[1690] in Discussion of MIT-community interests
Re: [Mit-talk] dollar bill mural
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Martha Angela Wilcox)
Wed Dec 14 12:02:44 2005
Date: Wed, 14 Dec 2005 11:49:52 -0500
To: Jeff Roberts <thejoker@alum.mit.edu>
In-Reply-To: <b82503c90512140704v6712fac7oa9b69f4b3de13a52@mail.gmail.com>
From: Martha Angela Wilcox <angela@csail.mit.edu>
cc: mit-talk@mit.edu
cc: "Sponge-Talk@mit.edu" <sponge-talk@mit.edu>
Errors-To: mit-talk-bounces@mit.edu
On Wed, Dec 14, 2005 at 10:04:20AM -0500, Jeff Roberts wrote:
>
> collection of the MIT Museum -- is that where the dollar bill belongs
> now?
>
> 2. Sure the mural looks cool, but will it really have the same effect
> if the cashier's office is no longer behind it? MIT decided it was
My thoughts that address both of these points brought up by Jeff-
To me, the dollar bill mural being removed is less of a concern than the
glass wall replacing it. So long as the dollar bill mural is preserved
as most great hacks have been when possible, I have no problems with it
being relocated to a more fitting place like the mit museum. I also have
no issue with it remaining where it is. But this is not the bigger
problem I see.
The glass wall should be reconsidered. In casual conversation
(not restricted to this week), many people have expressed to me their
distaste for glass wall surrounded space. In particular, the course 3
lab area in the east side of the Infinite makes the people that work
there feel uncomfortable. Perhaps the surveys that are being taken
should have more options even. Milo's survey http://mit.edu/tevin/www/
mural.html is fine, but it is just as restricting as the proposals made
to hurried students seduced by cookies in the hallway.
There seems to be a debate about whether the mural should stay or not,
but consider an alternative. The mural should perhaps go, but a
different type of wall should take its place- one that's more
appropriate to the space. A student lounge should be a comfortable place
to hang-out with friends. A fish bowl where international tour groups
(yes, one actually walked up and took a picture with me once when I was
in lobby 7 like I was some sort of mit statue), sketchy grad students,
or tired undergrads can oogle at people supposedly "hanging out" does
not sound very comfortable. In fact, being so close to such a
high-traffic area, it seems like the only way to make the lounge
somewhat comfortable would be to partially shield it from the
hustle-bustle of the Infinite. Open doors/easy access is fine but a
glass wall-good grief! Maybe glass walls are aesthetically pleasing to
some, but the aesthetics of a lounge are less important than the comfort
of the people using that lounge.
Also presenting the committee with something that is perhaps a
compromise between keeping the mural and removing the mural may be a
better solution to actually getting something accomplished that will
result in a use-able lounge space for mit students.
Angela Wilcox
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