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National Geographic : 1950 Nov
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The National Geographic Magazine fieldstone-a group of spectacular and dis tinctly modern-type buildings rising in open pineland and rubbing shoulders with several low wooden structures resembling army bar racks. I did not have to look at the sign to identify the scene as the new main campus of the Uni versity of Miami (page 581). Born in the midst of the fabulous Florida land boom of the 20's, and almost wrecked in the collapse and general depression that followed, the University survived hurricanes, both physical and financial, to become one of the Southland's outstanding educational in stitutions. The University was chartered in 1925 and opened its doors the next year. The skeleton of a huge building was erected on a 160-acre campus one mile south of Coral Gables' busi ness center, and 966 citizens pledged nearly $9,000,000 to the fledgling seat of learning. Then, on September 18, 1926, Miami's worst hurricane struck with devastating fury.* The land boom collapsed. Nearly all of the pledges went unredeemed. Title to all but 40 acres of the campus melted away. How the University survived these blows, and the general depression which followed, is a story of a struggle won chiefly through the indomitable courage of its president, then and now Dr. Bowman Foster Ashe (page 570). As recently as 1942 the University was con ducting its courses in one three-story build ing, once a hotel in Coral Gables, and hous ing its students in an adjoining structure. Enrollment Today Exceeds 11,000 Today, eight years later, it has an enroll ment of some 11,000 students and operates on three campuses. The heart and glory of the University of Miami is its main campus of 260 acres, built around the 40 acres left over from the depres sion, along with its "skeleton" of steel and concrete. When World War II ended, the main cam pus was a wild stretch of palmettos and Carib bean pines, transected by an unused tidal canal. To this unprepossessing location war time barracks from Florida military camps were hauled, other temporary buildings were erected, and classrooms and administrative offices were installed. Then it was that new building began. Planners of the University have developed the campus in the spirit of Caribbean Flor ida's new architecture. All buildings have natural cross circulation of air. Sheltered galleries, walkways, and breezeways flank the outer walls. And they are built to withstand hurricanes. The architecture is startling to an observer accustomed to cloistered halls and ivy-covered walls on a university campus. The new "dormitories" are not really dormi tories at all, but modern apartment houses containing 533 apartments which accommo date from three to seven students each, and smaller units for the married GI student and his family (page 588). The project covers 60 acres of campus fronting on Dixie Highway. "How much use do the boys make of their electric stoves and refrigerators?" I asked one of the University's administrative officers as we inspected several of these well-furnished apartments. "We wondered about that ourselves at first," he answered. "But, surprisingly enough, the kitchen equipment of nearly every one is put to use. Of course the girls do their own cooking, and so do the boys. New boys usually stock up first with things they shouldn't, things their mothers never provided at home. But they soon discover that after all Mother knew something about preparing meals. They find their innovations either cost too much, thus wrecking their budget, or that their meals are not very well balanced. Then they settle down and get along nicely on about $5 to $7 a week apiece. "When half a dozen new boys take an apart ment, they require several weeks to iron out their housekeeping routine. Somebody must take out the garbage; beds must be made every day. But they soon learn to apportion the work." The first new educational structure to be erected was the Memorial Classroom Build ing (page 574). Year-round temperature in its airy lecture rooms averages 75.20. Then came the Student Club, bordering and partly overhanging an irregular lake made by widen ing a portion of the old canal (page 569). This striking and popular meeting place includes the University cafeteria, a soda bar, lounging and reading rooms, and dancing ter races-a complete community recreation area. With a well-stocked tray from the cafeteria, I made my way to one of the pavilions stretch ing out over the water and ate a substantial meal there to the accompaniment of music drifting out from the soda bar's juke box. All the time this new building was going on, the 23-year-old "skeleton" still rose stark and gaunt. Last autumn the architects turned their attention to it and, with a few adapta tions, they used the original concrete and steel framework to erect the most imposing * See "Men Against the Hurricane," by Andrew H. Brown, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE, October, 1950. 562
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