They aren't really cliffs (nor are they really white), but the walls of the latest campus monstrosity have the merit of acting as cliffs to dozens of migrating white-throated swifts. These birds nest in desert cliffs and crags and seem to use the sheer walls of the Mondavi Center to catch trapped insects at speeds that defy reason.
If you click on the above link, you will not be shown an exterior shot of the building--I'll try and take one tomorrow. This is because it looks like a cross between a prison and a nuclear reactor. Inside it's gorgeous, without question. But the building is completely out of scale with its site, with the campus, and with Davis.
Posted by Pica at September 3, 2003 08:36 PM | TrackBackIs this named after Robert Mondavi who is a famous wine maker?
Posted by: Jenny at September 3, 2003 10:07 PMYes. The Mondavis donated a lot of money to the Center. So did the Rumsey Rancheria band of Wintun indians (who operate a phenomenally successful casino just northwest of here in the Capay Valley). The entrance is named after the Rumseys.
Posted by: Pica at September 4, 2003 07:19 AM