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This blog is for the course Exploring Art and Visual Culture, and it will focus on the theme of Structures around the University of Arizona campus. The following photos are all of classroom buildings around campus. Each building photographed represents some form of history and education on campus. We hope that this blog will increase students' awareness of the structures around them, allowing them to stop and take a moment on the way to class to appreciate the beauty on our campus. Photos were taken using smartphones.

This blog was created by:

Sean Luther - Sophomore, Pre-business major
Jeremy Hibbs - Junior, Electrical engineering major
Yikai Cao - Sophomore, Computer science major

Administration - Yikai Cao

Administration Building

     Administration Building was constructed in 1966. The President's office occupies the seventh floor, with the Provost's office, Vice President's offices and University attorneys also located in the building. The second and third floors are used by student services and business offices including financial aid, the Registrar's Office and the Graduate College.

As the second tallest building in the University of Arizona, the Administration Building occupy at the center of the campus right besides Student Union. A fountain in front of it is also the only one fountain in this campus which located in a desert.

Photo taken by Yikai Cao
Text Edited by Yikai Cao

Henry Kofler Building - Yikai Cao

Henry Kofler Building

The Henry Koffler Building 
was built in 1992, and is one of the campus' newest classroom buildings. The 25-Scientists Sculpture on the north side of CBS is a 'gateway narrative' to the Chemistry/Biology area. The theme is a visual representation of the studies and activities found in the programs of chemistry and biology. Some of the representations are identifiable as UA faculty members, notably Dr. Donald Huffman holding the 'Bucky Ball', a discovery of carbon molecules in the exact shape of a soccer ball.
Some of others say that this is the representations of UA wildcats because of its shape. There are two triangles above the building which looks like cat's ear. The arc of the gate of it looks like a cat's shutting mouth. When step aside from the building, a visible and clear cat's face can be identified.

Photo byYikai Cao

Text Edited by Yikai Cao

BearDown on the Northeast Endzone - Sean Luther

 BearDown on the Northeast Endzone

This is the Northeast corner of the new Lowell-Stevens Football Facility that was recently added onto the football stadium. It is a modern, attractive structure that features glass and smooth exterior textures. Students may not pass this side of the stadium unless on the way to games. It is a great source of school pride for the University’s athletics, with the signature “A” featured in Southwest copper. This structure is both functional and beautiful. 

Text and pictures provided by Sean Luther

Scale Walls and Stilts - Sean Luther

Scale Walls and Stilts

Stevie Eller Dance Theatre sits on the East end of the UA Mall. This structure is striking and unique, with its exterior walls that appear to wiggle like a crawling insect. The large theatre, a part of the School of Dance, sits on several thin poles that look like stilts. The building amazes viewers as they question how crooked metal poles can support it. I pass this building every night on the way home from class, and it always strikes me as one of the most interesting structures on campus.

Text and pictures provided by Sean Luther

Old Main - Jeremy Allen Hibbs

The Renovation of Old Main - Preserving the History of Arizona

A short history of Old Main

Old Main was the first erected building of the Territorial University of Arizona College of Mines and is located on the original site of an ancient Indian village. San Xavier Mission, built about 100 years earlier, is the only building in Arizona older than Old Main. Originally it was used for all functions of the University, from classrooms to sleeping rooms. Throughout the years various departments have called it home – Business and Public Administration, the Graduate College, Art, French, Mathematics, History, and Political Science, and others.

The building is a territorial style with some European influences (French mansard roof). The original architect was from Louisiana so it also has the appearance of a southern plantation home. Two types of stone were used based on the common practices of the day. Mexican stone was placed around the base, and volcanic rock from “A” mountain was used for decorative landscaping.

Old Main in 1889

In 1938, Old Main was condemned because the university could not afford to keep it updated. The U.S. Navy came in and offered to save it from demolition. In return, during World War II, the Navy needed space and converted the building into a training school. After the war, the university then reclaimed Old Main as a functional building.

In 1972, the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. From 2006 to 2008, just over $4 million was spent to upgrade the first floor.

Old Main is currently undergoing major reconstruction that is scheduled to be completed in 2014. Great attention is being paid to maintaining the look and character of the building as it was originally designed.

Text and pictures provided by Jeremy Allen Hibbs

The Bryant Bannister Tree-Ring Building - Jeremy Allen Hibbs

University of Arizona’s Tree-House

The Bryant Bannister Tree-Ring Building demonstrates an innovative approach to the combination of form and function. It accommodates extensive laboratory and office space on a small area of ground for the study of tree rings, while maintaining visual associations to a physical tree. From the inside and outside, the structure actually resembles a tree-house. The main trunk at the base is circular and translucent allowing for abundant natural light to flow inside. The offices, which are the tree-house, are in a rectangular block suspended high in the air at the roof level of the adjacent Math East building. The tree theme is extended using individually articulated metal tubes surrounding the block of offices (on three sides) to resemble the leaves of a palo verde tree. They were carefully designed and installed to flow in the wind without knocking into each-other. The additional supporting columns that extend from the ground to the base of the tree-house are designed to look like tree branches.

Text and pictures are provided by Jeremy Allen Hibbs