I just learned something I hadn’t previously known about my old freshman dorm:
Canaday’s architecture can be traced back to its period of construction, which immediately followed the student takeover of University Hall in 1969. Fearing further student unrest, College administrators had the various portions of Canaday fireproofed and separated from each other to foil student organizing. Unlike other Harvard freshman dormitories … students must go outside to access any portion of the building other than their own.
I knew its design was weird, but I never knew why.
My dorm at Colorado State University was designed the same way! I’m sure campuses all over the country used the same model. Very interesting!