File:The Brutalist Architecture of the Ellicott Complex, University at Buffalo North Campus, Amherst, New York - 20220228.jpg

English: The Brutalist architecture of UB North Campus's Ellicott Complex, as seen from the loop just off the Richmond B parking lot on a February 2022 afternoon. Affectionately known as "Legoland" among the student body, the obvious influence behind the breathtaking design of this enormous interconnected megacomplex of 38 buildings was Moshe Safdie's Brutalist masterwork Habitat 67: the motif of cuboidal modules stacked on top of each other seemingly at random, engendering characteristic imbalanced forms full of visual drama, is one that's shared by both the Ellicott Complex and its Montreal counterpart. More darkly, some sources - such as author and historian Mark Goldman in his book City by the Lake - claim that the decentralized site plan, its labyrinthine tangle of interior hallways, its lack of any open spaces large enough for mass gatherings, and the placement of important executive offices on upper floors accessible only by elevator were an attempt at "riot-proof" design in direct response to the violent student demonstrations that had paralyzed the South Campus in the late 1960s and early '70s. (It's important to note, however, that claims to that effect, which are frequently leveled at Brutalist university buildings of roughly contemporaneous vintage, are viewed as dubious by architectural historians, especially since the philosophy behind Brutalism was explicitly opposed to repressive social control mechanisms of that nature.) UB's original intent with the Ellicott Complex was to emulate the system used at British universities such as Cambridge and Oxford wherein students specializing in a particular area of study would live, study, and work together with faculty, hence the clustering of the buildings into six distinct "quads" that were designed to house 3,200 students between them. This plan quickly fell by the wayside, however, and save for a brief interlude in 1993 - when it was used as lodging for athletes participating in that summer's World University Games, many of whose events were held in the then-brand new UB Stadium - the Ellicott Complex has housed a mix of dormitories, faculty and administrative offices, classroom space, and student amenities similar to what you'd find at any other large university in the U.S.