The View from Cornell

I. Recap 

Last Thursday I gave each of you an index card with a unique call number. At the time, I asked two things of you: i) to describe the view from the seventh floor and ii) to speculate on the function of the railing. 

Below, I have reproduced Siegel's original illustrations from the essay 'Academic Work: The View from Cornell' (1981) and images I captured up in the stacks after class ended. These images are framed alongside your responses. 

1981

2014

The view from the 7th floor is quite calming and simply a beautiful scenery. You can see from far distance, and in a way makes me feel insignificant. If I wanted a break from studying, I would just simply look outside and take a break.

* 

The view from the top of Olin library looks over on the arts quad. I thought it was very interesting to see all of the people walking in different directions along the pathways between buildings. It reminded me of being in a skyscraper in New York City. I love seeing all of the people walking in different directions, wondering where they are going. 

*

View. --expansive, can see for miles as if you could see all  knowledge in the world.

* 

As today is a clear, sunny day, the view from Olin's 7th floor is fantastic. To the south are many of Cornell's old and new buildings intermixed, with areas of dense green trees filling the spaces in between. Further out, the green blanket of tree-covered land rolls downward into one of the east-west valleys, and climbs again to where Ithaca College sits on the hilltop. I can also see, to the West, the well-developed valley that the City of Ithaca inhabits. The north view shows a picturesque panorama of the Arts Quad. There is the brilliant and rich green of the lawns and the loosely arranged trees. The Gothic style academic buildings that form the quad are distinctly characteristic of the quintessential liberal arts college. Students sit or lie on the grass to study or relax. This view gives me a sense of detachment from the rest of Cornell below and around me as I watch how the pedestrians interact, and how the environment sways in the wind and plays with the sunlight. I almost feel as if I were Humboldt or Sloterdijk, looking closely and introspectively down at Earth from a viewpoint that is still rather distant from the earth. Cornell is a living, breathing, dynamic body, and I observe it from a distance above. It actually makes me feel rather serene, and it clears my mind.

*

From the 7th floor you can basically se all the buildings and hills in the background. You can see a few people walking below. You get a sense of peacefulness beacuse everything is so small. 

*

The 7th floor view stretched out on one side across the Arts Quad, while on the other side it displays the area around campus. A lot of green trees mixed with architecturally beautiful buildings on campus. It makes me feel happy to have worked hard to be here.

1981

2014

In terms of the railing surrounding the ledge off the top floor of Olin, there are two different view points one can take to describe it's purpose. You can take a philosophical stand point and say that the railing represents the barrier between life and death or that it preserves the knowledge of the library. On the other side, one could simply point out that the railing's purpose is to protect people from falling off the edge. I prefer to think of it in the latter. That the railings main purpose is to protect the people of the library from falling off the edge. 

*

I initially thought the railing is there to protect people who walk along the pebbled ledge from falling over the ledge. However, it doesn't seem that one can normally go out there. So maybe, the railing is to provide a symbolic sort of protection, to let viewers feel they are safe, even though viewers like me are already behind a glass window? Or maybe the library used to allow people to actually walk along that pebbled ledge? From a more practical standpoint, the railing may be for protecting maintenance workers when they work on the roof of the library.

*

The railing is likely for the workers who clean windows and upkeep the "rock garden" on the ledge in order to provide security without obnoxiously ruining the view.

*

Sage chapel,

Old buildings, architecture.

On the right very rural, 

just trees, 

shows contrast between populated + 

unpopulated. 

Bed of rocks and pebbles. 

Low railing maybe 2-3 feet.

Wouldn’t prevent anyone from falling.

Looks rusty.

* 

The railing is there as a blatant hazard to young children. The railing is nothing more than a horizontal white bar with sparse vertical white bars supporting it, and there is nothing but air within these "rectangles" formed by the vertical bars. When young children whose height is below the bar face this railing, they are essentially unprotected by the railing, and with one false move may fall of the edge. Since taller people are easily stopped when they collide with the horizontal bar of the railing, this railing is clearly inadequate and requires additional support. Given that the Olin Library has been around for over 5 decades, the fact that this railing is so insecure for small children clearly shows that the Cornell administration is dismissive towards children's safety. In effect, the existence of such a poorly designed railing is an insult and threat toward small children. To small children, each rectangle of the railing is a window of opportunity for sudden and cruel death, and this issue should in no way be taken lightly. #DownWithCornell. Serious answer: Instinctively, I think it's just there as a reminder to people to be aware of their elevated position. Perhaps the simplistic design of the railing allows a better view of the area below.

2014

I see beautiful rooftops just below my sightline, I see trees perking up in the forefront of rolling hills with Ithaca College plateaued upon them. Though right before me is an oddly placed railing. I think this exists as such as to elevate the grandeur of the library by expanding its scale. I believe this because the low railing diminishes the perception of human scale.

*

Railing. --to give perspective to the scale of the outside world. 

*

There are several possibilities for the purpose of the railing. The railing may have been implemented so that window-washers and construction workers were not at risk of falling over. It is also possible that the railings are there to alter people’s view. Possibly encouraging them to look upward and in the distance since the railing detracts from the lower view. It is also possible that the railing makes people feel mortal and less omnipotent since the railing makes them remember that they are just in a building and not truly up above with a heavenly view.

*

My guess as to the purpose of the railing is for safety -there might be an exit to the rocky balcony from one of the study rooms. 

*

A panoramic view of the eclectic but rich architecture of Cornell’s campus surrounding by a valley. Close proximity to river lane betrays the true height of our perspective. The atmosphere discretely overlayed upon the far of landscape. The product of knowledge on display for those occupying these catacombs of wisdom. 

2014

2014