Butler's architecture

While I appreciate the landscaping and the green roofs (finally!), I’m not sure that the architecture of New Butler (Notebook, Sept. 23) is of sufficient quality to withstand the tests of time. Bear in mind that the New New Quad also was designed by a noted architect (Hugh Stubbins) and mildly praised in the architectural press upon completion. However, the poor interior layouts and down-campus location made the buildings unpopular with students, and the façades did not hold up well to changing architectural tastes.  

The first two items seem to have been addressed in the new complex, but will the ­modest, brick-heavy façades hold up to changing ideals? They seem to be, at best, what Wilson College should have been (which itself should perhaps have been more like Stiles/Morse at Yale).

Other, less-bland choices for green dormitories perhaps could have offered a better modern/environmental counterpoint to Whitman’s historicism (Tietgen Dormitory, Copenhagen, is one example).  

Time will tell.