In 1931 our school’s front building and theater were erected according to the designs of the legendary Los Angeles architect John C. Austin. Austin is also known for several other architectural works in Los Angeles and the surrounding areas including the Shrine Auditorium, City Hall, and the Masonic Temple to name a few. It is safe to say the beauty of the two buildings is a moot point. The front facade exudes a sense of institutional authority, an air of seriousness, which cannot help but inspire young academics.
In fact, beautiful buildings in which to study were the norm for centuries in most cultures up until very recently. We owe a large amount of the world's architectural heritage to various schools and universities, from the University of Bologna or Oxford all the way to our very own UCLA. It seemed nothing more than common sense that those surrounded by beauty and aesthetic excellence would be more inclined to academic success and concentration. Yet this ideal was quickly forgotten.
You need only walk through the first building to be met with the first monstrous building on campus, the Lab Building. Although it attempts to retain select features of the original front building (exposed brick, similar color way, etc.) it remains still a bleak, cheap, and poorly thought out extension of the campus. The nightmare does not end there but rather worsens. The Tech Building, almost undeniably, can be considered the worst building on campus. A terrifying labyrinthic design, incomprehensible exits and entrances, awkward stairways, and a bleak colorway serve only to disorient the student body, creating a profound sense of dread.
To make matters worse, the quad floor is composed of uninteresting, drab, monolithic slabs of concrete which hold no visual value nor interesting patterns or colors. The planters are brutal geometric behemoths surrounded by generic metal benches painted over with cheap green paint.
Clearly, the crown jewel of Hamilton is the main building. Everyone knows it is the building everyone appreciates the most. Yet it seems the campus expansion was done almost intentionally to not match the original style creating a chaotic architectural landscape which is simply confusing. Now with the prospect of the reconstruction of the humanities building I propose a return to the original, classical style of the theater and main building.
Comments