Blog Post - Intention and Function at UNCG

During our tour of campus on Friday I was struck by the "ugly circles" identified by the instructor. I understand the elements of design and the intentionality that designers are charged with in negotiating those elements. The symmetry and balance of the academic buildings placed along College Avenue, for the most part, follow clearly defined principles of "good" design. But I struggled with the "ugly circles" embedded in the stonework intermittently placed along the College Avenue promenade.

I see the axes on which many of these circles are placed and when I think about the infinite number of axes possible within a circle I wonder if a more nuanced explanation may be applied.

Outside of the residence hall entrances, regardless of any structure in opposition to the hall, there are these "ugly circles". So, as a student I walk out of my hall and land on one of these stonework circles. For me these circles symbolize the infinite number of directions I can take without being slowed down by a more perpendicular intersection. Symbolically, I would want to have as many options to me as possible.

It is like round-abouts in vehicular traffic: some assume that they are more dangerous, or "ugly" but it turns out in practice they are a safer, and more efficient, design for intersections and there are a multitude of axes from which one can enter or exit a traffic circle. (Merry-go-round. (2007). Economist, 384(8541), 24. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.) Ultimately, "ugly circles", to me, are about choice and opportunity in form and function.

This idea applied to an identified beautiful circle on campus might enlighten my discussion. Let's use the circular, neo-classical entrance to the Jackson Library:

http://libphoto1.uncg.edu/netpub/server.np?find&catalog=catalog&template=detail.np&field=itemid&op=matches&value=683&site=UR_Public

It clearly marks the entrance to the library and the columns support the upper roof of the entranceway so it is rather commodious. Made of stone, marble, and concrete it has stood steadfast over the decades and fits a reasonable definition of firmness. Of course, it is aesthetically pleasing; the columns bring your eyes upward and it is a beautiful entrance for the setting and in concert with the surrounding  buildings. But, going back to the axes on which the existing pathways that lead to and from the library I think the matter of commodity needs to be revisited.

You can see how, out of practice, students and campus visitors have circumvented the intentionally designed form of the pathways to create their own. Out of use and necessity a new, and yet still circular in nature, form has been superimposed on the space demonstrating its limited commodity and detracting from it's inherent delight.


So, I say, don't underestimate a lowly ugly stonework circle on campus. They are there to remind students that they can go in any direction they choose so that when the intention of the designers doesn't connect to the needs of the users they are ready to literally blaze their own trail (while also figuratively doing the same as they pursue their individual futures).


These circles made of paving stones may have use beyond their durable material by contributing to fundamental ideas of learning - students can go anywhere but they must take that first step in the "right" direction. For me they are sacred reminders of education and the opportunities that choice can bring.