The Observer, November 18, 2005
Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11
Walkway useful but doesn't convey original message
After a year of construction and a delay that could not be helped, the university has finally opened up the Binary Code walkway for student use. However, what was a long-anticipated opening occurred with little hype, which is surprising considering the enormous attention given to the competition which created the name and the design. Because no formal dedication has been announced for Binary Code, one has to wonder: could this lack of focus on the walkway be an administrative attempt to bury the embarrassingly unattractive outcome? As it stands, the walkway is missing crucial landscaping that would make it more inviting. There are no benches or posting kiosks surrounding it to welcome visible signs of student life on our campus. Nor does it seem to represent the underlying meaning of student and school unification.
This is not to diminish the actual effectiveness of the walkway. It has accomplished a great deal of tasks which the university has worked towards for the past few years. The Baker Building, after years of delay, was finally razed, pleasing the campus community. Onlookers now have a view of the more aesthetically pleasing buildings on campus – Amasa Stone Chapel, Adelbert Hall, and Tomlinson Hall were all once hidden by Baker – and the quad is now entirely visible. In addition to that, students now have the use of a convenient thoroughfare. Perhaps these benefits should outweigh the look of the walkway. However, the entire premise of last year's competition was to create a unifying bridge between the Main Quad and the Mather Quad; to symbolize the intimate connections made between both parts of campus and the uniquely-Case individuals of which the student body is comprised.
In the end, the Binary Code walkway – which has no actual translation – has failed in its attempt to unify the campus by displaying how "the people and resources of the Case community [can] be combined to create and sustain the most powerful learning environment in the world." If that is the case, the indistinguishable "1s" and "0s" set in visually unappealing stone say nothing more than that students should only assume that their role on campus is simply a meaningless pattern of number – which some would suggest could be preceded by dollar signs.
While there is nothing that can be done at this point to change the walkway, the university should carefully consider the messages, both past and present, being sent to the student body. Not everything has to signify a sense of harmony between the two schools. In fact, there is nothing wrong with something as plain as a sidewalk made of grey cement – especially when it is as useful as the walkway. However, in presenting Binary Code as a fusion of the strengths of both campuses they set themselves – and students – up for a disappointment.
The Case community should hope, however, that the original meaning of the walkway will be lost with each subsequent generation of Case students. With time the walk may be just another chalked-up, muddy path to class.
