Primetime at BU Library Presents "By Design (But Short on Money): The Aesthetic Philosophy Guiding Bethel's Campus Planning"

Did you know that in the 1960s, an aesthetic philosophy complete with guidelines for designing Bethel's campus was developed by Eugene Johnson, founder of the Art Department? Central to his thinking were the questions, "What should the design of a campus serving the mission of higher education as serious both academically and spiritually look like? Is there an aesthetic that embodies in the very design and finish of a community's buildings and landscape--expressing in its forms and design--what the community aspires to be?" Eugene Johnson said there is, and he defined that aesthetic. Recently, art historian Wayne Roosa researched Gene's aesthetic guidelines and the history of their application (and misapplication) in the development of Bethel's campus.