Courtyard by Marriott Bloomington Normal

Y B Norm L?

by yooperprof

"Mass Education"

This is one of the famed skyscraper dorms at Illinois State University. I'm sure that in its own way, this building is as notable as any ivy-covered hall at Oxford or Yale. Sometimes it seems that American state universities apply "mass production" principles to higher education - and Illinois State is no better and no worse than dozens of similar insitutions from Maine to California.

"The ISU Library"

An austere functionalism rules here - and why not? The only rational purpose of a state university is to produce material benefits - preferably in monetary units - for the rest of society. One certainly would not want to engage in such arcane and elitist ideas as "beauty for beauty's sake." Thus, it is entirely appropriate that a university library should resemble the headquarters of an insurance company - or an obscure government bureaucracy.