This semester, I am studying photography at Nottingham Trent University which resides deep in the heart of Nottingham City Center. At first glance, NTU seems like any ordinary city school. There are buildings intertwined with cityscapes, much of the architecture aims to grow up instead of out, and it seems very cramped. However, NTU is one of the most fascinating university campuses I have ever visited. Voted the Modern University of the Year in 2023 by the Sunday Times, the campus lives up to the idea of modernism. I have made this conclusion based on three buildings that I have spent some time in, Bonington, the library, and Dryden. The main building I would like to highlight is Dryden, as it is an academic building primarily used for classes to conduct classes. The exterior of this building is very basic, however, I was pleasantly surprised when I went inside. On the first floor, there are five or six primary classrooms which are incredibly spacious and built for collaboration with several round tables. Outside the classrooms, there are about ten tables with Macs for students to sit and do schoolwork between classes. I found this space incredibly helpful, and I wish my university had more spaces like this. The space also had couches, and even a kitchen for students to use if they needed to get water, warm up a meal, or sit and eat lunch. Ultimately, the entirety of Dryden is student-focused, which is so smart and different from what I experienced in the United States. Overall, despite only spending a few days within these buildings, as the semester has just started, I am impressed with what I have found, and I strongly believe schools in the US should consider building student-focused academic buildings instead of solely focusing on making more room for classrooms. Classrooms should not be the primary focus when building an academic building, the focus should be to cater to student's needs and create an environment where academics thrive. I feel like NTU has done a spectacular job at this on their modern campus.
