On Ideology

I think some presumptions about college classrooms is that they are boring.  When you walk into a classroom there is nothing there except empty desks and chairs, and possibly an instructor waiting for you to walk in.  You (the student) might walk in thinking, "this is going to be so lame and boring."  However, when you give the class a chance you might see that it is actually interesting and fun and more beneficial to you than you had ever imagined.  Since the archetecture of this campus is basically an urban landscape/the city, i think it the presumption there is that college life is going to be great!  One might think, "I'm going to school in the city and I'm going to get to party at all the cool bars in Chicago!"  When in actuality, you are spending most of your time on campus and the library writing papers, reading assignments and working on projects.  You don't have as much time as you'd thought to spend at shows at the Riv.  

It appears as though a commonsense decision made to arrange the classroom is the fact that it looks plain for a reason.  The instructors and college president wants the students to learn in college, not daydream and look at pretty artwork on the walls.  The instructor wants me and other students minds to be stimulated by what she/he is saying.  Wallpaper and signs would only distract me, personally.  I've also noticed that the lobbies of the campus buildings are quite plain as well.  They are usually inhabiting old buildings, therefore there is some old archetecture but also there is a simple sophistication to the entrances of the buildings.  There is not too much going on as far as decoration to give the campus buildings a classy feel or a feel of a place you would want your son/daughter to go to college. 

I think that these common areas and classrooms should be plain and simple.  Students are here to learn, so the students' focus needs to be on the subject at hand.  If there is artwork, or decorative wallpaper on the walls, or signs...this will only distract the students when they should only be focused on their work while they are here.  The plain simple feel also gives the campus buildings a sort of uniform feeling.  Of course every building is different, yet somehow you sort of know a Columbia College building when you see one.  The logos on the buildings help too.  This also gives the buildings a uniform feel.