1/27/15
Today in architecture we toured the main and the northern parts of campus, and I learned a lot of really cool stuff that I never would have known about otherwise. We started off at Foellinger Auditorium where we got to listen to a little bit of an anatomy lesson. I think they were talking about the heart, but I don't quite remember... Anyways, once in Foellinger, Professor Hinders discussed that the dome shape has come to represent community and democracy in the U.S. I guess I had never really thought of it that way, but it does make sense. Both the capitol building and the Jefferson Memorial have domed roofs. Assembly hall actually held the record at one point for being the largest domed structure in North America, which is kind of a cool fact, but I digress.
Anyways, after that we walked over to the quad's second axis (where it has the bike path running through it). Apparently there was a tram running through the middle of campus, so that sounds kind of cool! Car companies bought it out and destroyed it though so more people would use cars though, so that's not cool.
While we were on the main quad we also talked about how there's an enclosed space thanks to the fact that the buildings are about the same height and that the buildings have edges that would connect with each other if it wasn't for the fact that there are sidewalks in between them. Another thing that's interesting about the quad is that originally they had planned for it to be a block I shape with the Union being the top of the I. However, Harker hall got in the way of that and was made into a historical building so they couldn't expand to make the I. Even though the building really shouldn't be there, I can't say I can complain, especially considering my parents met in that building!
After that, we marched off to the Bardeen quad, where I spent way too many hours at last year... The Bardeen quad is off axis from the rest of the quad because Engineering Hall is pretty much lined up with the Union, meaning that the pathway to the Bardeen Quad pretty much had to line up with the sidewalk off of the main quad. Fortunately, it lines back up with the main quad later, thanks to Grainger! There's an alcove out of the back of the library so that another pathway up to the northernmost quad is back inline with everything.
We went up onto the northernmost quad and discussed how the Beckman Institute isn't the greatest building mainly because it's unwelcoming to people on the other side of Beckman because it's a two-block long wall that's a barrier to the University, it doesn't match anything else on campus, and it kind of looks like a phallic symbol. On the other hand though, there's the new ECE building, which is gorgeous! It's made out of terracotta to make the building look smaller and less imposing. I've heard there are showers in there, I'm wondering if it's just a rumor or if it's true. I should check it out some time!
1/29/15
Today was the tour of the power plant. The power plant actually isn't responsible for supplying electricity to campus, but rather steam. It was a little noisy and it was hard to hear the speaker, but I was still able to hear and see some really interesting stuff.
First we discussed the water that is used by the boilers and turbines. Apparently it's so pure that if you drink it, minerals will be extracted from your bodies.They use water this pure so that any impurities won't gunk up the turbines.
In addition to this, they also release water vapor so that it won't mess with the turbines as well. They are only able to use dry steam in the turbines.
We were able to look inside one of the boilers while it was running, which freaked me out a little, but it was pretty cool looking.
In addition to this, we were able to see the opening to the steam tunnels in the plant. It was about 180 degrees when we were standing by the door, so it's probably a good thing that people aren't allowed to go in there. I believe the speaker said that human flesh starts cooking at 130 degrees, but I don't quite remember...
Anyways, it was a really cool tour, and not at all what I was expecting.
