April 10th marked the historic 150th anniversary of the founding of my alma mater, Westminster University. While the event itself was lovely and the sun-melted cake was delicious, I sat there reflecting on my time in college and the elements of a building that lead to such longevity.
Front and center for the campus sits Converse Hall (pictured), first built in 1906 of red brick and white stone in the Jacobethan and Tudor styles, it has stood the test of time through over 100 years of instruction. The campus has grown around it with many more buildings being built at different time to fulfill various needs for the school’s expansion.
The question that often plagues me is why does a building like Converse Hall survive where so many others are built then demolished only a few decades later? The input of manpower, intellectual capital, and the embodied carbon of the materials are all a tragic loss when buildings have short service lives before being unceremoniously bulldozed to make way for new homes or businesses. Societies save buildings that have meaning – to individuals or communities. While I subjectively feel Converse is a beautiful building, without the institution of the university to take stewardship of it for all of these years it may not have survived the politics of property development that have shaped the neighborhoods surrounding it, and continue to do so. However, even within these neighborhoods are homes that are many decades old with some nearly as old as Converse itself.
To cover the topic of building homes that last is simply too much for this humble newsletter, so for now, let’s all take a moment to appreciate the buildings around us that have served many generations, and which may yet serve generations to come.