Photo of the Year 2017

Leon Contreras

The Academic Building stands at the crossroads of the campus. Completed in 1914, it stands on the site of Old Main, the first campus building, which burned to the ground in 1912. Its most prominent feature is its copper dome, which is green with oxidation, much like the Statue of Liberty. When the building was constructed, it was one of the first on campus to use rebar. Its architect, A&M Professor F. E. Giesecke knew little about reinforced concrete, “so [he] just figured out the amount of steel…necessary and doubled it”.