Faner Hall (SIUC)

Faner Hall located at 1000 Faner Drive, Carbondale, Illinois, named after Robert D. Faner, former English professor who died in the 1960s, is in the central part of the Southern Illinois University Carbondale campus, and houses the College of Liberal Arts (COLA), which includes multiple departments including the University Museum[3]

Faner Hall
General information
Type	Educational
Architectural style	Brutalist architecture
Location	Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Address	1000 Faner Drive Carbondale, Illinois 62901
Coordinates	37.715°N 89.219°W / 37.715; -89.219
Current tenants	SIUC College of Liberal Arts University Museum
Completed	1974[1]
Cost	$12.75 M
Owner	Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Dimensions
Other dimensions	Length: 914 ft.
Technical details
Structural system	Concrete
Floor count	4
Awards and prizes	American Institute of Architects (AIA) - 1970 Citation for Excellence - Quality Design[2]

Faner Hall - Underbuilding view to the North

Designed by Robert Geddes, Brecher, Qualls and Cunningham architects, in the Brutalist architecture style. Faner Hall is 914 feet long and four stories high. It acts as a "wall" between the old and new sections of campus.[4][5]

In his novel, Straight Man, Richard Russo, former faculty member, describes Faner Hall this way- "so I follow, risking the possibility that I’ll get lost in the building’s legendary labyrinths. Social Sciences, the newest building on campus, was built in the midseventies, when there was money for both buildings and faculty. According to myth, the structure was designed to prevent student takeovers, and this may be true. A series of pods, it’s all zigzagging corridors and abrupt mezzanines that make it impossible to walk from one end of the building to another. At one point, if you’re on the first floor, either you have to go up two floors, over, and down again or you have to go outside the building and then in again in order to arrive at an office you can see from where you’re standing. The campus joke is that Lou Steinmetz has an office in the building but no one knows where."