Polis and the Police: Reflections on Planning and Protest
I spent the late 90s doing battle with the product of one of Buffalo and SUNY’s most notorious design decisions: The University at Buffalo expansion campus in Amherst, NY. The first time I set foot on campus, I found that what I had heard was true: It put the brutal in Brutalist. Architectural style aside—after all, as I would learn, Brutalism in and of itself was not a sin—the UB Amherst campus had other, more systemic problems baked into its design—problems which are again top of mind amid the current protests over racial injustice. Aerial view of the UB Amherst campus Commuting to the Amherst campus every day from my home in Buffalo, I soon came to think of it as airport-meets-academia. The campus is surrounded by parking lots, but there was still not enough capacity for commuting students, causing perpetual vulturing for a parking space and frustrating delays. To this day, I have recurring bad dreams about being late for class or, for that matter, not being able to find m...
