The Triangle

Issue date: 11/20/09 Section: Ed-Op

Media Credit: Melissa Cell

Frank Lloyd Wright, a mastermind in the world of art and architecture, once said, "The mother art is architecture. Without an architecture of our own we have no soul of our own civilization." The brilliance of this expression is a concept to be understood in the design of any institution, such as Drexel University.

The Main Building is the core representation of Drexel and its campus. It is distinguished as a center of innovative learning and experience in the city of Philadelphia, a city renowned for its preservation of historic art and architecture. Paintings, family portraits, plaster replications and statues found in the building give rise to an appreciation for the historic charm they bring to the campus in a most elegant and sophisticated manner. The Main Building, as architecture student Nurefsan Unal puts it, "embraces a unique expression of the history of Drexel that's not found anywhere else on campus." It is a majestic connection of Drexel's campus to the celebrated city in which it resides. The founder of Drexel, Anthony J. Drexel's personal art collection of paintings, drawings and other notable antiques are exhibited in the Picture Gallery on the third floor of the Main Building. One of the prominent pieces in this collection is the David Rittenhouse tall-case clock, a remarkable work of art which demonstrates advanced mechanisms and engineering. Drexel's Main Building is, in essence, a novel of the efforts and individuals that contributed to the values upon which the University was founded. The progressions to the campus since its first construction are then meant to reign as sequels to this masterpiece, presenting Drexel's revolutionizing advancements in its views of novelty.

As far as the image created by other buildings on campus is concerned, prospective and current additions to campus are beginning to show advancements to contemporary style, budding in becoming both more expressive of innovation and Drexel's tech-savvy spirit. With that being said, some buildings on campus are more obviously impressive than others, such as the Bossone Center, Pearlstein, and Drexel's most recently completed marvel- Millennium Hall. Other buildings on campus are just not favorable and lacking in form. What does it say about our image of being pro-enhanced education if Drexel's gym is more attractive than the exterior of Hagerty Library? Also, three widely-used and established buildings at Drexel, each located in different parts of the campus - Disque Hall, Kelly Hall, and MacAlister Hall - are particularly revolting. They are big, boxy, and plain. While designing simple can often be a great expression of artistic vision and creativity, it is not so when it is verging on utterly unsightly. These buildings evoke one to wonder whether Drexel is a school of innovation and inspiring thoughts, or one lacking in originality, or any thought-process, for that matter.

We know this isn't the case. The students and faculty who make up Drexel University are fundamentally accredited for the success that Drexel has achieved. With regard to its overall campus impression, Drexel should strive to promote these achievements in its buildings. The recognition that can potentially be provided on campus by student work in the arts, or research goals and projects of students and faculty, is likely to enrich the image of Drexel to the rest of the world.

A campus, unlike a book, perhaps, is judged by its cover, and it is essential that Drexel acknowledge its duty of creating and maintaining an image that it is ingenuous in demonstrating the distinctive reputation of the educational experiences it provides and by sharing the accomplishments of its students and faculty.



Sara Beg is a pre-junior majoring in architectural engineering. She can be reached at op-ed@thetriangle.org.

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