Building beyond buildings
From the center of the newly-named Abele Quadrangle, the telltale signs of change on campus are slowly receding. The West Union crane, an eyesore-turned-social media darling, was quietly dismantled several weeks ago. The scaffolding of Rubenstein and Perkins Libraries are gone as well. Manicured lawns have emerged from what was once woodchips and mud. Within the next 18 months, the neo-Gothic quad will return to looking more or less as its chief designer and namesake intended. What Julian Abele might not have expected, however, is the assemblage of glass-and-steel buildings several hundred yards away, hidden away behind iconic Duke stone. The centerpiece of this new campus is the monolithic windowed face of the new West Union, which rises up over pedestrians on the newly reopened plaza bridge.