The “public face and private heart”

Commons was the keystone of the arch; it held the young campus together. Housing the dining hall, post office, bookstore, health service, lounge, studios, academic and performing space, it has been — and remains — Bennington’s student center and campus centerpiece, its public face and private heart.

Its walls bore witness to the cultural and intellectual life of the 20th century: the birth of modern dance through Martha Graham and Doris Humphrey; lectures by Peter Drucker and W.H. Auden; readings by Zora Neale Hurston, Buckminster Fuller, e.e. cummings, and Ralph Ellison. Bob Dylan played here in ’61 — opening for the Reverend Gary Davis.

The environment here is dynamic. That’s part of the pedagogy of space at Bennington. When you see that in the physical representation of your campus, you feel that the values in your education are confirmed. There’s no disconnect between where you live and what you learn.” Duncan Dobbelmann, Chief Communications Officer

In ’85, some of the walls stopped talking. For more than three decades, the storied Third Floor and its 15,000 square feet have been closed, failing to meet fire codes and the requirements of ADA accessibility. Meanwhile, mechanical systems — inefficient, antiquated, on a green campus that prides itself on looking forward — have not been updated or replaced since 1932. The building was never insulated. The original design as a two-sided building (its monumental façade framed the northern edge of Commons Lawn, the core campus, its smaller north wing served as a service entry for back-of-house operations) has grown increasingly misplaced on a campus that has expanded northward over eight decades. As the architects say, the obstructed movement between north and south halves of the campus puts the campus’s central building in stark opposition to the ethos of the college, which emphasizes flow and the seamless integration across disciplines.

Renovating the dormant third floor will create 15 additional classrooms and learning spaces, and restore a home for performances, art installations, and the experiential learning of humanities. A re-imagined northern entrance and floor plan will transform a campus centerpiece, finally, into a 360-degree building. New systems will be efficient and technologically up to date. The old open mailboxes — a tangible symbol of community — will be restored, and a bakery/café added. An iconic old building will be made new again. It will say to new generations of Bennington students, “I’m here for you now, make of it what you can.”

Among the enhancements:

• fifteen new classroom spaces that will preserve the unique character of Commons while incorporating new, state-of-the-art technology
• reviving the once-famous third-floor performance and lecture space
• creating an innovation hub and learning laboratory

A showcase of “loose-fit” architecture

There is an attention paid here to beauty in the deepest sense. It’s in our signs and our designs and in our building materials. It’s not about matching style and color. The aesthetic here — the intention — goes beyond the surface. It includes a respect for the past and a reverence for form and function. At the same time, Bennington has never been interested in competing — in choosing to compete — in a campus and amenities arms race. Bennington has always been interested in making its buildings work better and more efficiently. In engaging with the full set of its campus resources and breathing new life into them.

As associate vice president of facilities management and planning Andrew Schlatter likes to say, every building at Bennington is not a tight fit. “We like ‘loose-fit’ architecture here,” he says. “Adaptable, flexible, multi-use, able to change with the times.” The new student health center is a showcase of loose fit — it started its life as a chicken coop and brooder before becoming faculty apartments and offices. It’s emblematic of how we view buildings here. It’s the same way we view our education.

The new Health and Wellness center will provide:

• 5,000 intentionally designed square feet of health and psychological services
• offices, exam rooms, and spaces for convalescence and support
• services and private, safe space for the full Bennington community

Reimagining a new student center

Bennington puts students at the center of their own educations and in the fall of 2018, they will have the rare opportunity to reflect on and participate in the re-imagining of their own Student Center. In a course taught by architect Andrew Schlatter (Bennington’s associate vice president of facilities management and planning) and architect and faculty member Donald Sherekfin, students will work collaboratively to generate concepts and design ideas for a full interior renovation of a space transitioning from its temporary function as a dining hall back to a home for student-centered programming. The animating question: How can the mosaic of proposed programs occupy the existing building in ways that create efficient, compelling spaces?

The course—and the resulting plans—will reflect both a student-centered approach to learning and a purpose-driven approach to physical design: Both are Bennington hallmarks.

The reimagined student center will incorporate a wide number of programs and uses, including (potentially) features such as:

• a demonstration kitchen
• a small performance hall
• a space for quiet reflection and meditation
• a multi-thousand-square-foot “flex-room” suitable for recreation and large social and academic functions

...why not think in terms of a continuous whole, something that would be neither one big building nor 40 small ones, but both…a stream of energy rising and falling with areas of concentration and areas of expansion, each piece capable of having its own architectural identity...?” Elizabeth Brown ’37, Architectural historian

Our buildings and grounds

The Bennington College campus is home to a remarkable range of historically significant buildings, built over a span of more than two centuries. It is not a static historic landmark. Rather, it is a dynamic, living, inhabited space, where needs are constant and changing.

The ongoing dialogue between the buildings and the College is a testament to the capacity of the structures to adapt to new uses, and also to the values, creativity, and commitment of the Bennington community itself. Antiquated systems get updated and made more efficient. Surfaces get maintained, roofs repaired and replaced, foundations shored up. Here, we do not tear down and start over; our history evolves. We maintain and adapt. The greenest building is the one that is already built.

In addition to supporting renovations and new construction to some of our campus' most utilized facilities, a fully resourced Campus Renewal Fund will also provide Bennington with the flexibility to invest in ongoing critical infrastructure upgrades throughout the physical plant. These could include:

• a full lighting retrofit in VAPA with efficient all-LED fixtures and responsive lighting controls.
• energy efficiency upgrades to our colonial houses, significantly reducing campus energy usage.
• new catwalks, rigging, and theatrical lighting system in the Martha Hill Dance Theater.
• a natural campus-wide storm water management system utilizing green infrastructure/landscape improvements.
• enhancements to improve acoustic quality and range in VAPA Performing Arts venues, prioritizing Greenwall Auditorium.
• new music practice spaces for individuals and groups in Jennings Music Building.
• landscape and architectural improvements to extend accessibility of existing campus buildings, including new and re-worked pathways and building entries and targeted interior renovations.
• campuswide tree planting and maintenance to ensure continued diversity and beauty of our natural landscape, including arborist work to extend the lives of historic trees.
• interior lighting renovation and facade restoration at Crossett Library.
• replacement of our fleet of gasoline-powered and older electric vehicles with sustainable modern electric vehicles.

Mundane as it sounds, maintenance of our land and buildings is perhaps one of the deepest means we have of engaging with our physical home; it is also the most subtle, and the least recognized.” Andrew Schlatter, Associate Vice President for Facilities Management and Planning

Bennington was born to be at the cutting edge.

There is a remarkable liveliness and thoughtfulness palpable in buildings and spaces all across the campus. The spirit and beauty of Bennington exist in its people and its places, each informing, inspiring, and challenging the other.

The Campus Renewal Fund will focus on where and how our students learn, the physical infrastructure of health and wellness of our entire community, and the College’s ability to strategically invest in special facilities projects.

The wonderful thing about being revolutionary by design is that every forward motion is also a reaffirmation of our core values and a reconnection to our roots. When we look to the future, we are embracing our legacy. We recognize the extraordinary work of those who have come before, and we are grateful, because they—you—are absolutely a part of the future we will build, together.

Mariko Silver, President