Jeff Larson

Marx

English 134

October 18, 2004

The Architectural Study Area

            Lost in the hills of Poly Canyon lies a land filled with bizarre structure built by past students that make up the architectural study area.  This chunk of land is designated for architectural students to build their senior projects on.

            In the true Cal Poly spirit of learn by doing, students have been building inventive structures as senior projects.  However, before 1963, most of these projects were torn down after completion.  So the Dean of the college of architecture at the time, George Hasslein, asked for land just for the students to build on.  After being denied several times, he finally went to Alex Madonna for land and got it.  After the campus president, Robert Kennedy, heard of this, he gave Dean Hasslein nine acres of land in poly canyon for the students to build on.

            The first of eighteen student built structures is an enormous stone arch that marks the entrance.  Here there is a map showing all of the projects and their locations.  Past the arch is a rock wall where the faces of the creators are engraved in the stone.  This wall marks a path leading to Techtite Bridge which was another student project.

            The next project on the path is the flower.  While visiting I was fortunate enough to meet one of the creators, Mark Haselton.  Because the original project is currently falling apart, he funded a group of students this year to rebuild a new one.  The project is finished and it was rededicated October sixteenth of this year. 

            Behind the flower, lies the Geodesic Dome.  This dome is made of aluminum pipes and is fifty feet in diameter.  When I first came across this dome, it looked to me like something I used to play on at the park as a kid.  As I walked closer I saw that it was about thirty feet high and that it was no toy. 

            Across from the dome is the sundial which, unfortunately, is no longer standing.  It collapsed some time ago and now has bunch grass growing in between the broken pieces.  Another project about to collapse is the stick house.  The stick house is built of the same material as the dome, but it has grown unstable over time.  The house no leans significantly to one side.  In fact, in order to keep it standing it is tied to a tree with multiple ropes.

            Past some more trees and farther up the trail is Cantilever Bridge.  This project looks more like the bow of a ship than a bridge.  It is a giant triangular platform protruding out from the side of a hill.  This is held up by a number of steel cables attached to two big poles, and then to the ground.  After I had walked on it, I wondered how long that would last considering it wobbled with every step I took.

            Further up the hill is the bridge house.  It is a house built across a ditch and makes a bridge.  The house is a plain, rectangular structure with a steel base and glass walls.  While the building does not look very special it is one of the best built structures in the area.  In fact, the house was built so well that it won the American Institute of Steel ConstructionÕs Award of Excellence for its use of cor- tin steel. 

            The architectural study area exemplifies the Cal Poly motto of learn by doing.  Students can learn from all of these structures not only by studying the successful buildings, but also by studying the reasons for failure.  Students will continue learning from the architectural study area for many years to come.