Mon 3 Dec 2007
What is going on in this picture, which I took several weeks ago? Why is there a tree on top of the building?
Mon 3 Dec 2007
What is going on in this picture, which I took several weeks ago? Why is there a tree on top of the building?
December 3rd, 2007 at 12:39 pm
The tree is part of a ceremony called “topping off.” The tree is put at the highest point of a building when it’s being constructed, I think for good luck. There was something about it in the Daily Messages a few weeks ago. Also, the Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topping_off) sheds a little more light on it than I can.
December 3rd, 2007 at 2:34 pm
What an interesting and bizarre ritual… and one I have never heard of before!
Thanks so much for the link explaining it.
December 3rd, 2007 at 2:54 pm
An easy question for those who read the Daily Messages, but more difficult for those who do not. SO read up!
December 3rd, 2007 at 3:18 pm
That’s the New Academic Building. It has a construction web camera on it.
http://www.williams.edu/liveimages/nab_construction_image.jpg
I just looked at the camera image and found the sides of the building covered with plastic sheeting, snow everywhere, and a fierce swirl of snow spiraling up from the roof. Much has changed over the last two weeks or so, and winter has certainly moved to Williamstown.
At the topping off ceremonies in New York, they often make a big deal of the project’s safety record, so I think that, in addition to appeasing the tree gods, the tradition might also have a root in thanking the gods for letting work on the project proceed to its highest and most dangerous point (framing the peak) without injury.
Anyway, thanks very much for the photograph. I always enjoy photographs from the campus.
It’s good to see that new classrooms and faculty offices are on their way, which may soon help to make up somewhat for the disruptions to the central campus caused by the seemingly endless construction.
December 3rd, 2007 at 4:20 pm
That picture would load a lot faster if you scaled it down to a smaller size. There’s no need to embed the full version.
December 3rd, 2007 at 4:31 pm
You can see pictures of the tree and an American flag being raised by pointing your browser to http://www.williams.edu/go/stetsonsawyer/construction5.htm.
December 3rd, 2007 at 5:42 pm
Prof. Brown -
Thanks very much for the link to the series of Topping Off photos for the South Academic Building. It was fun to see the story behind Abby’s picture.
There’s a lot to be done, but it looks as though the project is really moving along. I’m looking forward to the next big day: when the fences come down and the building opens.
Best of luck to all involved for a safe, smooth, and prompt path to that day.
December 3rd, 2007 at 9:58 pm
‘10: I have now scaled the image appropriately and fixed it in the post.
Abby: Check out the photo posting instructions in the FAQ on how to get Moveable Type to automatically resize it for you in the future.
December 3rd, 2007 at 10:29 pm
Is this the building across from Paresky?
I was unable to get any other photos to come up from the link that Prof. Brown posted….just a “page not found” display.
December 3rd, 2007 at 11:20 pm
FROSH mom -
Yes, it is.
This is the page for the Stetson-Sawyer project:
http://www.williams.edu/go/stetsonsawyer/
Try opening that page. It has reports about the overall project and a link to the Topping Off ceremony photographs.
Originally I could get into the photographs through the cite Pof. Brown posted, When I tried after reading your post, I, too, got the dreaded purple cow Page Not Found message. I went to the main Williams page and searched in the box (upper right corner) for “Brown Academic Building” and got the cite to the Stetson Sawyer Project page. I’ve often had good results from playing around with that search box when a link didn’t work and I found myself looking at the purple cow.
Hope this helps.
December 4th, 2007 at 8:01 am
There’s a link to all construction information on the upper left hand side of the homepage. Daily Messages can be accessed by pulling down the menu at the top of the home page marked News and Events.
December 4th, 2007 at 9:55 am
Found it..thanks all.
Such thorough coverage. Not just informative for someone like me, but a real resource for any student interested in architecture or engineering.
I have always been impressed with the Williams website. At the very beginning of the “college search”, when my frosh showed it to me, it stood out. Easy to navigate, refreshed regularly, informative, with a sense of fun to it. Someone does a beautiful job with it.
December 4th, 2007 at 6:34 pm
jp - Thank you for the helpful navigation tips.
It is, indeed, a very good website.
Recently, I’ve been enjoying my very own series of Stressbusters, thanks to the Daily Messages. On each day of the run-up to Christmas, there’s a fun link in the messages. Yesterday, I used the application I found there to create snowflakes and then watch them swirl while I was on hold, trying to straighten out a relative’s prescription insurance. Today I listened to someone from the BBC read me The Story of Isa while I reloaded a program after my computer crashed. Thank you very much to the people of the Williams website and press office for all you do to keep the “aways” plugged in, but especially for the bit of holiday fun.
December 4th, 2007 at 7:55 pm
Wow, thanks &!
The art work and reading of the Sacred Stories are terrific.
Would that I had known about it yesterday when I was on a 20 minute phone wait for Apple helpline!