East Campus
From WikiCU, the Columbia University wiki encyclopedia
From WikiCU
East Campus (in common parlance, EC) is a large complex abutting Morningside Drive between 118th Street and Faculty House, although it only opens onto campus, facing the opposite direction. Much of the structure consists of Columbia's largest residence hall - and one of its most desirable. The rest is occupied by university offices and meeting spaces. A $28.7 million dollar facility, it was designed by Gwathmey Siegel & Associates architects and built from 1979 - 1982. It was completely renovated in 1991, and has received additional renovations in 1997, 2002, and 2004. Technically, the high-rise part of EC is called "Hudson Hall" after SEAS alumnus Percy K. Hudson, but nobody calls it that. This is probably because EC is the dorm the furthest from the Hudson River. EC is a large structure with multiple facilities, some containing their own exterior entrances, others hidden within the residence hall's security screen. The security-controlled entrance to the dormitory building and the Heyman Center is located on Ancel Plaza. Separate entrances to the Center for Career Education and the Facilities Management office are located in the bowels of the EC complex, next to Wien Hall and across from Faculty House.
[edit] History[edit] Early plans An earlier plan for East Campus (1965), by Harrison and Abramovitz architects, included twin concrete slab towers.[1] Along with the rest of the ambitious expansion plans of University President Grayson L. Kirk, it was scrapped in the wake of the 1968 protests against, among other things, a university gym proposed for nearby Morningside Park. When expansion finally did reach East Campus, by the late 1970s, the university was seeking a more humanist design, one which would both harmonize better with the surrounding campus and reflect, to some degree, the residential college quads of Oxford and Yale. [edit] Opening and responseWhen East Campus opened, students appreciated its expansive suite space, commanding views, and spacious townhouses, which were a relieving contrast to cramped conditions in much of the rest of the university's housing. Many of the outer townhouses were donated and built by famous Columbia University benefactors. The most notable of these is Thomas J. Watson, Jr. who donated the popular Watson House. Donor George Delacorte, for whom the building's central courtyard is formally named, said of his former room at the university "we had two nails on the wall for a closet...now I've paid for a dormitory where boys loll around in marble bathtubs." The bathrooms are not, however, actually marble, but imitate that material.[2] East Campus' original red and white tile cladding was praised as innovative by architectural critics. The American Institute of Architects' Guide to New York City called it "elegant and handsome". Despite such positive views, reception to the building was mixed overall. New York Times architecture critic Ada Louise Huxtable wrote of East Campus: "Consider a building that has to be vandal-proof, constructed of maintenance-free materials with every surface resistant to neglect and abuse, where violation of design and function must be an anticipated fact, along with defacement and petty thievery -- a place where surveillance is a necessity and population is transient. A description of a minimum security prison? Not at all. This is a dormitory for Columbia University... it is easy to see how an austerely simple aesthetic can be brought down to this dispiriting level..."[3] [edit] MurderOn October 10, 1985, a SEAS student, Sarah M. Thomas, was stabbed in her East Campus suite by an intruder, a man who had been signed in as a guest by another resident. It was one of a number of violent crimes in the Columbia dormitories during the 1980s..[4] [edit] ReconstructionAn inspection in 1987 revealed that the tiled exterior which had earned the building accolades had begun to peel off its facade, and a large chunk collapsed into its courtyard in February 1988, prompting the university to order its recladding, a $15 million project handled by the architects Gruzon Sampton Steinglass, in the campus' traditional red brick and limestone. In the course of the scandal, Columbia sued both Gwathmey Siegel and the engineering firm that had worked on the project.[5] [edit] Later historyIn 2006, a homophobic message written on a dry-erase board in East Campus was denounced as a hate crime, the sixth one alleged that year, and prompted the creation of the contrversial student group SHOCC. Until very recently, one floor of the EC high-rise was used as a small hotel for university guests. This has since been converted to student residences, in keeping with the rest of the building. [edit] Famous residentsEast Campus was home to US presidential adviser and television news personality George Stephanopoulos, and actors Matthew Fox, Julia Stiles and Rider Strong, all of whom lived in the Watson House townhouse. Controversial political cartoonist Ted Rall also lived in East Campus, but was kicked out after targeting pedestrians below his window with water balloons.[6] [edit] FacilitiesEast Campus has two main types of suites: townhouse suites and high-rise suites. Groups need at least 2 seniors (as well as 1 junior and 2 sophomores) to get an Exclusion Suite. Only some groups with only 1 senior are usually able to get these suites. Every suite has a kitchen and bathroom. [edit] Suites
[edit] Advantages
[edit] Disadvantages
[edit] ImagesThe high-rise suite is 1410, and the townhouse is 1003.
[edit] Floor plans
[edit] Tunnel/roof connections[edit] WienTake elevator to B3, but access is by key only and you won't get the key. Then there's the issue of the camera which is monitored at the front desk. [edit] RoofEC's roof is perhaps the best view on campus. Harlem? Check. Midtown? Check. Yankee Stadium? Check. Jersey? True connoisseurs know to climb the stairs and then the ladder to get to the very top of the utility room on the middle of the roof. Don't fall off. Take the elevator to 20. If you take the south staircase, look out for the camera (wear a hoodie?) and hope for the door to be propped open. If it's closed, just be aware that setting off a fire alarm is a crime, and FDNY will be mad at you, because they will come. If you take the north staircase, you'll find another fire door, with an interesting keypad contraption. Enter the appropriate code, and the door will open without setting off the fire alarm. It will, however, alert security that the door has been opened. Security's response time is unimpressive, but this method does not lend itself to a nice leisurely visit. If the door's propped, just cover your face on the way up and you should be fine. If it isn't, then be brief. Consider the security response time from Low Library to EC 20, and budget your time accordingly. [edit] References
[edit] Map[edit] Building address70 Morningside Dr. [edit] External Links |
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