Chicagoist: Dome Sweet Dome

evelyn

Mon, 12 May 2008 23:00:50 -0600

oh whet, you know that we don't actually like pleasant places to read! the danker, the better. it gives us cred. speaking of which, i totally got a mailing from u of c today asking for money that was based entirely on "oh my god, didn't you just LOVE scav hunt?! give us money! because you're a nerd who loved scav hunt! without your money, super-nerds cannot marry each other and build nuclear reactors all in the name of winning a ridiculous game!" i'm totally for the dome. i just think we need to find a way to make it somehow nerdier. it looks awfully bright. can we claim to be somehow more radio-active by working there? can we claim some mathematical relation to god based on some divine parabola? give me something, u of c.

whet

Mon, 12 May 2008 17:41:56 -0600

Repose? The cubicles in the dark reaches of the upper floors of the Reg, now that's repose. This looks like a pleasant enough place to read, especially during weather events, if you like pleasant places to read.

napdaddy

Mon, 12 May 2008 16:44:29 -0600

@tothecurb UIUC's Undergraduate Library was commonly referred to as the "UGLy" in my day. I was always told that the UGL was built underground so it wouldn't block the sun from the adjacent Morrow Plots. But, as always, wikipedia has the answer: It is popularly believed that the University constructed an undergraduate library with three stories underground, so that the library would not block the sun. However, the University master plan at the time called for a large open plaza on that end of campus, which was an equally important reason the library was built underground. [from wikipedia]

dopplerd

Mon, 12 May 2008 16:23:58 -0600

Chicago State University already has a robo library. I wonder about the costs of cooling this book greenhouse in the summer. It does look pretty "cool" but may not end up that way. Interestingly, during my college years I found the best reading/studying occurred in the basement of the school's library, away from natural light and distractions.

lamgray

Mon, 12 May 2008 16:03:48 -0600

Here's my only problem. . .when I went to the library as a student, I went there to study in QUIET. When you live with people, have classes with people, etc. . the only place to retreat to to hideout and study, was on an upper floor in the library at my University (as the main library floor ecoed and had a TON of noise - which will be the case on this floor too). The building looks great, but the library should also facilitate a place for many students to study in quiet. . which this plan does not do.

sealouse

Mon, 12 May 2008 15:39:25 -0600

If the library extension has to fit in with the surrounding buildings, then I pity the architect that can accomplish that. All of the Neo-Gothic architecture that our university is famous for exists for the most part within a contained block of the quads south of this proposed structure. Once you go north of 57th street, it's anyone's game, architecturally. So what exactly "surrounds" this dome? It sure as hell isn't "walled-in courtyards: places of extraordinary dignity and repose". It's the Reg to one side, tennis courts to the other (although I guess they have to get rid of those to build the dome), Max P north of that, and to the west it's the Fermi Institute and the science buildings. The closest "dignified" Neo-Gothic structure is Snell-Hitchcock across the street. At any rate, it's hardly disrupting a contiguous architectural theme. It's just another random building amongst the previously-existing random mass of buildings off of the main quad. And honestly? I'd much rather have this shiny dome than keep the rundown, rarely (if ever) used tennis courts that are there now. Some of us at the U of C like sunlight, and we don't get nearly enough in our stuffy traditionalist architecture. I welcome this dome. Maybe I'll actually go to the library to study.

tothecurb

Mon, 12 May 2008 13:34:19 -0600

UIUC's library is underground AND has a walled in courtyard.

peteypants

Mon, 12 May 2008 13:00:21 -0600

that i.m pei pyramid in front of the louvre was met with similar concern, but it eventually became a symbol of paris.

Ward Up

Mon, 12 May 2008 12:48:30 -0600

This will be a great addition to the campus. As for the modern vs. traditional debate, a boring "modern" building on campus would not be good. Boring "modern" boxes--whether glass or concrete--are not even modern. They have been around for sixty years But this is not a boring box. This dome looks great, even alongside the gothic buildings at U of C.

mepps

Mon, 12 May 2008 12:37:23 -0600

What happens when there's a flood?!