I’m at a famous university today…

P/C Dan

... and I’m fascinated by the architecture I see all around me. I went on a short run yesterday and was brought up short so many times by the completely remarkable views that I need to know more.

Here are a couple other images that I snagged during my jog around campus.

As you can see, it’s pretty recognizable–very old school, so to speak.

The curiosity was killing me, so I spent a happy hour looking up the architectural backstory for this place. This is the basis of this week’s SRS Challenge.

1. Where am I? (This shouldn’t take you long.)

2. What’s the architectural style of this university? How did it get to be so… distinctive?

3. Now that you know where I am, what’s one really big connection between here and Silicon Valley? (In particular, between this town and San Jose, California? Do you know the way to San Jose?

I’m interested in the backstory here. Why this style? Why here? How did it all happen? These buildings aren’t cheap to make, so why go to all this trouble?

For me, a bit part of scratching my curiosity itch is in understanding the context in which something takes place. I don’t mean to sound like a struggling actor here, but what’s the motivation for doing this? Once I understand the backstory, it makes remembering and understanding much, much simpler.

As usual, be sure to tell us HOW you found the answers? (If you happened to recognize these buildings, just say so. There’s no demerit in just knowing stuff.)

Keep searching!