A midwinter exploration in the aesthetics of UB

While UB consistently may seem to be a cold, gray, detached environment this time of year, one means of distraction from the midwinter doldrums is looking past the weather and observing landmarks and structures students pass unconsciously everyday.

Upon arrival at Lee Loop, it is hard to miss The Commons clock tower, which rises in greeting, standing guard between the green-roofed commons and the university bookstore.

Reminiscent to the clock on top of Hayes Hall on South Campus, the tower was added when the Commons was constructed in the 1980s. The clock is even complete with an electronic version of bells, even though today they remain silent.

"It was in the interest of the students," said Kevin Thompson, director of Facilities Planning and Design, "because they missed the bells tolling on the North Campus."

Continuing on toward the Center for the Arts, the distinctive and pristine white columns of Baird Point solitarily stand along the frozen edge of man-made Lake LaSalle.

Baird Point was a gift to UB from the Cameron Baird Foundation. The white columns were once a part of the Federal Reserve Bank in Buffalo and upon destruction of the structure, they were donated to be dedicated as a memorial to servicemen and servicewomen in 1978.

"The Federal Reserve Bank in downtown Buffalo was demolished and the pieces were donated to UB," said Thompson.

Traveling between the Center for the Arts and Alumni Arena, it is hard to miss the concrete and bronze relief sculpture. Depicting athletes engaged in Olympic sports, this bas-relief consists of three panels totaling 60 feet.

The original sculptures graced the walls in the gymnasium in South Campus' Clark Hall from 1938 until removed in 1993 for restoration. Restored and cast in bronze by students and faculty in the art department, the sculpture was fully assembled over the summer of 2004.

Pleasing to look at, these structures serve a greater purpose than as simple landmarks found on a map; these structures and art forms all contribute to representations of the essence of UB.

Michael Cacchione, a freshman mechanical engineering major, explained how a structure is a multifaceted entity

"It can be artistic, such as the clock piece for example, in terms of the aesthetics, Cacchione said. "It can look nice, but the tower itself serves a function."

Whether the structure served overt purposes such as telling time, the culmination of UB's landmarks have cultivated broader principles and viewpoints.

"The combination of these different structural elements represent a unity and diversity the university is constantly striving to achieve," said Scott Siegel, a junior political science major.

The connections between the past and the present, the link to the future, even the ties to both campuses, are aspects reinforced by these structural elements.

"It reminds you how everything started here," said Daniel Marc, a junior business major. "If we didn't have these structures, it wouldn't be the University at Buffalo. It would be a whole different campus."