One of the emblems of college life in America, whether in cinema or admissions literature, has been the tree-shaded campus on whose broad lawns social life, sports and commencement foster community. The conjunction of buildings and open space may take different forms depending on age, prestige or context. Stanford University, for example, developed a Mediterranean style, while the University of Virginia, with the famous influence of Thomas Jefferson, and the Johns Hopkins University favor federalist styles. Perhaps the most common model is collegiate gothic, imitating the halls and cloisters of Europe.

After the Second World War, colleges become architectural proving grounds in individual building (Louis Kahn’s work at Bryn Mawr and Yale, I.M. Pei’s campus for New College, etc.). Yet rapid growth, especially at public institutions like large, state schools, has often submerged early plans within a sea of vaguely modern and postmodern buildings and endless parking lots.

The urban campus adapts this pastoral ideal through enclosure and security when they have resources (University of Pennsylvania, UCLA, Columbia, Yale). Some special schools, like medical schools and other urban institutions, however, have integrated into the streetscapes around them (CUNY, Georgia State, etc). Yet even community colleges and business colleges may attempt to create this social space or take some distinction from historic preservation of older cityscapes. These campuses may also lack the sports facilities or residential buildings of wealthier or ex-urban universities.

The idea of the campus has strongly positive associations; even schools without cohesive development may favor it in promotional literature. The term also has been taken up by business and research consortia like those in Silicon Valley, although the “business campus” provides the form without the academic life or goals of the original.