my college campus

I've designed a COLLEGE CAMPUS its like a miniature vertical city.
"i hate those" says molly "we stayed in one in italy and the only way to get to our hotel was up this really long staircase."
"my college campus has elevators." i tell her "through the middle of the hill... and a trolly that winds continually up and down the whole things, all day long."

THE DORMS are like apartments. they are above the academic buildings and the student center and the cafeteria and other food places... like a city with everyone living on top of the business'.
THE STREETS are winding and narrow, there are no cars.
there are parks and town squares and other things that belong in cities because it will be like miniature city.
there is a PARKING LOT at the bottom of the city but anyone wanting to enter has to park their car and take the trolly up or walk...
there are staircases and streets that lead through buildings, under archways, around corners,
there are ROOFWAYS, mirroring the walkways below.


there are steps that lead up from the street to the roof and, like THE HIGH LINE in nyc, there are things up there- vendors and grass and whatever else springs up to temp and make money off the students...
there are storefronts that are available to the students the way dorms are.
Just like, here at purchase, you have to write an essay or have a certain GPA to be eligiable to live in a campus apartment, in my vertical city college you will write an essay or apply for a storefront.
youll write a proposal to the staff and describe your idea:
"id like to have a thrift store that is free," you'll write. "when you walk in youll bring in items to donate and somoene will give you a ticket that says how much you've donated, it will be worth a certain amount of store dollars and then you can buy things that are worth that much. if you dont donate anything you have to pay."
if they like your ideayou get that storefront for the year and if your business flourishes you can reaply the next year or pass on the idea to another student when you graduate.

there will be lots and lots of these student stores and that will be a huge attraction of outsiders coming to the college.
it will be like a city...
A city that closes its gates to the outside world at 1am.
and then only the students remain, wandering the streets, doing thier homework by the fountains in the parks.
workstudy will unclude all positions that a city requires to stay afloat.
randomly, selected by raffle, the students will work in the cafeteria or in the administration office or as a street sweeper or janitor.
if you dont do your job you dont get your work study so every task gets done.

there will also be a crew of students in charge of the general beautification of the city.
they will decide which spontanious graffiti stays and which is altered or covered.
the beautification crew will be in charge of holiday decorations and everyday decorations.
there are many spontanious holidays at the school. holidays that spring up because one day in may the beautification crew decided to fill a thousand water balloons with water color paint (Which washed away) and hurl them all over the city and drop them from the roofs and throw them at eachother and when the rest of the school saw what was going on the beautification crew was ready with wagon loads of loaded balloons which they quickly supplied the rest of the students with and then for a few weeks- until it rained- they city was multicolored... (i beielive theres a holiday in india with a similar intention?)

the beautification crew are architecture, art and philosophy majors and they bring beauty and "meaning" to all their activities.

there are outdoor movie showing the parks, huge projectors.

there are parties in the streets under white lights strung over the narrow allys from building to building.
every building is individual.
none of them match.

some of the faculty live on campus with thier families... theres a daycare on campus where the students work...
theres a movie theater showing only the most carefully selected movies (Selected by the film students)
there are bookstores and cafes and... clothing stores all student run. some selling original products..
and the whole campus is overlooking the ocean which is at the bottom of the city's cliff... and the trolly stops at the beach.