Campus Voices
Upper School
Louis Sullivan, the great Chicago architect, once wrote that "form ever follows function" and his words ring so true to me this month with the opening of the Upper School academic year amid the splendors of the new building to whose construction so many contributed so generously.
It is a wonderful addition, one that will make a special contribution to the sense of community we are building at BB&N. This is particularly true because student and faculty input and suggestions are everywhere: from David Seliger's stairway to the internet cafe to the redesigned commons area to the smallest detail, perhaps the backrests for students to lean against when they're studying by the windows. Everything says to our students and faculty: "You're the heart and soul of the school, we've built something designed to be comfortable for you, a space that says education should be purposeful—but it can also be fun at the same time."
We had our opening assembly last week on the green commons area that the new building surrounds. One comment that I heard repeated many times was, "This is so cool." My sentiments exactly. The essential greatness of the school will remain the passionate interchange between students and teacher, but that discourse is so enhanced by our new space. At that assembly, Ms. Upham announced the naming contest and invited student contributions to it. The only rule, she said, was that it could not be named for a person in keeping with the wishes of the anonymous donor who provided a key challenge gift at the beginning of the capital campaign. This is also probably a wise restriction given the number of friends who deserve to be thanked for this great addition to the school.
I don't know what we're going to call the new building, but I do know one thing: schools exist as places where students and faculty learn together in an atmosphere of mutual respect. Louis Sullivan would be proud of what the BB&N community has accomplished.
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