I read with interest the article ‘Gates CS building sets high standard’ published in the Daily Texan on March 27. I am a fourth year PhD student studying operations management at McCombs School of Business. I have not studied architecture but I do know that utility is just one aspect of architecture. The other important aspect is aesthetic appeal, and one way to think about aesthetic appeal is to observe how well a building relates to its surroundings. The interior of the CS building is very impressive but I cannot help but feel that the exterior is somehow not in harmony with the other buildings around it, which are more subdued, a characteristic shared by most of the buildings on campus. Further, the eight tall columns at the entrance to CS building not only break the consistent pattern followed by other buildings on Speedway but also obscure the pedestrian’s view to the building’s magnificent central atrium. I am wondering whether there are others who have felt the same way about the building.

Vivek Vasudeva

Graduate Student, McCombs School of Business