Although it may seem like it, this is not an extension of the Boyd Orr Building shown yesterday. Built in the same (horrific) architectural style as the Boyd Orr Building and several other buildings on campus, this is the Adam Smith Building which provides for the needs of Social Sciences departments such as Politics, Economics, Social Work, Sociology and Anthropology. The building is divided into two distinctly different parts, one housing staff and postgraduate offices for many LBSS departments and the other containing lecture theaters, the Adam Smith Library, classrooms, laboratories, the Glasgow University Media Group and more Faculty of Social Sciences offices.
As the Dean of the Faculty told us during Freshers’ Week, the University dedicated one of the ugliest buildings at the university to it’s most famous student, Adam Smith (of The Wealth of Nations fame). The building was opened in 1967 during the great 1960s expansion of the University north of University Avenue on Gilmorehill, a period of expansion which is responsible for the likes of the University Library which towers over the Adam Smith Building.
Now, as with the Boyd Orr Building, the Adam Smith Building is really quite difficult to get a good picture of. Not because its a tricky subject to shoot like the Cloisters, but because there isn’t much beauty to the concrete slab + windows combination. Regardless, if you’re a Social Sciences student, the building will grow on you and you’ll begin to appreciate it with time. During my first year at Glasgow University I had all my tutorials (Politics, Sociology and Anthropology, and Economic and Social History) in the Adam Smith Building, and the view from some of the classrooms is enough to let you forgive and forget what the exterior looks like.
Maybe it’s just me…
Interestingly, the Adam Smith Building’s exterior and its immediate surroundings are apparently a good spot for parkour.
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