TEd, the outside of the building is certainly not monochromatic. We DAAPers get made fun of for going to school in a pink (and other light colors) building. Eisenman, the architect (duh) is one of the premier US architects today. He has a notable building on the Ohio State campus as well. His style can loosely be described as deconstructivist, breaking down the historical paradigms of the field. The building, they claim, has no right angles (bull) and it curves around the older building up the hill and creates a large atrium like area in the middle. This area, which includes the "Grand Stair" is the main meeting place. Many meetings and classes are held on the stair and in the atrium cafeteria. The reason for all of the white is to accent the artwork that is frequently displayed. And he did, knowing the inhabitants, intentionally incorporate a couple badly designed aspects, like a confusing flow pattern and a column right in the middle of your way when you go up one staircase. Another complaint that many people have is that he said from the start that it would only last about 10 years (disposable architecture). Right now it's 6 or 7 years old and still in great shape. I guess they're keeping up with repairs well. Anyway, it's obviously a matter of opinion. I happen to like going to school in such a note-worthy building.
And Jo, we have one of those on campus too:
http://vontz.uc.edu/ My dad works there.
