U of M campus named one of the ugliest in the nation

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Swear to God, there is a secret room of men in suits somewhere saying, "Time to squash MN back into oblivion. They've been enjoying too much positive news in football and basketball of late."

And no, I really don't think that.
 

Of course Panthertwat has already tweeted this story to a bunch of recruits, I doubt most of them even click on the links he sends them.
 

I read this a few days ago and found it ridiculous.
 


Thanks for posting this, I tweeted it, and of course, just about everyone disagreed.

I think Yudof did a great job with his whole "beautify the U" or whatever campaign he had - we're no UVA, but our campus is pretty.
 

That may be the dumbest article in the history of this board.

Toledo is more beautiful?
 

The CBS story that I read was a response to the Travel and Leisure article. It is basically just quotes from people who disagree.

I thought that there would be some type of reasoning towards why they would state it was ugly, but I saw nothing backing up their non-sense.

I just visited the Campus last month with my wife. We reside in Beijing, and since we got back, she can't stop talking about the beauty of the campus, and she is looking at applying for gradschool at Carlson.

Hope to be back soon!


Sent from my PLAYSTATION PHONE using tapatalk
 

They obviously just visited the West Bank. How can you walk through the East Bank and St Paul campuses and write that?
 



Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but I don't think you will find many who agree that the U is ugly. I've always loved the campus and believe it to be a recruiting asset.
 

That is just absurd. As an outsider the first time my wife and I came up to the campus we thought it was very pretty, clean, and had great architecture.
 

Meh...I've been to a lot of campuses and the U isn't at the top of my list of prettiest places. Saying it is one of Amercica's ugliest is way out of bounds tho. Almost worthy of another rant about much I hate journalism and reporters and the laziness that has taken over.
 

Their criteria is basically "any campus with mid-20th century architecture." People claiming it's ugly because it's urban, doesn't have a lot of open/green space, etc clearly haven't been to Paris or other wonderful urban environments. The U of M is across the river from a thriving major downtown and surrounded by urban development. Beyond that, areas like the river flats (both sides), the Mall, the Knoll, and the entire St Paul campus are all quite beautiful. And the view of downtown Mpls from 1) 15th/4th St corner and 2) the silver ped bridges over Washington can't be beat. Throw in some gorgeous buildings from the early 1900s (Pillsbury, Eddy, Northrop, the Armory, Nicholson, Jones, Burton, Scott, etc) and you've got a very nice campus.
 



this ranking is garbage. Although they did get illinois institute of Tech right. (getting my masters there makes me long for days in the mall...:( )
 

...well...our socialist state has produced some Soviet style buildings... :p
 


RailBaronYarr said:
Their criteria is basically "any campus with mid-20th century architecture." People claiming it's ugly because it's urban, doesn't have a lot of open/green space, etc clearly haven't been to Paris or other wonderful urban environments. The U of M is across the river from a thriving major downtown and surrounded by urban development. Beyond that, areas like the river flats (both sides), the Mall, the Knoll, and the entire St Paul campus are all quite beautiful. And the view of downtown Mpls from 1) 15th/4th St corner and 2) the silver ped bridges over Washington can't be beat. Throw in some gorgeous buildings from the early 1900s (Pillsbury, Eddy, Northrop, the Armory, Nicholson, Jones, Burton, Scott, etc) and you've got a very nice campus.
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Dude, +1, you nailed everything that I would've discribed that make our campus great! Northrop and Pillsbury were always my two of favorite buildings on campus! Well done Rail!
 

Yeah, that's total bs. I would certainly not put us anywhere near the top in the nation for prettiest campuses, but it is nice, in a very unique way.

One thing this makes me think about that I figured some on here might find interesting, and I don't know how many might already be aware of, is the original design for the mall. I believe it was originally conceived as something like this: http://www.cassgilbertsociety.org/images/works/m/umn-mpls-campus-plan.jpg

Obviously not the best picture, but imagine how cool that could look! Basically no Coffmann, with a clear view from Northrop down the hill all the way to the Mississippi, and the large staircases cascading down the hill, beautiful old buildings lining the whole way. I have to admit, that would put our mall right up with the best in the naiton, and I think it's already pretty cool as it is.
 

While I love Coffman, one of the most unfortunate parts of campus is that it does indeed turn its back on the river. Lots of great buildings to look at (if you like Gehry, the Weisman is there, Coffman is cool, etc). And the river flats are very peaceful - great for sporting, a jog, or just reading while on the steps behind Coffman. But the parking ramps and larger institutional buildings (hospital stuff) that separates campus from the river is a bummer. You have to go out of your way to get there. By contrast, Wisconsin's student union (the main one, not the newer POS by the stadium) sits right on the big patio against the lake, with multiple buildings also fronting it. I'd give up the green space in a heartbeat if we had the atmosphere UW does along the waterfront in the fall/spring. Imagine if Gilbert's plan was mostly implemented with 4-5 buildings (including dorms) built down on the river banks with great walking paths and patios separating them from the water? Would be awesome.

That said, not a fan of what that northern bridge would mean for car traffic cutting between Northrop and the Mall. One of my favorite things about the UMN East Bank is that it has Washington and 4th/University on the N/S boundaries, but everything in-between is more or less pedestrian zone. Where there are streets, people feel comfortable walking in them. It's quiet. The ped mall on Washington will help this even more.
 

I actually think there is a lot of unique architecture on campus and that is one of things I tell people I love about the campus so much. So I'm not really sure how they can say all the buildings look the same.
 

I have been to so many campuses....this is ridiculous. I have always thought of the U as having a beautiful campus. They must have confused it with somewhere else...
 

CoMn said:
I have been to so many campuses....this is ridiculous. I have always thought of the U as having a beautiful campus. They must have confused it with somewhere else...
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Crookston, maybe?! :rolleyes:
 

The article on twincities.com says one of the reasons is "With more than 30,000 undergrads all on one campus, the University of Minnesota is one of the most populous in the country try. It's simply too big."
 


They probably only saw the Weisman, a pretentious, ugly piece of crap. It looks like a blown up version of something you'd find on a metal shop floor.
 

According to another source, Minnesota ranks as the 50th most beautiful campus. 50th isn't bad at all, considering there are thousands of college campuses around the country. It's a big campus, so if you're determined to look for something ugly, I suppose you'll find it. Love it or loathe it, the Weisman Art Museum is unique and adds some character. The Armory is quite nice, as is the Bell Museum of Natural History right across the street.

http://www.thebestcolleges.org/most-beautiful-campuses/
 

I don't know why my comment was deleted about the Barn, but I will say it again...

They obviously didn't play a BB game at one of the greatest venues in all of College Basketball.. The Barn.
 


Parski must have been on campus when they visited.:cool02:
 

I travel to college campuses around the country for my work. There are a ton of great ones, including one we visited last week - Northwestern. I like the UMN's campus - it's buildings are similar to what you see in Ann Arbor: Big, columns, in some cases, historic. It's all so subjective.

BTW - I do like Toledo's campus. Cool, stone buildings, most all in one big square around a commons area. And their football stadium looks cool from the outside as well. Random that anybody else on here would be familiar with it.
 

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