Campus Planning: Old Architecture And High-tech

America's universities are the most wired places in the nation. Why are they looking to 19th century architecture for guidance?

1 minute read

June 25, 2001, 7:00 AM PDT

By Chris Steins @planetizen


"Universities are no better than the rest of us at predicting the future. But they are good at making mistakes before everyone else does. They are the most wired (and increasingly wireless) places in this country. They are also among our most deliberately planned physical spaces, and trends often take hold in campus design before they appear in the larger world. How the campus is changing -- why a new and wired library, for example, will work better in a 70-year-old no-tech building than a 25-year-old high-tech one -- can explain much about what is in store for the rest of us."

Thanks to Susan Smith

Monday, June 25, 2001 in The Industry Standard

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I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

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