Canadian University Thread

[esquire]

Originally Posted by jamincan

By that same logic, I suppose some sort of postmodern addition to Parliament Hill would also be appropriate? Sometimes a collection of buildings is a meaningful architectural unit. That doesn't mean the addition has to be in the same style as the other buildings anymore than an addition to a building, but in this case it is clearly not in harmony with the rest of the campus and I would agree it detracts from the other buildings.

Good analogy. The new building clashes terribly with its iconic neighbour. I find it hard to believe that this couldn't have been done in a better way.

[niwell]

Clashing styles can certainly be done well, and in some cases add more than an addition simply attempting to copy the original. The example at Lethbridge university is not one of these. That’s a terrible addition to an otherwise beautiful complex.

[itom 987]

Just because the architect mentions horizontal lines in the prairies blah blah blah doesn't mean their idea is law. Every architect has their own idea of what will work at a given location, that is a fact that cannot be ignored. To put this in perspective, the U of L is not as beautiful nor as important as the national capital. It is just a another building on campus.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by itom 987

Just because the architect mentions horizontal lines in the prairies blah blah blah doesn't mean their idea is law. Every architect has their own idea of what will work at a given location, that is a fact that cannot be ignored. To put this in perspective, the U of L is not as beautiful nor as important as the national capital. It is just a another building on campus.

I admire your valiant struggle to defend that turd next to the Arthur Erickson, but I simply cannot see the merit to your argument.

How on earth can anyone say that going from this



to this



is anything but an architectural debacle? It would be like putting a painting of dogs playing poker next to the Mona Lisa.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by niwell

Clashing styles can certainly be done well, and in some cases add more than an addition simply attempting to copy the original. The example at Lethbridge university is not one of these. That’s a terrible addition to an otherwise beautiful complex.

Originally Posted by esquire

is anything but an architectural debacle? It would be like putting a painting of dogs playing poker next to the Mona Lisa.

Agree 100%. It's indefensible. An absolute travesty.

[itom 987]

The dogs playing poker next to the Mona Lisa analogy happens all the time. The architect made the mistake of not factoring in Lethbridge's future growth when designing the building. OMG I see a skyscraper in the background! The view was already ruined....

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by itom 987

The view was already ruined....

Some things are worth protecting. This was very much one of those rare places. Just because it's not Parliament Hill or the US Capitol doesn't mean it's undeserving of permanent protection.

Canada HAD nothing like this anywhere in the country and they've ruined it. It's not like Lethbridge had nowhere else to put this building. They had LOTS of options yet decided to put this in the absolute worst place possible.

[esquire]

I'm sure Erickson imagined that there would be growth down the road, but I'm also sure he expected that it would be handled a little more sensitively and appropriately.

[itom 987]

Then he should have bought large swaths of land around the building to protect it. Architects have little say in what happens on properties outside of theirs.

It is just another building on campus, it is brutalist and doesn't look very pretty by itself to be honest. The concept of function is the only thing that is important.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by itom 987

Then he should have bought large swaths of land around the building to protect it.

It's not really his responsibility to act as a good steward. The University owns it and should have known better. You can buy a Ferrari and use it to make a few bucks pulling stumps from the ground for friends and family, it isn't Ferrari's job to stop you from doing such a bone-headed thing.

[itom 987]

In this case, the Ferrari already is lemon.

[urbandreamer]

I checked out Brock U's campus for the first time: it's hideous! Maybe it's time to just move the entire campus downtown St Catharine's to help revitalize what I think is a city with wonderful bones albeit extremely rundown. The current campus could be redeveloped into single family homes.

Here's the ugly new student residence 8 nearing completion:

[megadude]

Originally Posted by urbandreamer

I checked out Brock U's campus for the first time: it's hideous! Maybe it's time to just move the entire campus downtown St Catharine's to help revitalize what I think is a city with wonderful bones albeit extremely rundown. The current campus could be redeveloped into single family homes.

St. Catharines is indeed too rundown looking for all its potential. I've never set foot on Brock campus even though my brother went there and lives downtown. I've only passed by it and have no comment, but they have to figure something out to get that city going in the right direction. They have some pretty decent housing stock and a few spots downtown I find interesting and they could really build on that. Having the U there would have been great.

[megadude]

Question. Who here actually has gear from their alma mater? Shirts, hats, mugs, bumpers stickers, etc.

That's way more popular in the US. The US might be the only country where that's a popular thing. A lot of that has to do with sports though.

I have tonnes of US college gear because I love or used to love watching college basketball or football and have been on dozens of trips to watch live. Mind you, almost all my stuff was bought on clearance for cheap.

I went to Windsor and then York for a total of five years and I don't have so much as a keychain. I used to have one shirt and a free mug but both are long gone. I never felt pride from attending either place and not sure I would have even if I went to an upper tier place like Queens. I have close cousins that went to Queens and U of T and I have virtually never seen them wearing the gear. Certainly not in the last 15 years or so.

The biggest reason I don't have my schools' gear is due to bad experiences there. There was just so much incompetence by staff from receptionists to TAs to professors. Most were fine of course, but there were just too many that were bad at their job or just straight up a-holes.

There was a prof in first year statistics that clearly lost his mind but somehow was able to continue teaching. Due to tenure I guess? He would go on rants abut how the FBI was following him (he was American). He also had like a monk's robe in his car (had the Michigan plates) and would park in front of the church on campus. Some classmates told me they saw him in the robe in the church. No one believed he was actually religious in a normal way, but it was more like him doing cosplay. It got to the point where a petition for him removal circulated, yet nothing happened.

Anyway, both my diplomas are still in envelopes stuffed between other shit on my bookshelf. My first one I removed a year later from the expensive frame my parents bought and replaced by a vintage racing poster. The second time around I did not attend graduation despite it being York U, which was half hour away. I only got that diploma a year later when I realized employers at the time liked to see a copy of that thing.

[O-tacular]

My biggest gripe with that addition to the U of L is the bright colours. I get that they wanted to contrast with Erickson's building but that completely detracts from the beauty of the original and how it integrated with the landscape. Honestly something blander would have been better.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by esquire

I admire your valiant struggle to defend that turd next to the Arthur Erickson, but I simply cannot see the merit to your argument.

How on earth can anyone say that going from this



to this



is anything but an architectural debacle? It would be like putting a painting of dogs playing poker next to the Mona Lisa.

yep, just like this fugly starchitect monstrosity:

[esquire]

^ I wonder how the ROM expansion would be handled today... the Crystal was built kind of at 'peak starchitect' when architects really went over the top with their designs. I'm sure it would be handled much differently now. The Human Rights Museum and Edmonton's Art Gallery expansion are also products of that brief but lively time.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by megadude

Question. Who here actually has gear from their alma mater? Shirts, hats, mugs, bumpers stickers, etc.

I have a hoodie and some sweatpants.

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

yep, just like this fugly starchitect monstrosity:

The ROM expansion is great IMO but I know i'm in the minority.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by JHikka

I have a hoodie and some sweatpants.



The ROM expansion is great IMO but I know i'm in the minority.

I can live with some of those flashy starchitect designs but IMO they are best used sparingly. They should never be common, even if you are a place like Dubai or whatever and have the means to do it.

As far as the alma mater merch question goes, I have a hoodie from U Alberta that I wear sometimes along with a scarf that I was given but never wear, and that's it. I used to have a U Manitoba sweatshirt when I was a student but I got rid of it when I graduated. I never had anything from U Winnipeg. I once bought a NCAA t-shirt one weekend when I went to a University of North Dakota hockey and basketball game in Grand Forks, although I never went to school there.

My oldest kid likes sports and wants to go watch the U Manitoba Bisons play when university sports resume, so when that happens maybe I'll go get us some team t-shirts.

[MolsonExport]

Western swag is huge in London, Ontario.