Order in the House: Two Interior Scenes at the HUB

It was snowing when I woke up. I took the bus to campus and had an amazingly huge breakfast at the Waffle Shop on College Ave. From there, I walked up onto campus to check things out before catching my next bus to our offices. The Waffle Shop had been pretty empty (unusual for them, so I understand), and the HUB - short for Hetzel Union Building - was similarly quiet.

I don't know if it was because it was early in the morning, or that it was snowing, or that it was the last day of classes before spring break. But things were pretty deserted everywhere. I seized the opportunity to take some interior scene shots at the HUB, using mostly monochrome and vivid settings. (And it truly is a hub - lots of student activities and organizations have their home here. There are restaurants and shops on the ground level, as well.)

When I was an undergrad student at Penn State in the 1980s, the HUB looked nothing at all like this! A few years ago, they did a major remodel, and created the sky-lit commons area that you see in these two photos. It is a space for people to hang out in, and there are tables and chairs everywhere, as well as the steps you see in the main photo. It is big and airy and full of light.

You can figure out how the two pictures fit together by looking at the colorful row of plant pots; it is the same row of pots in both photos. In the main photo above, the plant pots sit at the top of a set of beautiful wide stairs for people to sit on.

Except that on this day, the stairs were completely deserted! Behind the plant pots is a window overlooking what will be a green roof area. Beyond that, if it weren't snowing, you'd be able to catch a really great view of our beautiful Mount Nittany.

In the second photo (see extras), I am standing behind the plant pots looking in exactly the opposite direction: through the plant pots and back into the main open area in the center of the building.

The plant pots are blocking a good view of all of the tables and chairs on the ground level. There are chairs and lounging areas on every level. You should see it when the light is really good! The light comes through the ceiling glass and casts beautiful patterns and shadows everywhere.

Most days, the place is loud and lively with the hustle and bustle of lots and lots of people, and it's easy to miss the basic order beneath all of that chaos: the orderly rows and rows of chairs, and tables, and colorful plant pots, the stairs that when empty almost look like a row of dresser drawers. (I'll have to check next time I'm there, but I suspect those things that look like drawer pulls are actually conveniently placed electrical outlets.)

I wanted the song to accompany this to be about order and harmony, so here is a good one for that: the New Seekers, with I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing. In order to balance out the yin and the yang of things, I'm also including this one: Warren Zevon, with Disorder in the House (and yeah, that gent whanging away on the guitar in the background is indeed Bruce Springsteen).