Who Knew?

Wisconsin Week will publish answers to questions of campus interest posed by faculty and staff. We can’t promise to answer all questions submitted, but we’ll try to pick those most likely to be of interest to the largest number of readers. Please send your queries to wisweek@news.wisc.edu.

Q. Which building holds the title for having the “most marbles?”

A. The undisputed winner of that title is Grainger Hall, home to the School of Business.

Architectural glass artist Ed Carpenter sandwiched thousands of small colored marbles inside glass panels to form a window two stories high on the building’s north side.

According to Carpenter, he chose this unusual technique because he wanted to avoid the heavy look of traditional glass. He wanted to provide people at the school with “a calm atmosphere conducive to reflection and study” (and possibly endless staring and counting).

You may have heard rumors around the Grainger water cooler that the window once broke, causing marbles to tumble into the school’s library, tripping students and staff alike. In truth, one of the panels was damaged while being transported to campus, and had to be replaced.

Q. What happened to the trees by the Field House and Shell? Were they diseased? How many are left?

A. Nope — not diseased. But to allow workers to lay down the new utility lines for the Camp Randall stadium and Shell additions, some of the trees on the east and west ends of the Field House near the parking lots had to be removed.

Kris Ackerbauer, assistant director of Facilities Planning and Management, says that 84 trees were removed for the project, with hackberries taking the hardest hit, with 31 removed. Other varieties removed included 15 Norway maple and 14 crab apple trees.

To keep up with the fluctuating numbers, the department has established an official campus-wide tree inventory.

Not including any of the trees in the Arboretum — and despite the recent loss of forestry to construction projects — the current inventory of campus trees stands at 5,084.