Campus og studiemiljø - Bygningsstyrelsen

“ Byen, som campus er tilknyttet, skal ideelt set sive ind
og blande sig. lige som med alt andet kan tankegangen i et
studiemiljø blive for ensrettet, hvis man aldrig møder andet end
folk, der minder om en selv og taler samme akademiske lingo.
Her er de fysiske rammer altafgørende for at skabe denne
åbenhed / ideally, the city to which the campus is attached,
should seep in and mingle. as is so often the case, the way of
thinking in a study environment may become too uniform, if you
never come across people who are unlike yourself and speak
a different academic lingo. Here, the physical framework is
decisive when it comes to creating this kind of openness
between the various NYU buildings, which
contributes to removing any doubt that you
belong, and where your identity as a student
is never questioned, whilst on the other hand,
the framework is never too restrictive or
dictating. After all, you find yourself in the
midst of diversity, the city is right there, existing
as a contrast to your identity as merely a
‘student’. NYU’s dominance, for instance, is
not completely overpowering Washington
Square Park. The area also includes cafés,
restaurants and clothes shops. Apart from
the fact that personally I thrived with this
dual identity as a student and ‘myself’ in the
knowledge that the study identity had holes
through which I could escape if it grew too
restrictive, I believe that this is a study environment
form that suits many young people
today. Modern man needs several identity-creating
options – I think that having just one
would quickly seem limiting. On the other
hand, I also feel that an identity with ‘holes’
is beneficial in relation to one’s understanding
of the surrounding world. The world is
changing constantly, and in order to understand
this changeability, I think it is important
that you yourself are flexible and have
the ability to accept other people’s terms. Especially
in the light of growing globalisation,
I think that the greater the interplay between
different physical spaces, and ultimately,
identities, the better the developed ability for
empathy and understanding.
And finally, it is of course essential that oases
exist where you can meet up and relax from
studying. New York University is privileged
because of the way it is located, as already
mentioned, around Washington Square
Park, a park that is used for recreation and
which is populated by many other people
apart from students. At the centre of the
park, there’s a circular fountain where people
sit and eat their lunch, students, tourists
and working New Yorkers alike. Scattered
around the place are street performers or
musical bands, and street vendors selling
their goods around the park. In one corner
there’s a small park within the park, where
dogs are walked. In another corner, people
play chess, there’s a playground, a replica of
the Arc de Triomphe, and among the many
paths that lead to the fountain are green
areas where some sit alone and read, whilst
others sit and talk together, and some play
Frisbee or football. Again, it is the diversity
of the people who feel that this is their park,
and the diversity of the park’s offers that
inspire. The park may be full of students,
but it is not their park alone, it is everybody’s
park, or the city’s park. If future planning
involves enhancing the sense of campus in
tre stemmer: studerende / tHree voiCes: students
Denmark, I think it is important not to create
too claustrophobic a framework. Ideally,
the city to which the campus is attached,
should seep in and mingle. As is so often the
case, the way of thinking in a study environment
may become too uniform, if you never
come across people who are unlike yourself
and speak a different academic lingo. Here,
the physical framework is decisive when it
comes to creating this kind of openness.
One of the alternative spaces that can be
included in the interaction with other spaces
is cyberspace. As I said at the beginning, I
consider the study environment a flexible
entity. The concept is not necessarily related
to a specific physical space. Neither is it
necessarily connected to a physical space
at all. As Jakob Linaa Jensen writes in his
article, ‘Offentligheden i de digitale mediers
tidsalder’ (The public in the age of the digital
media) on the website Turbulens.net, the
public is no longer determined by a physical
space. “As in cyberspace, social interaction
in public is not physical. Physical presence
is not a prerequisite. The individuals who
interact online or in public (or in the online
public) are themselves placed in a physical
space while the interaction takes place. At
New York University, the Internet served
as an alternative – and dominant – space to
the physical. This was where texts to be read
were ‘posted’, and both academic discussions
and dissemination of information took place
by email. Just as a concrete physical space,
cyberspace becomes a space that intensifies
the identity as a student. Again, I think that
this space is ideal for mobile, modern man;
you are not dependent on your own physical
presence, in principle you can be anywhere
and still follow the teaching. I also believe
that physical space and cyberspace work
best in interplay. The contrast between the
two types of space inspires and allows more
types of identity to be created.
I think that it is in the interplay between
several spaces that the optimum study
environment of the future will be found.
A duality of a physical acknowledgement
that the students are important via a basic,
good framework, and openness towards the
surrounding world. Ultimately, it is the surrounding
world, life, that inspires academic
considerations.
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