Inga Saffron, the Inquirer’s architecture critic, had some harsh words to share about the new Tyler School of Art building at 12th and Norris streets. Agreeing with some Tyler students, she’s not happy.

Despite Tyler’s importance to the university, Temple dumped what should have been a statement building at the far end of the campus universe, plopping it down seemingly at random, so that its main entrance looks out onto the dumpsters for the Biology-Life Sciences Building.

Saffron goes on to say the “enormous, sprawling building, whose exterior resembles a run-of-the-mill high school, fails to forge a desperately needed sense of place,” as it lies among a hodgepodge of campus buildings.

She also takes a jab at the “morbidly obese” Alter Hall, “a mausoleum for the egos of the nation’s financial titans.”

Your thoughts? Do Temple’s newest buildings have a place on the crowded campus?

Photo courtesy of Temple.