Campus Beauty

[NighthawkVol]

Wasn’t sure which board to put this on, but it’s a bye week, so I’ll stick it here.

I took my mom to her first game at Neylsnd since 1996 Saturday. She moved to Colorado in 1999 when she got remarried and has continued to love the Vols. It was also her 74th birthday. We walked all around campus so she could see how much it’s changed. It really has gotten so much better in the last 15 years or so.

But there are two big eyesores on campus: McClung tower/Humanities and the Art & Architecture building (ironically). If those two buildings were leveled and replaced with nice buildings matching the red brick theme, it would do so much to improve the appearance of campus.

I wonder, are there any talks of replacing those buildings? They’re all old and might need updating regardless of how ugly they are, so might as well just demolish and replace.

I’d also like to see something done to Hodges library’s facade, with all the “squares.” Maybe trim them off to match the top of Ayers.

 

[BOC]

I figured the "Girls of BYE week" thread would be in the Pub forum...

 

[TennesseeRhett]

That horrific statue in the center of the pedestrian walkway needs to go. I was a student when it went up. Everyone hated it then and the artist, some postmodern Yankee with no affiliation to UT basically responded by saying we were classless and didn’t know good art when we saw it. Never met anyone who actually liked it.

I’d love a fountain, or a bronze statue of Crockett, rifle in hand kneeling next to Smokey, both their eyes trained on the Hill. Something tied to the traditions of the school and the state.

 

[zeppelin128]

McClung tower and Humanities needed to be torn down when I was a student 15 years ago. And it wasn't just because of hideous exteriors; the interiors of both were very rundown and dated (in a bad way, not in a "oh cool this room is like 100 years old").

 

[dobre_shunka]

Here's a link where you can download the master plan for campus.

Campus Master Plan | The University of Tennessee, Knoxville

A replacement for McClung is part of the long term plan and renovation of the AA building is planned

 

[LouderVol]

Wasn’t sure which board to put this on, but it’s a bye week, so I’ll stick it here.

I took my mom to her first game at Neylsnd since 1996 Saturday. She moved to Colorado in 1999 when she got remarried and has continued to love the Vols. It was also her 74th birthday. We walked all around campus so she could see how much it’s changed. It really has gotten so much better in the last 15 years or so.

But there are two big eyesores on campus: McClung tower/Humanities and the Art & Architecture building (ironically). If those two buildings were leveled and replaced with nice buildings matching the red brick theme, it would do so much to improve the appearance of campus.

I wonder, are there any talks of replacing those buildings? They’re all old and might need updating regardless of how ugly they are, so might as well just demolish and replace.

I’d also like to see something done to Hodges library’s facade, with all the “squares.” Maybe trim them off to match the top of Ayers.

the faux collegiate gothic bs the school claims as an architectural style is straight up bs, and quiet ugly. they will all age terribly. heck some of the new dorms have fiber cement panels (Hardie) like you see on a house. and lining all the pedestrian paths with 7 story buildings doesn't make a great feel to campus, way too urban of a look.

the architecture building is great. It was designed as a teaching tool, and only stands out because the university decided to go with the faux collegiate gothic style everywhere instead of the places it made sense. it also references some of the leading architects of the time, several of the professors had worked with those architects. If you had a better style across campus that allowed for more flexibility the Architecture Building wouldn't stand out so much as an "eye sore". As I said before it stands out as a great teaching tool, you see exactly what goes into a building, and the overall form shows one of the two ways you deal with context. You can either try to blend in and not stand out, doesn't make sense for a College of Design, or you can be your own thing when the local context doesn't make sense for the purpose of your building. The main weakness of the collegiate gothic is it doesn't scale terribly well, the Architecture Building was one of the largest buildings on campus at the time, and trying to apply an already bad standard just doesn't make sense. and as I keep saying its great for the students learning to design so they don't see one, boring, standard everywhere, its just not conducive. pretty much every major architecture program building is this way, different from the rest.

most of the street scape improvements have been great imo. I am in the same place as Rhett about that statue on Pedestrian Walk, I was there too and it made no sense, "Whirlwind of Opportunity" my butt. its definitely a good thing the campus is more pedestrian friendly in general, especially on game days.

I think the brick color on campus is terrible, it isn't offensive when you see it as a whole, but if you looked at just the brick its just not a good color.

 

[Brave Volunteer]

I love UT but I must say, "curb appeal" isn't exactly its strongest quality. Aesthetically, Berry College it aint.

 

[TAF]

I think the campus looks FANTASTIC...

Y'All should have seen it in the late '70s...

 

[TennesseeTarheel]

So, no cheerleader photos? Alright then.

 

[Hulavol]

I love UT like nobodies business…. But our campus ain’t exactly “wow what a beautiful school”- it’s about as far from that as it gets.

BUT - it looks better than ever, and they are certainly making improvements

 

[VolsdeepVFL]

the faux collegiate gothic bs the school claims as an architectural style is straight up bs, and quiet ugly. they will all age terribly. heck some of the new dorms have fiber cement panels (Hardie) like you see on a house. and lining all the pedestrian paths with 7 story buildings doesn't make a great feel to campus, way too urban of a look.

the architecture building is great. It was designed as a teaching tool, and only stands out because the university decided to go with the faux collegiate gothic style everywhere instead of the places it made sense. it also references some of the leading architects of the time, several of the professors had worked with those architects. If you had a better style across campus that allowed for more flexibility the Architecture Building wouldn't stand out so much as an "eye sore". As I said before it stands out as a great teaching tool, you see exactly what goes into a building, and the overall form shows one of the two ways you deal with context. You can either try to blend in and not stand out, doesn't make sense for a College of Design, or you can be your own thing when the local context doesn't make sense for the purpose of your building. The main weakness of the collegiate gothic is it doesn't scale terribly well, the Architecture Building was one of the largest buildings on campus at the time, and trying to apply an already bad standard just doesn't make sense. and as I keep saying its great for the students learning to design so they don't see one, boring, standard everywhere, its just not conducive. pretty much every major architecture program building is this way, different from the rest.

most of the street scape improvements have been great imo. I am in the same place as Rhett about that statue on Pedestrian Walk, I was there too and it made no sense, "Whirlwind of Opportunity" my butt. its definitely a good thing the campus is more pedestrian friendly in general, especially on game days.

I think the brick color on campus is terrible, it isn't offensive when you see it as a whole, but if you looked at just the brick its just not a good color.

Found the NIMBY lol campus is gorgeous and the urban feel is what makes it so cool

 

[Brave Volunteer]

I love UT like nobodies business…. But our campus ain’t exactly “wow what a beautiful school”- it’s about as far from that as it gets.

BUT - it looks better than ever, and they are certainly making improvements

That's fair to say.

 

[CragrockVol]

That horrific statue in the center of the pedestrian walkway needs to go. I was a student when it went up. Everyone hated it then and the artist, some postmodern Yankee with no affiliation to UT basically responded by saying we were classless and didn’t know good art when we saw it. Never met anyone who actually liked it.

I’d love a fountain, or a bronze statue of Crockett, rifle in hand kneeling next to Smokey, both their eyes trained on the Hill. Something tied to the traditions of the school and the state.

I was there when the statue was installed. All the students thought he was an overweight, middle aged man in a toga. I didn't like it in 1968 and I still don't like it in 2023.

 

[tbh]

Found the NIMBY lol campus is gorgeous and the urban feel is what makes it so cool

How is anything @LouderVol said nimby-ism? "Urban" scales can differ greatly depending on the context and use of the campus fabric, and many urban areas (campus or not) are rightly recognizing the need for building and interstitial spaces to occur along a spectrum of scales between a steel/glass/brick canyon and an open field. Trying to shoehorn each building into a single style may have made sense back in the days when a campus was but a quad bordered by a handful of academic buildings, but as Louder said there are some styles which just don't scale well.

All in all, though...I agree that UT's campus on the whole is mighty handsome (yes, even the orange brick).

 

[lukeneyland]

That horrific statue in the center of the pedestrian walkway needs to go. I was a student when it went up. Everyone hated it then and the artist, some postmodern Yankee with no affiliation to UT basically responded by saying we were classless and didn’t know good art when we saw it. Never met anyone who actually liked it.

I’d love a fountain, or a bronze statue of Crockett, rifle in hand kneeling next to Smokey, both their eyes trained on the Hill. Something tied to the traditions of the school and the state.

I’ve drunkenly stumbled past that thing a few times. Can’t say that I never thought about pissing on it

 

[Smokey7]

That horrific statue in the center of the pedestrian walkway needs to go. I was a student when it went up. Everyone hated it then and the artist, some postmodern Yankee with no affiliation to UT basically responded by saying we were classless and didn’t know good art when we saw it. Never met anyone who actually liked it.

I’d love a fountain, or a bronze statue of Crockett, rifle in hand kneeling next to Smokey, both their eyes trained on the Hill. Something tied to the traditions of the school and the state.

You talking about the one where a nude woman is placed on a bull?

 

[LouderVol]

Found the NIMBY lol campus is gorgeous and the urban feel is what makes it so cool

a campus with nothing but 7+ story buildings is just as bad as a campus with no 7+ story buildings. you need a mix. especially if you want an urban feel. we aren't some parts of older Europe, our urban centers have a mix of styles, heights, and designs.

one of the issues with the overall design is the decisions are being made by people with no design background, who ignore their own accredited program in the field, and rely on the advice of "experts" who have never even set foot on campus before they came out with a plan for what it should be.

 

[tbh]

You talking about the one where a nude woman is placed on a bull?

I think it's this one ("Whirlwind of Opportunity"). To me, it looks like someone tacked together some castoff parts from Space Mountain and a carnival ride or two.

Edit: Has anyone crawled into this thing and become stuck? If so, it may actually have a purpose as a holding area for unruly visiting fans (particularly ones who lose their britches in the stadium)...sort of a futuristic version of stocks on the village square.

 

[LeannaVol]

I love UT like nobodies business…. But our campus ain’t exactly “wow what a beautiful school”- it’s about as far from that as it gets.

BUT - it looks better than ever, and they are certainly making improvements

I was there in the 90's and thought it looked very urban and industrial. I know it has probably created some challenges but they have closed down some streets and removed some street parking to add landscaping that has helped a lot imo. The recent buildings seem more classical as compared to the Art and Architecture building and Mcclung which I dislike also. I have always thought that statue ws som esort of joke. Somebody start a petition to have it replaced.

 

[KnoxRealtorVOL]

Wasn’t sure which board to put this on, but it’s a bye week, so I’ll stick it here.

I took my mom to her first game at Neylsnd since 1996 Saturday. She moved to Colorado in 1999 when she got remarried and has continued to love the Vols. It was also her 74th birthday. We walked all around campus so she could see how much it’s changed. It really has gotten so much better in the last 15 years or so.

But there are two big eyesores on campus: McClung tower/Humanities and the Art & Architecture building (ironically). If those two buildings were leveled and replaced with nice buildings matching the red brick theme, it would do so much to improve the appearance of campus.

I wonder, are there any talks of replacing those buildings? They’re all old and might need updating regardless of how ugly they are, so might as well just demolish and replace.

I’d also like to see something done to Hodges library’s facade, with all the “squares.” Maybe trim them off to match the top of Ayers.

Is this the same guy that wanted Volnation to add another popcorn machine in Neyland?

 

[dobre_shunka]

Prior to the recent explosion of construction over the past 10-20 years, there were two main styles on campus. The historic buildings on the hill in the Gothic red brick and then the new buildings to the west from the Andy Holt Era of expansion with the presidential courtyard dorms, humanites complex, circle park, etc.

When Hodges was gutted in the mid 80s (and briefly renamed Little Beruit) and essentially rebuilt, the red and orange bricks on it were meant to join the two different building styles. And it was made into the block style as Q'bert was a very popular video game at the time and it recreates the play field on it.

The powers that be felt the two main styles were an issue and wanted a consistent style for most new construction hence the style used on most new buildings.

 

[NighthawkVol]

Here's a link where you can download the master plan for campus.

Campus Master Plan | The University of Tennessee, Knoxville

A replacement for McClung is part of the long term plan and renovation of the AA building is planned

I wonder what "renovation" means. Hopefully, it means the exterior is changed completely.

 

[TN Jed]

Perhaps I'm in the minority, but I miss Estabrook. A friend that worked on the demolition got me a couple of bricks.

 

[firedog28]

For the fan who wanted UT girls

 

[BillVol]

I remember the thinking when the library was re-built was to have the lower levels in darker brick (to blend in with the older, shorter buildings around it) and the higher floors in lighter brick (to match the newer, taller buildings).