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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 26, 2001)
Arts ___ Daily Nebraskan Monday, February 26,2001 Page —^-- -—— Architecture Hall Series shows pains and gains of architecture In the next three days, the Daily Nebraskan's Arts section will feature three stories con - cerning the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s architec ture program. The program is considered one of UNL’s finest, and the work put in by the students, fac ulty and administration is wor thy of news coverage. The first story of the series will cover the lives of third-year architecture students, high lighting the extensive hours of work they put in and how they manage their daily lives. The second day of the series will shed light on the program itself with comments from the dean of the architecture college, Wayne Drummond, and other faculty. The third story will focus on the lives of fifth- and sixth-year students, expanding on cover age from the first day. Our goal is that by the end of the series, the student popula tion will have a strong image of the college and all of the func tions and aspects that compose iL-Chris Jacobs « For someone unfamiliar with UNL’s Architecture Hall, its endless hallways and hidden compartments can be somewhat intimidating. If you enter the building at its main entrance, you must first climb a set of stairs, proceed through a corridor and enter “the link.” Then you cut across the link, walk toward the departmental office, turn right and continue until you find a small staircase leading down into the pit of the'building where law books once found their homes on shelves. This is the maze that University of Nebraska Lincoln third-year architecture students run through everyday, and the route has become a nor mal routine because, quite honestly, this is their home. i When you walk down the staircase, you feel like you're trespassing. "How could anybody be down here?” you ask yourself, ducking down to avoid smacking your head on one of the stairs you've walked down. The space is tight. The light is dim. After stepping through one of the doorways, you can either go right or left; both will lead you to their home, where they can b4 found buzzing away on their projects. Their home - and workplace - is a dream for anyone tired of the “living under my parents roof” philosophy. Each students has his or her own com partment, about 30 in all, not necessarily defined by physical boundaries but according to personal ity. The students are all provided with a desk, and they have all brought in further accessories - com puters, lamps, cabinets, shelves, drawing tools. Some spaces are clean. Some “During the week, you are difty- But don't really have a common theme. private life. Once in a Every student while, you’ve got to p3do"dun! devote a weekend geon has made night here or there. 1^13“ So Saturdays and ing to their own Sundays aren *t really standards, . . , . because they lounging around time, spend more time there than Eddie Piatt they do at their UNL architecture student respective - places of resi dence. But the environment is very amiable and quickly grows on you. After spending several hours there, you begin to feel comfortable with the debris on the floor, the bright fluorescent lights that make you feel like you're melting because the ceiling is so low, and the fatigued sighs coming from all comers of the room the night before a project is due. Three times a week, the third year students meet with their professor, Tom Laging, for studio class in the old College of Law stacks. Professor Laging goes down there to survey the students’ progress and critique their work. It’s like having class at home. The students complete drawings, make’models and finish the majority of their studies in these cubbyholes. It’s a great place to get things done, and you can tell that each student, despite being high-strung, actually enjoys the position he or she is in. This isn’t slavery. This is just plav mixed with a They chat. There is no o work just ) long. They arm a well ire student, ABOVE: Third year architec ture student Scott Swanson nods off during early morning work on one of hb projects. Architecture students basi cally live inthei studios, spend ing days and nights working on their proj ects. RIGHT: Classmates Eddie Piatt (left and Ben Squire: take a cigarette break on the fin escape outside Architecture Hall. Piattsaid taking breaks b a necessity because it help: him relax and get his brain recharged. Billy Price, a third year architecture student, works under the fluorescent lights of his studio at Architecture Hall. Students said they feel like their melting under the fluorescent lights in the low ceiling. said he averaged one to two hours of sleep during the week before projects were due. Therefore, he spends most of his time in studio, the technical name for the space described above. “We wouldn’t be doing it if we didn’t like it so much,” said Piatt, referring to the amount of time he spends at Architecture Hall. But it’s not only important to understand that each student can spend as many as 100 hours a week in this place during project time. You must understand the character or specifically the changes in character of these students. They don’t sleep. They don’t have big private lives, and they don’t even have a guarantee of suc cess for the time they put into their work. Said Piatt: “During the week, you don’t really have a private life. Once in a while, you’ve got to devote a weekend night here or there. So Saturdays and Sundays aren’t really lounging around time. “Not to sound cheesy or anything, but it’s . almost like we’re a family here.” Billy Price, another third-year architecture stu dent in the same studio as Piatt, agreed. “You have friends outside of Architecture Hall, but you spend so much time with these people that they become your really good friends,” he said. “But you find a balance of the two. Every now and then, you’ve got to sneak off and spend some time just hanging out with your friends.” Price said his studio group still found time to hang out outside of the college. “We throw parties at the end of our projects, and everybody comes and gets... has a really good time,” he said. Melissa Martinez, a third-year interior design major, said the college offered her a place of belonging. “It’s like high school all over again,” she said. “You have your brothers. You have your sis ters. It's like a fraternity or sorority within itself. We go out. We do stuff together. When we go out, it’s like we’re going out together. Everyone’s different, but they’re all your roommates.” Martinez agreed, however, that the lifestyle did affect her life outside the college. “My family thinks I’m psycho,” she said. "Our friends think we’re Please see SLEEP on 7 Ben Squires takes a break from his work to play darts in the third-year architecture studio. Third-year students have an assortmen of ways to break up work time, from playing darts to watching DVD movies on their laptop computers. Story by Chris Jacobs Photos by Derek Lippincott