Ryan Davis' Madison Space post 4/7

By: Ryan Davis

This space is the "waiting area" in front of miller hall behind the quad on JMU's campus. This picture was taken seated on a concrete sitting area that faces a circular concrete seating area with plant life in the middle. From the bus stop at the bookstore you can find this area by walking up to the quad and then continuing behind it where you will see miller hall. This is where my picture was taken.

This area is actually used for many things. Students use this area as a waiting area before class. When the sun is out many students like to sit outside and wait for class to start. Others like to pull out some notes to do some studying before a test of talk to a friend on the phone before class. Some teachers take their classes out here on a nice day in order to enjoy the sun while learning. I think when JMU designers were working on this area they had exactly that in mind. This area is set up perfectly as a space to enjoy the nice weather before class, maybe get some last minute work done or have a quick phone conversation.

I think there are no practical changes that could be made to this space to make it better for student use. It is not a waiting area that is meant for long time use so its not meant to be very comfortable. However, it could be aesthetically changed to be more appealing to students. The area in the middle of the circular seating area could contain more pleasant looking flowers and shrubberies. In terms of the environment the school could put in a few more trash cans in order to reduce the amount of trash that tends to be left on the seating areas from students who leave their trash in a rush to get into class after taking too long of a wait.

I have spent a lot of time waiting outside in this area so far at JMU. Usually my classes in this building are my Spanish classes so this area will remind me of my Spanish minor that I am working on at JMU. I think this article is correct in regards to JMU. He says that many campus' are the products of many centuries of architecture. This is present in the older looking buildings on the quad and the newer looking buildings at east campus. Also the quad is a very important part of our campus must like "courtyards" are talked about in this article.