Visions of the Future Campus - continued

		Very high bird's eye map of the campus, looking east 1992.
		Carleton University Graphic Services

	Upper Campus, 1991. Oblique aerieal photo, looking southeast with the newly constucted Library annex and the rear addition to Southam HAll in the centre.
	Carleton department of physical plant.

Current planning proposals do not seem to emphasize issues related to appearance and function. Aesthetics, order, landscaping, pedestrian circulation, and building services seem to have been of greater relative concern during the first decade of planning the campus. In the past, the administration's desire to have maximum flexibility has reduced the effect of a cohesive, overall design. This desire for flexibility seems to have resulted in a planning concept which allows site elements to be dropped where they fit, without normal regard for design and planning principles.

Current proposals are, to some extent, an attempt to bring order to a conceptual base which has little established organization. In that sense the previous plans from the mid and late 1950s differ substantially.

One important element has remained constant throughout the past forty years of master plan concepts. During this time architects and planners have made repeated reference to the overall setting of the campus. With Dow's Lake to the north, the Rideau Canal and Experimental Farm to the west, and the Rideau River and city park to the south, this location is a fortunate choice for a campus.