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Rise in Tornadoes, Floods Poses Risk to Colleges
What if the sort of extreme weather that has left the University of Iowa inundated in floodwaters is not a freak event? What if it is a sign of things to come? (Photograph by AP Images)
Art & Architecture Renovations Near Completion at Yale U.
Paul Rudolph's 1963 Brutalist icon is getting a makeover, plus an addition by Charles Gwathmey.
Guest Blogger: Anne Stephenson
Even the greenest construction project increases a college’s carbon footprint.
Other News
Land-Rich Universities Weigh New Options for Real-Estate Development
Universities are taking advantage of new ways to develop their holdings through corporate partnerships, a new report says.
U. of Iowa Begins Mucking Out and Assessing the Damage
The university's insurer spent the weekend starting to assess the damage to the auditorium and 19 other flooded buildings.
U. of Iowa Flooding Takes Costly Toll in Research and Equipment
Parking lots are under water, some roads leading to the campus are closed, and the campus utility infrastructure is damaged.
New campus buildings
Multimedia
A Green Building as a Billboard for Science
(A 2006 Chronicle video)
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Buildings & Grounds is written by Scott Carlson (left) and Lawrence Biemiller (right). Scott Carlson writes about architecture, facilties, energy, and sustainability, among other topics. Lawrence Biemiller writes about architecture and facilities and contributes to Notes from Academe. What's happening on your campus? Let us know.
Mary Jo Olenick: Cellphones and Social Spaces
 Mary Jo Olenick |
In 2000, just over 33 percent of U.S. college students had cellphones; by mid-decade, nearly 90 percent did. Our first Buildings & Grounds guest blogger, Mary Jo Olenick, explains how campuses have been affected by this millennial shift:
BC
Before cellphones, social interactions on campuses were largely initiated by face-to-face contact, either through scheduled events or chance meetings at common gathering spaces. Physically placing yourself in a public gathering area was an important aspect of socialization. As a result, buildings and campuses were designed to encourage chance interactions. Gathering spots were located throughout the campus at intersections and crossroads where you could be seen. You could hang out and wait for friends or peruse posted information. In residential facilities, lobbies, lounges, and corridors were perceived as critical to social networking, and they were purposefully designed to provide places to hang out, gather, collect, wait, observe, and eventually make contact with people.
AC
After cellphones spread across campuses, these traditional common spaces began to seem obsolete. Students have no need to wait in lobbies, lounges, or corridors to connect, and no need to read posted notices to stay informed. They have no need to take circuitous routes through their campuses to locate friends — cellphones let them contact friends instantly. New acquaintances are also initiated and validated through cellphone networks. These networks facilitate new interactions and social opportunities by providing linkages between diverse groups.
Less than a decade ago, architects and planners focused on developing hang-out spaces for campuses. Now the challenge is to respond to how today’s students actually build and live in their social networks. Wide corridors in residence halls will not generate social interaction if there is a stigma to being seen in a public space without your friends. At the very least, you should be seen talking to them on your cellphone. In fact, the broad corridors touted in recent residence-hall design may well be a terrible waste of space.
Likewise, if lounges, lobbies, and other common areas no longer serve as spontaneous, informal gathering areas, perhaps that space should be used instead for other functions —- multimedia rooms or black-box theaters, for instance.
Corridors previously used to connect typical four-person living units can be absorbed into larger “super suites.” These suites, with anywhere from eight to 16 students, offer the critical mass to support private bedrooms and appropriate bath-to-bed ratios without costing too much. In addition, capturing the corridor space within the suite helps create common spaces large enough for a variety of activities within the living unit. The larger living group also helps prevent the social isolation that can occur with a four-person-suite. The super suite can create a truly unique living experience, defining college life in the new millennium just the way the double-loaded corridor and common bath defined the college experience of yore.
Residential campus buildings can play an important role in a college’s educational mission — if they are relevant to the students who live there. By understanding how students build relationships in their AC world, we can create facilities that engage students and foster the kind of vibrant academic community that we value.
Mary Jo Olenick is an architect who leads the S/L/A/M Collaborative’s higher-education practice. She will contribute occasionally to Buildings & Grounds during March.
Lawrence Biemiller | Monday March 3, 2008 | Permalink | Contact usComments
Previous: Introducing Our March Blogger: Mary Jo Olenick of the S/L/A/M Collaborative
Next: What Does a University Architect Do, Anyway?
How do you think cellphones affect gathering spaces outside of buildings, on campus?
— Gina Crandell Mar 3, 09:26 PM #
Hey, Mary Jo! Nice to see you on B&G. “If there is a stigma to being seen in a public space without your friends” — that’s an amazing statement and worth investigating further. Does it affect the academic choices students make? And what will be next after cell/text technology?
— Fran Gast Mar 4, 07:30 AM #
It’s an interesting perspective and definitely worth investigating. However, an important part of the collegiate experience is broadening your social network and level of understanding by encountering and interacting with a wide range of new people. Should we try to avoid “cell phone silos” and encourage more face-to-face interaction?
— Wayne Bottomley Mar 4, 12:39 PM #
I am happy to have have instigated some further thinking about our relationships to each other and our cell phones. In hopes to keep the ball rolling on other courts, I’ll tackle the question about outside spaces. Engaging outside space is even more important on our AC campuses. This is especially true in the residential environment. Among the most popular outdoor spaces associated with residence halls are basketball courts and open yards that support pick up games. It is awfuly hard to do any of these things with a cell phone glued to your ear. While we struggle to create relevant interaction space inside the residence hall, active outdoor spaces seem to be increasing in demand and popularity. Often times the program for site development is taken for granted. On the AC campus active outdoor spaces could be the “cell phone silo” busters we dream of!
— Mary Jo Olenick Mar 4, 05:52 PM #
I agree that “there is a stigma to being seen in a public space without your friends.” Even the notion of idle time waiting for a friend is uncomfortable. The result is speed walking from comfort zone A to comfort zone B. “Spontaneous gathering areas” are replaced with arranged (via cellphone) lunch dates.
Another important technology point is Flatscreen TV’s and XBox. Why spend time in an empty corridor or lounge when virtually every individual’s room is equipped with a multi-faceted gaming suite?
However, providing facilities like Black-box theater that represent an upgrade(i.e. big screen, surround sound) from what is in comfortable dorms will attract students. And sessions can be arranged via cell phone.
— Dave Pulito Mar 9, 03:04 PM #
The social dynamic among college students is very much predicated on the use of technology to plan and facilitate social gatherings and interactions. Cell phone calls, text messaging, and Web2.0 online social networks allow college students to better and more efficiently plan events and ensure that they will not miss out on the action. The recent increase in technology usage on college campuses has been accompanied by a new stigma that makes it no longer socially acceptable to arrive at a social event unaccompanied. Students gather with a smaller group of friends before heading to the social event de jour. Arriving with a large group portrays an image of popularity and social competence. The idea of common areas in super suites that are large enough to entertain a small group of 10-20 students is right on. New college dorm spaces should focus more on providing students with ample common space and less on fancy lobby areas, spacious hallways, or other types of central meeting areas. Today’s college student is very busy and on a tight schedule. Whether it be a weekday or a weekend night, college students want to meet their friends at a certain place at a certain time. Large common areas facilitate these on demand meetings and ensure that students will never have to face the social ramifications of arriving alone.
— Michael Winter Mar 9, 04:09 PM #
Students today definitely always feel the need to “be connected.” This might be a need to be connected to their cell-phone, e-mail, AIM, FACEBOOK, etc. Though this new networking technology has some amazing benefits, a negative side-effect is the lack of face to face personal interaction that individuals have on a college campus. Though we definitely have to accept reality and build “residential campus buildings… relevant to the students that live there”, I am not sure we should encourage the type of social atmosphere where students are connected to their cell phones and facebooks. I am a Resident Assistant at a university right now. I have 80 students on my floor living in ten 8-person suites. While the amenities offered by these suites are very nice, they do lead to tendency for students to lock themselves up in their rooms and limit their social circle to the other seven roommates in their room, even though there are seventy other residents living on the same floor. Future residence halls should be built with the mind-set of encouraging personal interaction (in light of cell phone and internet network technology) that is critical to a student’s individual personal development. I agree with Mary Jo in one of the follow up comments suggesting that outdoor social facilities or student unions, perhaps, could be a manner of breaking the “cell phone silo.”
— David Mar 9, 07:15 PM #
My son is 20 and goes to college in Boston. He’s always connected (300 phone calls a month), but still hangs out with his friends. There are no dorms at UMass Boston, and he likes it that way. He’d rather sleep in his car!
I’m sure that Max will be teaching MJO more about the college life! Best to you all.
— Deb Carey Mar 15, 07:41 PM #