Issue link: http://digital.corporatepress.com/i/416289
20 | november/december 2014 | Facilities Manager renewed and reinforced, even if today there's less of the tradi- tional residential experience, Suri said. He wants to see uni- versities create all kinds of experiences for people outside the classroom—book discussions, speakers, things that bring people together—and to create spaces to encourage that. COOL NEIGHBOR—AND CLOSED EMPIRE In recent years, a paradox has emerged. On the one hand, the physical growth of universities means that, instead of being separate, on the outskirts of town, they are now embedded in the city and infuse the city with their energy. Universities are part of contemporary urban- ism. These are "knowledge cities…cool places to live," Suri said, with knowledge workers who create spin-offs and with great entertainment and restaurants. People like to live in these cit- ies that are "inordinately complex and messy in ways that are stimulating for all of us," he said. But on the other hand, the universities themselves have become victims of their own success. "Turner said we became democratic citizens because we left empire and had to pio- neer a new space. Now, our huge universities are empires in their own right. Instead of a uni- versity sitting in a larger society, it's an empire closed off to a lot that goes on around it," said Suri. "Though our connections to the public are deeper than ever, our central operating The modern campus today; UT Austin, right, and UW Madison, below.