Transitioning to our NEW home

The Science and Engineering buildings look modern but at the same time very old. It truly holds its own unique history for the UIC campus.

Transitioning to our NEW home

            Eager and tired, I wake up for my 8:00 lecture wondering why I picked such a time for class, but more importantly why I picked a lecture at SES. SES stands for Science and Engineering Building and it is one of the farthest buildings for students to walk to in campus. Knowing I have a long distance to walk, it gives me more of a reason to ponder this building or in general this area. Just before the SES building stands a giant tunnel-like building that looks as if it would eat you if you entered it.

 This unique building is called the SEL building, or the Science and Engineering labs, from which most students never return. Though this may sound completely ridiculous, it is somewhat true. The first experience of having a four-hour lab only brings dark circles under my eyes. Though the building may look very run down, as you walk in it brings a sense of history. The science and engineering section of the campus looks very 

plain  

 but the history really stands out in the area.

The bare walls and solid doors do not seem at all inviting.

The SEL building was created in the mid-1960s. Walking inside the steel doors the plain white walls do nothing to attract my attention. As I walk up a flight of grimy black stairs, only another floor that is reminiscent of every other floor in the building is seen.

          

          Originally when UIC was built, the buildings were built in phases. The core buildings were first built around eighteen months. The second and third phases were then built between 1965 and 1969. The interesting aspect about the SEL and SES building is that the theories behind their designs were different from the usual designs from the other buildings. Using the "field theory", Nestch the architect uniquely built the Science and Engineering South buildings as well as the Behavioral Sciences buildings making the classrooms and lecture halls more . Many engineering professors said, "The building was very harsh and alienating to the students, which is why we only had about 18,000 students attend in the early years". Walking into the "fortress" I was very intimidated by the outer appearance of the solemn brick walls. The inside of the building was equally as depressing as it portrayed not an ounce of excitement to the building. Although the experience was less likely to be an exciting one, the building still captured a great degree of history. Walking into the building I could just tell that the history of UIC was present in the building. Walking into one of the original six buildings was already a remarkable moment in my life. The building provides so much insight of the past just by its appearance.

            I stated before that this specific area of the campus is really amazing to experience due to the fact of the historical difference. The SES building just nearby the SEL building has similar appearance, but once inside the difference is of no surprise. The building was created in the late 1960s so it was built years after the SEL building. The historical gap between the two is expressively present, ranging from the color of the bricks to the interior quality. The SEL building similar to the SES building is very dull but somewhat better than the SES building.

majors and most of students are very career orientated. The atmosphere really is competitive but it also has a nice sense of warmth to it probably due to the dimmed lights. The lecture halls were once filled with students as far back to the 1960s. Sitting in the same seats and looking at the same white boards, it is really an amazing

Students walking through the enormous BAT cave.

experience of the history we are now part of. "The setting is so depressing..." said one of the students that is a chemistry major attending the classes at SEL and SES. She stated that the surroundings are too dull and plain in the buildings. It is very difficult to study and learn with a positive attitude sitting in a rundown classroom. Although many famous teachers have taught at these same buildings the history doesn't mask the fact that the building is very old. The impact of these buildings represent strength and resilience for UIC. After the Chicago fire UIC had to really "rebuild" and provide a university that would be suitable and presentable to students around the world. These fairly new buildings are the epitome of restructure for UIC. They may be run down and old, but their historical significance has far greater worth than anything else. Yes, the buildings could look more modern and the rooms could look more inviting, but it's up to us. Do we want to change UIC's history, or do we want to keep building on to it?
Brit Der