ULB Campus

Naturally since I am a student studying at ULB I spend a lot of my time on campus. Since the physical campus itself is a form of marketing for the school and its program the aesthetics of the campus may play a large role. My initial impression of the campus is that it is a mess. The buildings were obviously constructed in different decades and therefore do not really seem to fit with each. My first reaction to the U building is that it reminded me of a North American prison or juvenile hall. This is probably due to cultural reasons as most prisons that I have seen resemble the building. It’s funny how when you research ULB on the internet it romanticizes the older, more vintage looking buildings with the big wooden doors and almost gothic looking roof however in reality students do not take classes on these buildings.
What do I find aesthetically pleasing is the small residential type building that house part of the Solvay business school. I like the feeling that it is integrated within the city and they paint a very charming and cozy picture. Again I am used to skyscrapers and square buildings therefore the houses are nice change of scenery.
I would have to say that my biggest criticism is the amount of construction currently on campus. I always find the look of scaffolding and dumpsters to be extremely ugly. I if you think about it the renovations should ultimately improve the look of the building, but I the mean time it just makes the campus look chaotic and cluttered. This is why construction is usually done in the summer when the campus is not so populated. Overall I would say that campus itself has some beautiful features however, for the most part I do not find the campus very aesthetically pleasing. There was some cognitive dissonance as it did not in fact meet my expectation.