The comments of University Architect Ron McCoy *80 can cause constant curiosity regarding their candid sincerity. They seem sometimes intentionally hypocritical platitudes, intended primarily to perpetuate the positive public relations of his office. One wants to favor him with the benefit of the doubt, because surely he is not any disciple of deliberate deception.
But in an earlier PAW review of the new Art Museum, he projected what might be perceived as double-speak in addressing that monstrously majestic mass as a building that “embraces the landscape around itself and brings that landscape into the room.” Then, in the most recent PAW (in apparent attribution to Mr. McCoy), it is reported that the exterior of the new Quantum Institute on campus “will be inspired by classic masonry and brick traditions.”
The dependably defining faithful features of “classic masonry and brick traditions” are the arch and the massive stone lintel. Neither of these two features is anywhere evident in the box-like rendering of the Quantum Institute. One wants to be charitable, but there is some strain.
The comments of University Architect Ron McCoy *80 can cause constant curiosity regarding their candid sincerity. They seem sometimes intentionally hypocritical platitudes, intended primarily to perpetuate the positive public relations of his office. One wants to favor him with the benefit of the doubt, because surely he is not any disciple of deliberate deception.
But in an earlier PAW review of the new Art Museum, he projected what might be perceived as double-speak in addressing that monstrously majestic mass as a building that “embraces the landscape around itself and brings that landscape into the room.” Then, in the most recent PAW (in apparent attribution to Mr. McCoy), it is reported that the exterior of the new Quantum Institute on campus “will be inspired by classic masonry and brick traditions.”
The dependably defining faithful features of “classic masonry and brick traditions” are the arch and the massive stone lintel. Neither of these two features is anywhere evident in the box-like rendering of the Quantum Institute. One wants to be charitable, but there is some strain.