Room with a view

View full image

“It's just a nice place to sit down with a few friends and talk in your own space,” says Kamau Walker ’20 (left), pictured with Rohan Subramanian ’20 (right) in one of the two igloos that popped up in the Silliman College courtyard this January. Silliman’s head of house, Laurie Santos, had glimpsed her first Gardenigloo on the grounds of a nearby restaurant—just as she was trying to figure out how to get students to use the courtyard during the winter months, when the lawn chairs and hammocks go into storage.

The igloos’ frames are made of noncorrosive, recyclable materials and covered with cold-resistant soft plastic. “We bought two and filled them with plants, comfy chairs, and cozy blankets. They’re always packed,” says Santos. She adds: “And yes, I have the sense that the other colleges are a bit jealous.”