One of the myriad recent issues I've been negligent in chatting about on MetaEzra has been the opening of Milstein Hall. Luckily this brilliant (student-created?) parody of Hitler's Downfall says most of the things I would like to say about the building:
Milstein's Downfall from maestro on Vimeo.
Having walked through Milstein at homecoming, I don't think the building is half bad, and it certainly has a more understated presence on the Arts Quad and on the surrounding buildings than some of the previously considered designs. And ironically, despite its understated nature, it's quite an aggressive building, with angles and domes and cantilevers and green roofs. But I'll leave the formal critiques to the architects. Time will only tell how well it ages.
No, where Milstein meets its downfall is in its cost relative to the amount of additional space it provides. AAP is basically getting a lecture hall that it will share with the rest of the University, some gallery space, a handful of really weird bathroom pods, and expanded studio space for architecture students. At the cost of $1,000 a square foot. By contrast, a just-as-stunning Weill Hall provided scientific labs that very well may cure cancer at the cost of less than $650 a square foot!
At the very least, Milstein Hall should have been bigger. Perhaps not in terms of its acreage, but the design could have easily incorporated a second floor of studio space, which would have allowed the college to grow in the future and admit more master's students. You know, to help pay for the building.