Comments on: Space and Creativity

By: Ronald Liebowitz

Ronald Liebowitz — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 12:16:12 +0000

Thank you, Chris. I will look for the Brand book today.

Ron

By: Chris Hassig

Chris Hassig — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 22:31:01 +0000

Thanks for your very perceptive column in the magazine–you’ve honed in on an important weakness in our campus spaces. Some suggested reading: “How Buildings Learn” by Stewart Brand (it can be found at the main library).

One particular section of Brand’s book talks about the importance of “low road” buildings in fostering creativity and enterprise. He argues that in older, cheaper, and/or humble buildings the perceived low value of the space frees its occupants to get messy, make improvements, even move walls etc. without fear of ruining anything. It seems to hold true at Middlebury–some of our most marginal spaces are also the most vital (e.g. Old Stone Mill, Hepburn Zoo, Gamut Room, Coltrane).

I think you’ve reached a similar insight with your column and applaud your search for more informal spaces around campus to be put to creative use. Keep up the good work!

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 15:09:45 +0000

Hi Ron,

I can definitely think of a variety of options that would work for several creative intentions. If you would like to sit down for a few minutes to discuss this, I would be happy to share some of my ideas and those that I’ve marshaled from my friends. My email is jbmartin@midd if you’re interested.

Best wishes,
Jeremy

By: Ronald Liebowitz

Ronald Liebowitz — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 17:22:54 +0000

Jeremy: can you think of facilities on campus and suggest how we might do this—Freeman International? old houses that abutt the campus that now serve as apartments but might be converted? We did this on Adirondack View with the “annex” and it has been successful, but where else might you suggest?

Would spaces in McCullough work in your view? Thanks for the input.
Ron

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 16:15:27 +0000

The Old Stone Mill has terrific facilities for creative development. Oddly, it’s one of the more poorly advertised and lesser known places since it’s location is off-campus. If the college could replicate and simulate the environment of OSM elsewhere on campus (cheaply of course), I guarantee that these innovative cells would soon metastasize and make Midd a more sought after liberal arts school.

By: JP Allen

JP Allen — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:59:44 +0000

I’m not an alum yet, but I wandered to this post from the one about 51 Main and thought I’d make a comment.

I can’t say much about music or drawing, but I can and must say I’ve been very impressed with Middlebury’s theater facilities, especially the Hepburn Zoo. The Zoo is invaluable. It’s versatile, student-controlled, and it always contains a “buzz.” Its main drawback is that the theater is too small to fit the enthusiastic audiences that crowd in for almost every show. I wish Wright and Seeler were as frequented as the Zoo.

I also wish Hillcrest were open more. It’s Middlebury’s environmental showboat, a really excellent place for thinking, and yet it seems to be closed after 5:00 most days.

Art and music seem flatter than theater at Middlebury, in part because very little of either is seen in the daily lives of most students. McCullough’s Center Gallery was a great step forward in this sense, as were the numerous public art projects that sprang up during the spring semester (i.e. Bikes, Recycled). I would ask Alex Benepe, the most talented guy on campus for getting strange art into people’s lives, for some advice.

By: Molley Kaiyoorawongs

Molley Kaiyoorawongs — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:52:32 +0000

Just graduated last year and one of my most enduring memories of Middlebury is of the frustration from having no practice room to practice in during the day and evening and being locked out the CFA at night– way before it was supposed to be locked. It closes at 1 o’clock am but public safety regularly closes it by 11:30, 12 on weeknights and even earlier on weekends (they say it’s so they can be available for mayhem later in the night). On one memorable occasion, I trekked over at 9pm on a Saturday and, you guessed it, it was locked. I called to have it unlocked sometimes if I really wanted to go in, but I’d wait outside in the cold for a while and then get questioned about why I wanted to go in. It’s a significant deterrent. A couple of times I forgot my cell phone so then I really was locked out and the trek down from Ross or Gifford was for naught. I was excited to return from abroad and see that extra practice rooms had been added in Wright and the music studio. The thing is that Wright is always locked too.
And no matter where you practice, you never know if you’re going to have a productive practicing session depending on who’s playing in the practice room next to you since none of the practice rooms anywhere are sound proof.

Mead Chapel’s still great though, just like it was for the alum quoted in this post. Too bad there’s only 1 of them.