Farewelling the Old Place
Posted 17 April 2011 in Random Photographs by Catriona
The exodus from our main teaching building began last week. When we return (if we return, in my case, I suppose), the building will be shiny new.
And we certainly need shiny-new teaching rooms—hopefully, these ones will have windows. Windows would be awesome.
But I admit to a strong fondness for the old building, where I completed my graduate degrees and met my partner. So this is just pure nostalgia, really, before the building is gutted and rebuilt.
I’ll definitely miss the mysterious but deeply ’70s ceiling decorations:
I’ll miss the funky fonts and the building’s resistance to ordinary, non-textured walls:
I’ll miss the of-its-time stairwell sculpture, which I always wanted to touch, but never did:
I’ll even miss the staircase that I feel down on more than one occasion:
Dear Michie Building: you were rather ugly in some ways, and your hallway carpeting was older than I am. But you have a certain charm, for all that. Let’s hope they don’t strip all of that away from you.
Share your thoughts [9]
1
Nick wrote at Apr 17, 11:17 pm
I’m having one of my sentimental moments.
2
Catriona wrote at Apr 17, 11:21 pm
You ARE a sentimental moment.
But, yeah: unfortunately, the piece came out a bit treacly, when it was really just supposed to be some cool photos. But I have to write a lecture, so it’s staying as cloying as it currently is.
3
John wrote at Apr 19, 10:02 pm
Keep the cloy. So many of us spent a formative part of our lives in the dear old Michie.
4
Catriona wrote at Apr 19, 10:14 pm
That’s true. And I admit I’m a bit torn between actually loving the ’70s-ness of it all, and deeply, deeply wanting teaching rooms with windows and visualisers. (Although I may never actually teach in the new Michie.)
5
Matt wrote at Apr 20, 01:00 am
The strange and mysterious Michie building! Also with handy ground floor toilets if you’re walking from the great court to the bus stops.
I’ll remember it as the place I went to visit the strange and mysterious academics from M/C Journal and later on the strange and mysterious Dr Mills to return strange and mysterious borrowed books.
6
Catriona wrote at Apr 20, 01:08 am
Ah, but I don’t think I was Dr Mills, then. That was some time ago now.
It also has handy ground-floor toilets if you happen to be in a wheelchair—because none of the toilets on levels 2 to 8 were wheelchair accessible. It’s well due for a makeover, in all honesty.
7
Michelle wrote at Apr 21, 11:37 am
Good riddance to all of it, I say. The industrial-strength mould was really getting me down. And the mushrooms in the carpet.
8
Michelle wrote at Apr 21, 11:42 am
Oh, but I did like the ceiling decorations that are in the first picture. I always found that they were strangely conducive to thought.
9
Catriona wrote at Apr 21, 02:06 pm
Yes, you’ll notice I deliberately didn’t post any pictures of the carpets, either avec mushrooms or sans mushrooms. I won’t be missing the carpets at all, at all. I will miss the fonts and the level 2 ceiling, though.