The Engineering Quad

The Stanford University Engineering Quadrangle on campus, west of the Main Quad, is quite an impressive space, both structurally and artistically. Examining only the David Packard Electrical Engineering Building and the William Hewlett Teaching Center, I saw two distinctly designed buildings, but a similarity in their themes and motifs. While solely looking at the exterior, their outside gave hints of the goings-on inside, and while oddly not symmetric nor balanced, many datum ran through both buildings that pulled them together and gave them equal rhythm.

When standing in the “front” of the William Hewlett Teaching Center (if one is standing in the center of the quad near the fountain), I noticed the odd shape of the building first and foremost. While the outer walls of a building are usually straight and slanted inwards, the exterior to this building was actually straight and then slanting outwards to form a kind of overhang. I feel like the oddness of this exterior is exactly what the building is trading on—one simply doesn’t see buildings where the base is smaller than the top and the walls come out towards you. Having this quality that is quite apparent at first glance catches your attention and makes you look twice at this building. Also, the circular shape of this part of the building offsets the harsh outward angles and gives it a softer feel. Ironically, while it almost seems like the outer walls push you away from it, it actually draws you in as it is so novel. Adding to the peculiarity of the building, the structure completely changes as you start walking to the right or left. You see that the circular front does not continue in the back, and the building becomes angular with straight edges.

The David Packard Electrical Engineering building’s design is quite different from the Hewlett building. It is all angular, consisting of many rectangular and triangular shapes to comprise a multi-surfaced façade and geometrical structure. The building looks like it was built in pieces and put together like a puzzle that does not fit. These buildings are anything but symmetric and there are multiple vertical and horizontal axes (the surface is not flat in either direction—the walls or the rooftop). The odd angular shapes and multi-surfaced walls make these buildings distinct. The buildings are made to look inventive and interesting—exactly the theme of what is inside the buildings. This is the engineering quad, and what better way to display this with these uniquely structured buildings.

I see the different materials of the buildings themselves as a datum for each building. There are three materials that are common in both and that are mixed throughout each structure—a sandstone-looking tan material, a gray, reflective metal, and glass. The circular, outward-slanting front of the Hewlett building consists of the gray metal. It seems to be composed of only this material until walking around back and seeing elements of the tan in certain blocks. The glass is then included in the large doors and the windows that protrude from the circular façade. The different materials were the first thing I noticed about the Packard building. I looked at the building in three parts, simply divided by its materials. The middle of the building (where the entrance is located) is composed of the metal. The cut-out rectangular structure of this is then continued to the right, but is then composed of the tan material. Then, jutting out on the left is a triangular-shaped glass component of the building which is distinctive as one can look in and see a large portion of the interior of the building, including the stairs and some rooms. While there are sections of different materials in each building, each portion is composed of even, same-sized squares. This provides a datum as each structure itself is so different and varied, but the recurring square theme holds the same for each part.

While the buildings are separated by a large patio space, they are on the same horizontal axis—neither one is raised higher than the other. In this way, the buildings do complement each other. While the same materials tie the buildings together, their structural shapes offset each other in a way that is pleasing. The circular exterior of the Hewlett building, while smooth, is still coming outward and almost “pushing you away” while the Packard building forms an inward angle and gives an inviting feel. These two buildings almost seem that if there were no patio between them, they would fit together and could become one whole building. Even the glass portion of the Packard building alludes to this as viewing some of the interior makes it seem as though this once-whole building was “cut” in half.