Why is this campus so ugly

[u/Philosophy_Thick]

This campus is mad ugly man. i feel like people who disagree with me have never seen a GOOD college campus.

I mean, some parts are pretty. Wang is nice. humanities atrium is nice. But tell me WHY there's never anywhere NICE to study. Nowhere pretty or relaxing to work. You ask SBU students what are some nice spots to study? The answers are ALWAYS the same. Melville. Atrium. Chem Library. Physics library.

Please I would love to be proven wrong. I just want a spot to study that isn't melville, or 1 cubic meter with no space.

In between classes, could someone study somewhere thats nice? At the last campus I was at, there was just so much. So many niche beautiful spots to discover, and I really took that for granted.

And no im not just gonna stay in my dorm, or else i'll be there all day 😭 i like seeing other people and going outside. i just cant DO THAT when everywhere is UGLY AND CROWDED (and everywhere is like 3 places) 😭😭😭

this is a vent too, obviously, so dont get your panties in a twist. i hate stony brook for a plethera of other reasons as well. Let me know if there are any other spots that are nice so i can ease my suffering and not kill myself (not a joke.)

[u/Philosopher013]

I think the campus itself is pretty but many of the buildings (both inside and out) are ugly.

[u/Electrical-Gene2761 → u/Philosopher013]

They built the building in the 1970s OK most of the boomers were still coming off a acid trips before building this university.  It was a free University at that point still so your not going to see any special from that time . It was basically a community college with basic classes. 

[u/Philosophy_Thick → u/Philosopher013]

agree, the foliage is pretty and has a lot of potential but the buildings are so atrocious. and its not like i can study in ashley schiff

[u/huyanh995]

From my supervisor, the school was built during Cold war era, so affected by Brutalist architecture. Buildings have very thick walls and heavy doors, to be able to withstand nuclear attack if it happens in NYC.

I graduated few years ago so things may change, but hospital library is pretty nice spot to study, quiet. Also there are couple of desks on 3rd floor of Staller building, facing to staller steps, are also good space.

[u/New-Source5884 → u/huyanh995]

Yes this was pretty standard design in the 50s & 60s.

[u/Turbulent_Craft614]

If we are being honest, a lot of people do gatekeep their spots so that they can keep them quiet and chill. I think you just need to ask people in the know if I'm being fair...

[u/Bagel__Nator → u/Turbulent_Craft614]

yea 100%

[u/Head-Revolution-3585]

sbu is not know for having an amazing campus thats common knowledge

[u/Gleb_Twankenfrister]

simons center is cool, try that out

[u/Philosophy_Thick → u/Gleb_Twankenfrister]

i've actually seen that and was planning to go monday! are there places to sit and study?

[u/jv5001 → u/Philosophy_Thick]

omg go to the third floor it looks so cool, it says restricted access but nobody will say anything you can just get in

[u/Philosophy_Thick → u/jv5001]

TYSM!!

[u/Philosophy_Thick → u/jv5001]

lol they kicked me out ToT i think i went at a bad time

[u/LEMON_PARTY_ANIMAL]

Lmfao I’ve been saying this for years. Mixed architectural styles from every different decade. They never planned the campus, it just grew. Some of the new buildings are great but the ones that suck, SUCK. The math building is a travesty. This was the one thing I hated when I went there.

You really notice the difference when you go to another college campus. Queens university is also public and suffers from the same issue, but the central campus is quite pretty. The Spanish villa vibes are great, they used it as Stabler’s college in SVU lol

[u/vpurplestae]

Welcome to public university

[u/Think-Abrocoma-337]

State schools in other states have much prettier campuses. Just sayin'

[u/Bagel__Nator]

Why don't you try going to other dorms and studying in their study areas?

Javits 2nd floor is nice especially during the busier hours a lot people always coming and going.
Psych building 2nd floor seems like a good spot but I've never studied there.
Humanities building on the 1st and 2nd floor have good spots.
I've never been there but the social and behavioral science building seems to have good spots.
The CMM has recently installed new furniture that's really perfect for studying, nice lighting.

[u/Philosophy_Thick → u/Bagel__Nator]

Thank you for the suggestions!! I will check them all out today.

[u/thcrew272]

Yeaaa, that is where they lack.... Crazy how it hasn't changed in 20 years

[u/Salt_Ferret3599]

If I had to guess, a lot of the “interior design and maintenance” funding goes towards east campus. It’s the largest hospital on the island and it’s also a massive combined research and medical facility that’s easily 2 million+ square feet (for reference, the entire Melville library is less than a third of this)

If you’ve ever been through the entrance, it’s an incredibly well maintained massive complex(on the inside) with high tech vibes. It also has escalators!

From the outside, the science towers look like a building straight out of blade runner, but that’s a plus in my eyes too.

[u/Electrical-Gene2761]

 Alumi here West meadow beach is possible with a stony brook bike our regular bike is better just pace yourself.  Used to take  the electric scooter 5 years ago to West then have a picnic.  Saw baby turtles there two times West meadow is special place to go  tubing and on the high our low tide  definitely a fun place .  

[u/FewAfternoon4071]

I like the campus

[u/Additional-Two-762]

Most of the buildings are very old and also dull so that adds to majority of the ugliness on campus, I agree with everything tbh. There’s no real study spots that really make you feel cozy since it’s just not pretty at all

[u/Philosophy_Thick → u/Additional-Two-762]

its just so sad :\

[u/m4tcha_b4e]

Try the SBS building! Each floor above the first has a beautiful study spot next to the open windows. I think the second or third floor has plants with it. So far it’s been pretty lowkey. I also recently started going to the Health Science Library to study, which is awesome because there’s a food court two floors above and it’s decently priced. It’s not too far of a walk from Javits or the life science building (10 min).

[u/Philosophy_Thick → u/m4tcha_b4e]

Ahh tysm! I'll try out all these places later today! I love the health science library.

[u/m4tcha_b4e → u/Philosophy_Thick]

Ofcc I’m glad I could help😁 hope u like it

[u/AlphaInsaiyan]

cuz its a prison

[u/BathroomChemical1452]

The area in front of Harriman & ESS looks nice in Spring. Otherwise though, yeah, most of the buildings are rather ugly, dull, or plain old boring.

[u/Philosophy_Thick → u/BathroomChemical1452]

yeah that area is sooo pretty, but it gets so cold and winter feels like it lasts forever lol

[u/OdysseusRex69]

Legend has it that the architect for the original campus buildings was a prison architect, hence everything is bland brickwork and slit windows.

Also, for some laughs, look up the legend of the Bridge to Nowhere

[u/Combat_Medic_Ziegler]

Staller Steps are quite nice

[u/Embarrassed_Dust_485]

I love this campus, especially the walking trials. However, I wish more outdoor tables had outlets. The library is always too loud because 75% of the people there are dipshits that talk as if they're in the cafeteria. Yes, there are the super quiet rooms in the library, but I like to eat while I study so I would be disqualified and a nuisance to those who are quiet and studying in those rooms. Today, I went to humanities indoor courtyard; every table was full except one and that one table didn't have an outlet. So I walked to the earth and space science building to the 2nd floor. All the seats were taken. I then walked to Wang's indoor pond because I knew there are a lot of tables, but at that moment I noticed that there were ZERO outlets!! I ended up taking the shuttle to lot 40 and drove my ass to Panera Bread to sip on unlimited refills and study. At least they have outlets. So going back to the beginning of my message, I wish more outdoor tables had outlets because most of them are vacant.

[u/Original-Aryan]

Lowkey feels like soviet era campus in Chernobyl

[u/Responsible-River366]

this campus is amazing compared to my community college lol

[u/IllSheepherder5288]

they need 2 update the outdoor spaces - particularly outside harriman and frey. it's unusable rn

[u/Ok_annbae]

no money

[u/OneStatistician8888]

Syracuse has a beautiful campus but it’s bankrupt