The proposed Molecular and Life Sciences Building looks exactly like the Narkomfin Communal House in Moscow, built in 1928 by Moisei Ginzburg and Ignaty Milinis.
Seriously, look it up.
What is a building that looks like this doing at Wesleyan, especially when it’s going to replace Shanklin, the “most baller of all science buildings?” Hopefully there is a good reason for its homeliness, like that it’s environmentally friendly, or else it sucks. An informal poll conducted in Olin Library of about 15 students had the following results: everyone thinks it’s going to be ugly. Some respondents included write-in comments such as “it looks like shit on a stick,” and “this school fucking sucks at architecture.”
Maybe Wesleyan does need a new facility to replace Shanklin and Hall-Atwater. But does it have to look like a Soviet boarding house? Besides, any building that takes its design cues from the Butts is bound to be flawed. Wesleyan, if you are going to invest in this, clad it in marble and alabaster.
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