This is progress?

An artist rendering of Yale's new colleges

Yale College, the undergraduate division of Yale University, is modeled after Oxford and Cambridge Universities in Britain. Students live in residential colleges. This took a bit of getting used to on my part; I remember asking a student what college he was in, expecting an answer like “Engineering” or “Arts and Letters,” but instead heard “Calhoun.” Say what?

There are twelve residential colleges; the last new one was built in 1961 and Yale has now drawn up plans to build two more. The following is from a Yale Daily News story the other day, “Firm completes construction documents for two new colleges”:

I would love the colleges to start in the fall of 2012, which means that they would be finished, furnished, and up and running by fall 2015," Stern said. "It's one of my great dreams.”

That’s Yale School of Architecture Dean Robert Stern of Robert A. M. Stern Architects.

That struck me as odd. Three years to build two colleges. (I should say that Yale’s residential colleges are far more than dorms: they encompass student living quarters, dining halls with their own kitchens, libraries, meeting rooms, workout rooms, computer rooms, courtyards and a wealth of other amenities).

But still. Three years? And that would be a “dream.”

When did we learn to dream so small?

By comparison, excavation of the site for the Empire State Building started in late January of 1930, with actual construction beginning on March 17, St. Patrick’s Day. The building was officially opened on May 1, 1931, LESS THAN FIFTEEN MONTHS LATER! The project was completed ahead of schedule and under budget.

What the hell’s wrong with us? A building that reigned as the world’s tallest for forty years took fifteen months to build and yet a renowned architect dreams that his two new colleges can be finished in three years?

The older I get the more I understand the phrase “the good old days.”

The Empire State Building, under budget and three months early!