The urban campus in the forest

KentXie

KentXie

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I took advantage of Boston's recent nice weather to take a few photos of the NU Campus, which IMO has one of the best campus in the Boston area. Forgive my poor photographing skills in a few of them.

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^^There are reasons why I chose to attend NU over other universities/colleges in the area. The campus is one of them
 
KentXie said:
^^There are reasons why I chose to attend NU over other universities/colleges in the area. The campus is one of them
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Well except for BC, Northeastern is really the only school that actually has a campus.
 
Not really. In the Boston area (as in Greater Boston), you can include Harvard, MIT, BU, and Tufts as well. I think there are a few more.
 
It's amazing what some lush vegetation can do to an otherwise unremarkable space.

I'm with you, KentXie, I love NU's campus.
 
I don't get what anyone loves about this. Until recently, all Northeastern's buildings have been fairly crap, architecturally. And yes, it's an urban campus, but they use the over-landscaped "forest" to disguise this as much as possible to make it seem safe and homely for suburban kids.

I feel like I'm in Florida whenever I walk around there, since everything's white, nothing was built before 1950, and it feels like being inside a mangrove canopy.
 
Years ago the campus was stark, bare and utilitarian. Adding all those plants makes it much friendlier.
 
Vegetation does not equal suburban and a feeling of safety is generally a good thing.
 
I like the NU campus, especially compared to what it looked like in the 1970s. You don't feel like you're squeezed into a narrow strip of land, like at BU.
 
We've just hired a photographer to take some pictures of a raaaather unremarkable real estate development, and he said to me yesterday, "This is the time of the only time of year where every building can look beautiful"
 
I like the NU campus also. It seems to have quite a few newer buildings. I would be happy to go to school most anywhere in Boston if I could go back in time a few years and start over.
 
czsz said:
they use the over-landscaped "forest" to disguise this (crap) as much as possible to make it seem safe and homely for suburban kids.
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Methinks you're inferring a bit too much.
 
czsz said:
I don't get what anyone loves about this. Until recently, all Northeastern's buildings have been fairly crap, architecturally. And yes, it's an urban campus, but they use the over-landscaped "forest" to disguise this as much as possible to make it seem safe and homely for suburban kids.

I feel like I'm in Florida whenever I walk around there, since everything's white, nothing was built before 1950, and it feels like being inside a mangrove canopy.
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I agree with you. When I started attending NU, I noticed that almost all the buildings are either modern or post-modern, quite different from say, BU and BC and their gothic style architecture. But what makes NU's campus special is exactly what you said. The fact that they are able to integrate so much vegetation in a cramp campus gives the campus a suburban feel while the density of the building gives it the urban feel.

Anyways, as a side note, I think Harvard Yard is the best campus in the Boston area. There's something about the buildings, the open green space fenced in on all side, and the pedestrian activities associated with Harvard Square puts it over the top.
 
I like NU's campus. I actually like the buildings (for the most part) too. They have a couple of good examples of nicely done International Style along Huntington Ave.
 
One of the primary reasons I chose NU over BU was the campus. I wanted a real college campus. Before picking colleges, I was quick to write off going to a college in an urban environment. I always envisioned Colby College as the premiere college campus--long courtyard up a hill with surrounding classroom buildings, and the library at the top of the hill... it was perfect.

But NU is the best in Boston. Even with the landscape improvements along Comm Ave., BU looks like a concrete canyon, and the Charles River views cannot rescue that campus from that truth. Emanuel isn't so bad, except it's too small to really call a campus, and the hustle and bustle of Longwood Medical surrounding it reminds you very quickly that you're in a city
 
Why is it so important for NU students to express why they chose NU over BU? Was it really your choice?
 
KentXie said:
Not really. In the Boston area (as in Greater Boston), you can include Harvard, MIT, BU, and Tufts as well. I think there are a few more.
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Of that list, only Tufts really has a campus, and Ive never been there so I wont comment.

While MIT has a defined space...it certainly isnt a campus. Harvard is too big too be a campus, and BU is a street.
 
From the little I remember, Tufts was pretty nice. It's a hilly area, which is visually pleasing (though probably irritating for students).

Anyway, I'll take Harvard's campus any day, "big" or not.
 
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