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Subheadings and maps within this section:
The characterizing features of the KU campus include its buildings, views and vistas, and landscaping. These features reflect the tradition of higher education in general and also are a testament to the
vision and investment of previous generations of students, graduates, and state residents.
Aerial view of the core campus from the northeast |
The rich
and vivid experiences of students and alumni are tied to the physical attributes of Mount Oread, the
well-developed and high quality "signature" features hereabouts, and the steady enhancement, since
the founding of the university, of one of Kansas' most notable public institutions.
The KU experience is one defined by the physical surroundings, a sense of tradition, and the individual pursuit of personal and professional development in a secure environment committed to
learning, research, and service.
Here are some objectives in the realm of image and environment:
- Creating a high-quality learning environment in which classroom experiences and the positive
features of a residential campus are mutually supporting
- Enhancing campus amenities in support of both curricular and extracurricular activities
- Ensuring the ability of students, faculty, staff, and guests to orient to, and to find their way around,
campus
- Addressing environmental concerns to preserve campus beauty and to assure health and safety
The fulfillment of these objectives would lead to a strong and positive sense of place. The enhancement of the basic KU experience, beyond the obvious teaching and research components, derives
from a well-composed campus.
[Missing image: "Location Plan, central campus, Landscape Features (Figure K)]
Composition of the Built Environment
A university's image is linked to its physical assets but it is not just the sum of those assets. A university is also a series of experiences that occur in physical space, experiences that derive from thoughtful composition of the built environment. A new visitor might come first to a visitor center-plans
for which are being made now and are discussed later in this document. Or that visitor might experience the campus by driving around campus. A university graduate returning to visit would have a
much different set of experiences, many of them tied to his or her memories of the built environment.
When any individual arrives here, he or she experiences the campus not only as a place that educates
students, but also as a campus, whose architecture and landscaping lend it an identity beyond mere
functionality. The physical elements integral to this self-projection include the following:
- Buildings, with their diverse functions, scales, material constituents, colors, fenestration, enclosures, and entries
- Planted materials, outdoor furnishings, lighting, and signs
- Topography and landscape, which, depending on location, may include views and vistas, open and
green spaces
- Other elements, such as campus entries, streets, walks, lawns, patios, and traditional spaces
Student-centered environment on Jayhawk Boulevard |
When visitors arrive, they also experience a campus that has accreted in a unique way, historically
and aesthetically. In this accretion, vision has been layered upon vision, but always with respect to
what has come before and with respect to higher-education traditions and models. As a result, no
place precisely like this one exists on earth, even among educational institutions, and it is our honor
and duty to preserve that sense of tradition and of place.
Thus, we must do more in our planning than ensure our routine functioning as an institution of
higher learning; we must preserve the sense of this place.
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Features of the Campus Landscape
The term "landscape" refers to outdoor elements on campus. The term encompasses these features:
campus entries, streetscapes, walks and pedestrian ways, open and green spaces between and adjacent to buildings, views and vistas, plantings of all kinds, pavements and lawns, malls, plazas, and
courtyards. Utilitarian aspects of landscape include lights, benches, and signs. The incorporation of
signs into an information system is an important component of the campus landscape.
Integrating all of these elements is a significant task, and the integration must occur within the
framework of an institution that is continually evolving. A lack of coordination in this task is harmful. Here are some objectives and principles regarding the composition and character of the campus
landscape:
- Campus design results from an interaction of topography and placement of significant features. In
combination, these engender views and vistas. These views and vistas can be accented, altered, and
manipulated for long-term benefit or detriment. See Figure K for diagram of major campus views
and vistas.
| As the main campus becomes more urban, areas between buildings should be committed to gathering places that are thoughtfully oriented to pedestrian circulation. |
- It is desirable to consider the addition of
simple elements on the campus skyline to
maintain its traditional image.
- Streetscapes, pedestrian ways, and sidewalks should be viewed, first and foremost,
as corridors for effecting pedestrian and vehicle mobility on campus. They should be scented and
defined by plantings, buildings, and landscape features.
- Open courts, lawns, plazas, and the spaces between or adjacent to buildings require careful analysis in regard to the functions, movements, and scale of activities that occur there.
- High-quality open and green spaces are the result of successful building and site design.
Core Campus Skyline from Daisy Hill |
- Landscape features may be as significant to a sense of tradition as signature buildings.
- As the main campus becomes
more urban in its ratio of built to
open space, areas between buildings
should be committed to activities
and to high-quality gathering places
that are thoughtfully oriented to
pedestrian circulation.
- Building entries must be placed
not only by reference to a building's
internal layout but by reference to
the building's connections with
vehicle and pedestrian routes.
- The system of walks should be functionally adequate: Walks should be sufficiently wide and
thoughtfully managed so that they are usable by all people despite changes in grade. Yet functional
adequacy is not enough.
- A design sense must be brought to the construction of walkways as much as to the construction of
buildings. Primary walkways, those that parallel Jayhawk Boulevard, for example, will have one
look and feel, while those paths less traveled, such as a walk that skirts Prairie Acre, should have a
different, perhaps more meandering, design.
- Design choices for routes of access to campus and mobility on campus should be made on the
basis of anticipated use by individuals with differing physical abilities. Obviously, some designs will
have dominance over others; this will lend
an overall sense of coherence to the campus
and reinforce the idea that the campus
welcomes pedestrians.
Proposed mid-hill pedestrian route on south slope |
- Plantings should be thoughtfully designed. They should have definite objectives
and specific functional and/or aesthetic
purposes. They also should be native to this area, in order to avoid the need for excessive maintenance. The removal of diseased and damaged plantings and trees should be followed by replanting in accord with a long-range plan.
- Good design considers such features as benches, planters, terraces, retaining walls, steps, and stairs
as part of the total landscape, not individual entities.
- Illumination is an aesthetically and technically complex field that requires careful design. Lighting
should be conceived in a coordinated, campuswide fashion in order to provide safety and orientation.
- The placement of campus signs should be coordinated. Signs should be consistent in their design,
shape, typography, color, texture, and size. Text and wording should be governed by campus policy.
A comprehensive system that permits people to find their way around campus should be developed
following a review of present signing standards and practices.
- Information kiosks should be placed where high volumes of traffic occur. The use of information
technologies should be considered as a means of expanding information access.
Architecture
Buildings are elements in spatial composition. Besides fulfilling functional requirements, they must
complement each other and enhance the campus.
Entry to Lipincott Hall |
It is a challenge to maintain a continuity of appearance and, at the same time, accommodate the
inevitable change that comes with new building
projects. The emphasis must be on the achievement
of compatibility with the historically and architecturally significant buildings and surrounding areas,
as well as the preservation of views and vistas.
A sense of overall organization and design will
lend a sense of coherence despite differences
among individual buildings. The design of buildings and landscape features should take into ac-
count such elements as function, appropriateness to
site, and materials. These criteria should not limit
the imagination and originality of the architect;
they should only provide a framework for proceeding.
Here are principles we believe should be followed
as the environment is developed and structures are
created:
- Existing campus architecture should influence
subsequent development; future buildings must
defer to characteristics inherent in existing buildings, which define the nature of the main campus.
- The characteristic colors of the traditional campus are well-established, and materials should be
chosen to match existing colors. Pitched roofs should be red.
- Buildings should be designed with attention to scale and sited with sensitivity to their heights and
to the distances between them.
- The size of buildings should be in keeping with a pedestrian campus. A few significant facilities
have set time-honored standards for the buildings here: certain window-to-wall-surface ratios and,
tied to those, certain proportions of window-height-to-width. These ratios, as well as choices of
building materials, should be respected in an effort to maintain a traditional look for campus.
- Strong composition will be achieved by matching the construction materials already found on
campus. A lesser variety of materials used in a straightforward fashion will lead to a more distinguished overall design.
Above and beyond the aesthetic quality of buildings, spaces, and landscapes, campus planners are
increasingly subject to regulation of the physical environment by governmental agencies. These
regulations can affect function and services. Energy use, waste management, paving and storm water
management, air quality inside buildings, and clean air outside are significant issues for the coming
decades. Addressing these concerns will assure the overall quality of the campus, its buildings and
spaces, and the health and welfare of students, faculty, and staff.
The guidelines set forth above should be supplemented with more detailed requirements for future
design, and these should be enforced as criteria for individual projects.
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