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What Grinds Our Gears: SFU Burnaby being one big design flaw

OpinionsWhat Grinds Our Gears

Staring at the same slabs of concrete every day can’t be good for productivity

Peak Web
Peak Web
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Surely a campus doesn’t need to look as depressing as this? PHOTO: Gudrun Wai-Gunnarsson / The Peak

By: Hannah Kazemi, SFU Student

Burnaby campus is ugly.

The buildings are glum, the hallways are dark, and the overall vibes suck so bad. Walking through the AQ at 4:00 p.m. in November feels like I’m dragging my feet through a wasteland where happiness goes to die. It’s got as much character as the protagonist in a YA novel and if I spend too much time in one spot, I start to feel sad.

Whenever SFU sends out one of those surveys where they ask if I’m “thriving as an SFU student” and for feedback on my SFU experience, I always say that SFU needs to up their interior design standards and buy some fucking houseplants or something. Yes, academia is a brutal contrast to the surrounding world, but at least the infrastructure could pretend otherwise. Give me more art! Give me greenery! Give me something other than a grey slab of concrete to stare at while I’m contemplating all my life choices!

I would DIE for some funky new indoor-outdoor study spaces. Imagine studying on colourful suede couches (or even better, bean bag chairs!). We could be learning while surrounded by plants and art and mood lighting (oh my!); all the while watching the sunset through floor-to-ceiling windows. The SUB is a good start, but let’s not stop there. Anything to change the campus’ vibes. Please, just no more concrete. I can’t take it anymore.

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Simon Fraser University’s independent student newspaper since 1965.

Contact us: [email protected]

© The Peak Publications Society 1965-2024

Simon Fraser University’s independent student newspaper since 1965.

Contact us:
[email protected]

© The Peak Publications Society 1965-2024