Friday, June 17, 2011

Wandering Around Ann Arbor - Part I

I was going to do a special project for Ann Arbor and I think I may still end up doing it. But I didn't really feel like doing anything special tonight, so I just took a walk around campus and part of downtown Ann Arbor. Of course I had my trusty camera with me.
One of my first stops was the Endover Cube. There was a pretty nice backdrop of green behind it for a change. I guess I didn't realize how long it's been since I've been this way. Oh well.
The Fleming Administration Building. This building was designed by Alden Dow who was the son of the founder of Dow Chemical and resident of Michigan. He started out his academic career at the University of Michigan and was studying engineering to work at his father's company. After three years, he transferred to Columbia University where he studied architecture. He worked with the Saginaw firm of Frantz and Spence for a while and then he studied under Frank Lloyd Wright. After which he returned to Midland and opened his own firm.
Construction on the Fleming Building started in 1965 and was completed in 1968. It houses the Adminstration of the University. It almost looks like it could be used as a fortress if necessary.
This is just a flower on the side of the Michigan Union. Not sure what kind it is.
Some daisies. I kind of like the purple daisies over the white ones.
This flower was in front of the Michigan Union. Again, I'm not sure what kind it is but it almost reminds me of Maize and Blue.
One of the statues of the Michigan Union. This one is dedicated to academics and faces the academic portion of campus. The other statue is dedicated to sports and faces the sport portion of the campus.
Looking up at the Michigan Union Tower.
One of the "gargoyles" of the Law Quadrant. If I remember correctly these are based on professors that were at the University at the time.
A frieze of the Michigan seal.
One of many squirrels on campus.
A little bit later, that squirrel decided he had enough of the human with the strange device. So he bolted. I kind of liked this shot.
A detail on the Law Library.
Around the Law Library there are many stained glass windows with seals of different universities. This one is the seal of the University of Michigan.
Looking down the reading room. This is probably one of my favorite areas of the campus.
The State of Michigan seal.
Some of the books in the Reading Room. These are reports of Michigan Appeals.
Looking up at the towers of the West Engineering Building. I think they look alot nicer with green on them.
The Block M at the center of the Diag. It is rumored that stepping on this will bring you bad luck.

4 comments:

BlueDragon said...

I stepped on the Block M my freshman year. No bad luck to date.

Mikoyan said...

I'm sure a few virgins have graduated from Eastern but the tower still stands proud....

Anonymous said...

Very nice. Thank you

Anonymous said...

The rumor I heard when I was a student was that the Fleming building was actually designed as a sort of fortress, the overhangs meant to discourage students from scaling the sides during student protests. Probably not true, but I've always remembered that explanation.