This picture is of Circle Dance, a statue consisting of eleven life-sized human figures made out of aluminum turkey roasting pans that are holding hands and dancing in a circle. It is located on the south side of The Walk green space that connects Pembroke campus to the main campus of Brown University. The artist, Tom Friedman, based this sculpture of Henri Matisse’s painting, La Danse.
Blog posts by the students of Claudia Moser’s class ARCH 1764: 25 Things! 250 Years of Brown’s Material Past.
SPEAK TO THE PAST AND IT SHALL TEACH THEE.The inscription is the self-proclaimed motto of the JCB Library and is a variation of a passage from the Book of Job, Chapter Twelve, Verse Eight. This statement influences our experience and recordings of historical events and artifacts. Furthermore, the statement demands that we engage in a dialogue with these artifacts, elevating the ideas of agency and material culture to the upmost importance.
Blog posts by the students of Claudia Moser’s class ARCH 1764: 25 Things! 250 Years of Brown’s Material Past.
The cars parked outside of Andrews Hall have changed drastically since this photograph was taken in 1947, but the facade has remained largely as it was when it was first built as part of Pembroke College. Now a revitalized focal point for social life at Brown, the residence hall has acted as a medium for political and social expression through the decades. Its biography reflects the social history of the students it houses every year.
Blog posts by the students of Claudia Moser’s class ARCH 1764: 25 Things! 250 Years of Brown’s Material Past.
BlogDailyHerald, the younger and quirkier sibling of The Brown Daily Herald, acts as an object with its own agency, helping to determine how the image of Brown is viewed by students and outsiders. BlogDailyHerald’s posts inform students of everything from course selection to free food events. BlogDailyHerald is a daily staple in many students’ lives and has acted as an unconventional and edgy record of Brown’s recent history. The popularity of BlogDailyHerald represents a shift from print to online news as technology burgeons on college campuses.
Blog posts by the students of Claudia Moser’s class ARCH 1764: 25 Things! 250 Years of Brown’s Material Past.
“All such places—those that we can see in one sweep of the eye or traverse with our moving legs—anchor and locate even as they also resist and repel. More than this: they lend to their inhabitants (that is, people, and animals and things of many kinds) their own distinctive identities. Only ask where you are or have been, and I will be able to say much about who you are” (Casey 1998, 44).
Blog posts by the students of Claudia Moser’s class ARCH 1764: 25 Things! 250 Years of Brown’s Material Past.
I am writing my final paper on the Maddock Alumni Walkway. The walkway contains bricks with names and class years of Brown alumni. I am interested in exploring how perspectives on the walkway have changed over time, as well as how the fact that bricks must be purchased affects the aura and agency of the object.
Blog posts by the students of Claudia Moser’s class ARCH 1764: 25 Things! 250 Years of Brown’s Material Past.
The house has to be considered as an individual, as a dynamic entity whose every month of life is significant for the men and women who act in and around it.” (Ruth Tringham).
Brown University’s Third World Center, or Partridge Hall was originally owned by Henry T. Beckwith, a descendent of the Brown family and the Dexter Family. Its architect was Alpheus C. Morse, the architect of Sayles Hall.
Blog posts by the students of Claudia Moser’s class ARCH 1764: 25 Things! 250 Years of Brown’s Material Past.
Sayles Hall, built in 1881, is home to one of Brown’s most extensive and historic portrait collection. My final project will explore the history, significance and presentation of this portrait collection and aims to give students a new appreciation of a treasure trove of Brown University history they walk past every day.
Blog post by the students of Claudia Moser’s class ARCH 1764: 25 Things! 250 Years of Brown’s Material Past.
The Perry and Marty Granoff Center for Creative Arts is an example of Brown’s continuing push to integrate sustainable design into the campus’ overall push for recognizing, holistically, the need to consider our campus as part of the larger ecosystem. The building, which achieved a Gold Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) Certification, includes features that not only diminish energy use and utilizes green design but operates on the enhancement of the experiential use of building. The environment impact of buildings cannot be understated as they were recently measured to account for over 50% of energy consumption in the United States.
Blog posts by the students of Claudia Moser’s class ARCH 1764: 25 Things! 250 Years of Brown’s Material Past.
During my time at Brown I have heard that the mysterious tunnels below our campus were used to smuggle slaves. I have been told rumors that they were also used to smuggle bootlegged booze during the prohibition period by members of organized crime operations. Furthermore, I have read that they were created in the event of a nuclear attack. Is any of this true? I plan to find out.
Blog post by the students of Claudia Moser’s class ARCH 1764: 25 Things! 250 Years of Brown’s Material Past.
