Michael Dennis posits two architectural and urban modes: traditional and modern.
"Traditionally, buildings and landscape cooperated to define and shape the space of the public realm. The facade of the building was especially important as it was the enclosing wall of the public space. It articulated the public realm, distinguishing it from the private realm inside." Courtyards and wings added typological variety.
On the other hand, "modern buildings, with their irregular shapes, appear to have been generated from the inside out, with no regard for the external environment." Modern architecture is anti-urban, with each building "serving its own ends but contributing nothing to the whole."
"To be a community requires density and proximity: that is, it requires urbanity." The most successful American campuses, such as the University of Virginia, have this quality. "As in the traditional city, the clarity and stability of the central public square and the clear pattern of the public streets allow, indeed promote, variation in the form of private pavilions and gardens."
"...campus design is urban design, and urban design is the design and management of the public realm of public spaces more than the private realm of individual buildings...precise control of public space allows for flexibility and change in individual buildings, and it should therefore be the principal instrument of physical planning. From Jefferson's time until recently this concept was thoroughly understood" and was reflected in college campuses like Henry Hornbostel's Carnegie Tech.
Today, as campuses become increasingly dense, "We are now faced with the task of developing a modern architecture that acknowledges, and is compatible with, traditional environments. This requires a planning strategy that promotes the civic responsibilities of individual buildings." Buildings should indicate new patterns of development or reinforce an existing one.
The private realm is important, and even the modern tradition may have its place. Dennis calls for a "balance [between] the public interests of the larger environment and the private interests of users and donors."
Source: Michael Dennis, "On Campus Planning," Modulus 23 (1995), 108-119.