is also true, I think, of a few other features. The faculty offices on the upper levels are tiny and grouped around the building's core, away from the windows. The various department spaces, consequently all feel the same. It feels more like an office farm and less like a set of distinct academic spaces and cultures. This is, imo, also a major failure of architectural imagination. And the glass walls of some of the conference rooms just seem to be an ingredient for distraction, rather than for conversation or collective concentration within. This seems trendy and not thoughtful. As nice as the building is externally, it's also, to my mind, flawed inside. This seems like a real missed opportunity. Surely we can plan/order spaces to be more intimate, varied, and welcoming than this. Substantial disappointment here. Maybe I'm missing something? Cofifa? Grade: 5.5/10
Rutgers Hillel, College Ave:
Not quite finished yet, but wow, this is big and great, and helps to make C/A feel less run down. A few more additions like this, please! Well done Jewish community! Grade: 8/10.
Chemistry Building, Busch:
Still going up, but this is huge and impressive, and with a road in front, will really anchor a whole flank of Busch. Can't wait to see it and the Engineering building creating an edge and an entrance to that awful sprawl of larking lots, prefabs, and brink squares. Grade: 8/10.
Baseball Bubble, Livi:
Fun! Now bring on the practice courts! And, for mercy's sake, do something to the exterior of the RAC.
Other thoughts:
I still think the Business School Building's a mixed bag, with as much miss as hit. It's impressive to drive towards, but too white, cold, and impersonal inside. The grand staircase from the atrium is an awful feature to have as the showcase interior space. Livi Dining Hall is still excellent, and the Livi Apartments are still spectacularly successful in creating a sense of community and buzz. People are always out, walking, dining, sitting, throwing frisbees. Why can't we get something like this on Cook? Please???
Mentioned this in another post, but I chatted to Barchi for a good while about future construction. He was bullish, but a little coy. Expect a new wave of buildings in line with the physical masterplan was essentially what I was told. I think he's a great president, and Rutgers, after decades of stagnation, is moving forward faster than I could have imagined a decade ago. Was great to be back on The Banks.
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