Master Plan allows 'function to follow form'

Author: Cloe Shasha

This July, Middlebury College released a Master Plan for a campus layout proposal to be applied over the next 50 years. Project Manager Jennifer Oster Bleich worked on the plan, along with a team of experts, over the past two years. She emphasized that the plan is not a blueprint for construction but is a layout of the way that the campus will evolve in a sustainable manner in the next half century.

While there are spaces allocated for future buildings already drawn onto maps included in the plan, no detailed architectural guidelines have been laid out other than the proposal to build sustainable structures consistent with the style of buildings that already exists within the College's landscape.

The plan is, according to Bleich, a collaborative effort. The Master Planning Committee, the Buildings and Grounds Committee of the Board of Trustees, the President's Staff, Michael Dennis and Associates of Boston, and various campus constituencies contributed to the plan.

For some students, the Master Plan poses a threat to the architectural feel of this campus.

"The planners are interested in constructing artificial quads on campus and we would lose part of Middlebury's loose mountainous feel that students love so much," said Ben Wessel '11. "If we wanted that we would have gone to a college that had that. The plan makes changes that I don't believe are necessary."

What the College community now knows as Battell Beach will be developed into a more deliberately crafted and partially leveled open space called Battell Field. According to Visiting Instructor in Geography Jeff Howarth, the fact that Battell Beach is the way it is today was not part of the plan but rather a byproduct of the spaces between selected locations for construction in the nineteenth century.

The way the buildings are being planned today, however, is different.

"The plans for new buildings are allowing function to follow form," Howarth continued. "The plan focuses on form and beauty."

Because of this focus, the Master Plan is more structured for outdoor renovations and looser on its specifications for the patterns of use in new indoor spaces.

Robert Huth, the College's Treasurer and Executive Vice President who oversees facilities planning on campus, explained the level of detail that the Master Plan provides for future landscaping.

"There are no immediate plans to build buildings," Huth said. "However, when they are built, each will be designed individually and placed in a spot identified by the Master Plan. The Master Plan is a guide that informs future construction and should prevent building facilities in locations that may prevent future desired outcomes."

With the plan, the Battell first-year dorms will be removed and replaced with two smaller buildings slightly shifted from the current positions of Battell North and Battell South. In addition, three other new dormitories will be built around the rectangular contour of Battell Field.

Some students believe the plans will bring spatial benefits to Middlebury's layout.

"As much as I like Battell, I feel that separating the buildings will make the campus feel more open," said Roman Mardoyan-Smyth '11. "At the moment, Battell is a long narrow structure blocking the view of Battell Beach, and forcing students to have to walk around or through the structure. By separating the buildings, the students will be able to move around more freely. Battell Beach can be connected with the Chateau Quad."

The Master Plan divided the campus into three precincts, giving each one at least one quadrangle and courtyards. Within these three divisions are 12 designated locations for improvements and alterations, including new power lines, and a reconfiguration of College Street.

Because sustainability is the first priority of the plan, Middlebury will consult national leaders in sustainable design before beginning any new construction projects.

The costs for the construction plans have not yet been publicly predicted. Potential plans have been listed but no landscape or construction projects are going to begin in the near future.

"Given the current state of the global economy," Bleich said, "it is expected that for the next few years the College will only undertake new construction or major renovation projects that are fully funded by donors or by the College's renewal and replacement reserve funds."

Director of the Arts and C.A. Johnson Professor of Art Glenn Andres, a professor of architecture, explained that he believes the Master Plan will enhance the best parts of Middlebury.

"The plan has sought to clarify campus spaces and vistas, rationalize vehicular and pedestrian circulation and place buildings where they will reinforce the basic structure of the campus," Andres said. "What may change is the specific character of the landscape."

The goals of the Master Plan do not only focus on the human experience, however. The plan takes into account the natural habitat and landscape of Vermont in a way that strives to minimize impact upon the environment.

"Rather than undifferentiated lawn and exotic trees, there is an attempt to adjust the landscape to utilize native species and to recognize different land slopes and conditions by appropriate plantings that will enhance wildlife corridors and micro-climates while framing major campus spaces and reducing water-consumptive and carbon-producing maintenance," Andres concluded.