UO Campus goes Modern: Jaqua Academic Center for Student Athletes

Wolfram Burner's Flickr Stream - Coffee Shop

Wolfram Burner's Flickr Stream

from my phone - can't wait to sit by the fire sipping my coffee this winter

In the July volume of Metropolis Magazine there was an article titled, "The House the Phil Knight Built."  The article is clearly not written by anyone who has actually spent much time in Oregon claiming that the only reason P-town can support it's fancy pricey eateries is because of Nike HQ! It also stated that Eugene is close to the Oregon Vortex and from a Eugene resident I don't know anyone that has actually ever visited the tourist attraction which is over an hour drive away. If this is reporting than I'd like to actually like to seem some facts rather than perceptions. Truly the article is best when it sticks to detailing the logistics of the building itself but even then it misses the mark. So here's my 2 cents. I, as you might expect, love the building. I've only been in the lobby and coffee shop and most recently the bathroom! Don't worry no TMI shots here - just sticking to the design elements. I'll include the bathroom shots in my next post about modern bathrooms. You can check out a John E. Jaqua Academic Center for Students Athletes Flickr stream here showing photos taken by photographer Wolfram Burner. It may have cost $1,100 per square foot but it is a beautiful building right at the entrance of campus and I'm glad that student athletes do have very nice surroundings where they can study and attend their required tutoring. My only wish is that all of our UO educational programs and buildings could be equally as beautiful, cutting edge, and green. Maybe the presence of this building on campus will help highlight the disparity between the darlings of Phil Knight and the academic programs that generally are plagued by architectural problems like thin walls and inadequate lighting. The College of Education has just celebrated a year in their new building and it is also a modern space but unlike the Jaqua Center it was funded by hundreds of people including community members, alumni, and current faculty and staff.