Assignments & Requirements

Designing the American Campus
EDLD 199 - CRN 14839
Fall 2002
A University of Oregon Freshman Seminar

last updated October 14

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Reading

For Thursday, October 3: Turner (packet) through page 48. This book is also on reserve at Knight Library. We will be discussing this reading in class, so please complete the reading in advance.

For Thursday October 17: Turner (packet) through page 125. Meet with your study group for at least an hour to discuss the reading and the following study questions:

• -- Is Thomas Jefferson's concept of an "academical village" relevant to the contemporary American university, in particular the Univeisity of Oregon?
• -- Does Jefferson's linkage (in the U. Va. plan) of the educational concept with the architectural design have relevance today? Can you articulate what the UO's educational concept is, or at least in contrast to its peers?
• -- On p. 90 and elsewhere (see his discussion of Jefferson & the U. of Va.), Turner discusses the "collegiate ideal", as contrasted with the model of the European university. What is the collegiate system? What is the university model? Does the U. of O. relate to either or both of these models, and in what ways?
• -- An appearance of old buildings was an important part of the image projected by colleges since the 19th century. Is this still true? Would you want to attend a campus of consisting entirely of new buildings? Why is appearance of antiquity important or not important to campus image?
• -- During the first half of the 19th century (the 1800's), America universities grew to the point of being an assembly of buildings rather than one to four buildings. Also, many new colleges were founded. What principles or concepts guided the decisions of how to place buildings in relationship to each other, how to create open space, how to plan the campus?

For Thursday, October 24: Turner (packet) through page 160. Meet with you study group for an least an hour to discuss the reading and the following study questions:

• Utilitarian campuses: The UO was founded in part as a scientific university. Do the oldest buildings (Deady and Villard) reflect a utilitarian style as defined by Turner?
• What are some land grant institutions on the west coast? What elements indicate a land grant college or university?
• Is there anything on the UO campus left over from the need to provide separately for women in the early days of coeducational campuses? Try to speculate on a list of items/places/features.
• What parts of the UO campus show the influence of Frederick Law Olmsted's style (although he did not have any part in designing our campus)?
• A certain style of suburb was invented as we know it by Olmsted, with curving styreets, ndividual houses on separate lots, and and overall informal structure. How does this relate to Olmsted's campuses on one hand, and to the planning principles of pre-Olmsted campus designs (terms such as symmetry and axiality) on the other? How does this relationship to suburban design fit into our theme of campuses as intentional communities?

For Thursday, October 31 [come in costume!]: Turner (packet) pages 163 - 213. Meet with your study group for at least an hour to discuss the reading, and the following study questions:

• How does the scale of a Beaux Arts (pronounced boze are) campus differ from earlier campus styles? What is the look and feel? Can you come up with at least four or five different adjectives that help describe a Beaux Arts campus?
• A Columbia University professor predicted in 1884 that the traditional college would soon be dead. Are there contemporary equivalents to this prediction? What are they, and how likely do you think they are?
• Would you want to attend a college that looked like figs. 186 & 187? 202? 203 & 204?
• What does Turner mean on p. 169: "Just as the Medicis and their class had patronized ecclesiastical art int he Renaissance, wealthy Americans now chose higher education and its architectural planning as principal objects of their munificence.." Find some correlations to current campus situations, both here as well as at other universities.
• How does Benard's plan for U.C. Berkeley compare with John Galen Howard's? How do the two of these compare to Frederick Law Olmsted's? What bearing do these have on your own personal image of what a campus should look like?
• Claude Bragdon stated (pp.186-188) that unity of style (buildings having similar appearance) matters more than particular style (what that appearance is). What's your opinion on this question of uniform appearance?
  Can you imagine a campus of uniform style where the style is inappropriate, or even oppressive? Can you imagine a campus of diverse styles, yet which is pleasant and attractive? Can you give examples, on this campus or another, to support your opinion? Be prepared to state your case.
• Do the campuses of the" Jeffersonian Revival" have the same feel as Jefferson's University of Virginia (pictured on the cover of Turner, first page of your packet)?
• In what way were the proposals to give older campuses a "Beaux Arts make-over" effective? In what way were they not effective? What do you think the long-term effects of this Beaux Arts approach were on university campuses?

Projects

For Tuesday, October 8: Discovered Places - due date advanced to Tuesday, October 15
For Friday, October 11, claim a location for FUARCH, complete and deliver assignment (e-mail or paper) by 5 p.m. Mon, Oct 14
For Thursday, October 24, Tracing Frederick Law Olmsted.

Group "big(ger)" projects, due date To Be Announced. This can be done instead of the remaining short take-home projects. Those not doing the "big(ger)" project might be subjected to an in-class essay quiz related to campus history and to the readings.