2008 Woodie Awards
Forum reaffirms Commons' future
Brian Fung
Issue date: 12/7/06 Section: News
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College officials granted the public a brief first glimpse of Middlebury's new Master Plan at an open forum last Thursday. The plan revealed includes an ambitious list of proposals - everything from the closure of Old Chapel road to the future demolition of Battell Hall.
Led by a presentation from landscape analysts Michael Dennis and Jose Almiñana, the forum showcased a number of potential paths for development of the College's Commons and fine arts program, as well as automobile and pedestrian accessibility over the next 50 years.
Acknowledging the dramatic restructuring effort that would be required to achieve its goals, Dennis, of the Boston-based planning firm Michael Dennis & Associates, stressed that the process would be both exhaustive and resource-consuming but would eventually pay off.
"Plans that call for 'five new buildings in the next five years' are generally obsolete after the first two," said Dennis. "But we think we have a plan that's functional and unique."
Fostering Community
The new Master Plan, which is slated for final evaluation and approval by the Board of Trustees next August, aims to extend the Commons to the entire campus by making each Commons more geographically contiguous. Dennis cited Ross and Atwater Commons as models for an ideal Commons-based College, while denying concerns that such a move would divide the student body.
"The Commons nurtures college life in smaller communities," said Dennis.
Dennis and Almiñana, a consultant from Philadelphia landscape architecture firm Andropogon Associates, began by working on housing and public space simultaneously, focusing on the improvement of senior housing, drawing student residence facilities in town closer to campus and arranging the campus into general neighborhoods.
The key to a more viable Commons system, according to Dennis, lies in a clearer definition of "an identifiable exterior space." Dennis cited cases from a number of other institutions that effectively use what space is available to them. Historic Harvard Yard and numerous quads at Princeton University, though small, form courtyards that cultivate a sense of identity. By contrast, Brainerd and Wonnacott Commons are particularly spread out with little in the way of similar public spaces. As such, the two Commons would see the most change under a restructured campus.
Led by a presentation from landscape analysts Michael Dennis and Jose Almiñana, the forum showcased a number of potential paths for development of the College's Commons and fine arts program, as well as automobile and pedestrian accessibility over the next 50 years.
Acknowledging the dramatic restructuring effort that would be required to achieve its goals, Dennis, of the Boston-based planning firm Michael Dennis & Associates, stressed that the process would be both exhaustive and resource-consuming but would eventually pay off.
"Plans that call for 'five new buildings in the next five years' are generally obsolete after the first two," said Dennis. "But we think we have a plan that's functional and unique."
Fostering Community
The new Master Plan, which is slated for final evaluation and approval by the Board of Trustees next August, aims to extend the Commons to the entire campus by making each Commons more geographically contiguous. Dennis cited Ross and Atwater Commons as models for an ideal Commons-based College, while denying concerns that such a move would divide the student body.
"The Commons nurtures college life in smaller communities," said Dennis.
Dennis and Almiñana, a consultant from Philadelphia landscape architecture firm Andropogon Associates, began by working on housing and public space simultaneously, focusing on the improvement of senior housing, drawing student residence facilities in town closer to campus and arranging the campus into general neighborhoods.
The key to a more viable Commons system, according to Dennis, lies in a clearer definition of "an identifiable exterior space." Dennis cited cases from a number of other institutions that effectively use what space is available to them. Historic Harvard Yard and numerous quads at Princeton University, though small, form courtyards that cultivate a sense of identity. By contrast, Brainerd and Wonnacott Commons are particularly spread out with little in the way of similar public spaces. As such, the two Commons would see the most change under a restructured campus.
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