New one on me. Am wondering if it’s a hoax. Think not.
The Princeton Buildering Society (PBS) breaks the rules every time its members meet. Buildering — the act of climbing on structures like buildings, poles and statues — has occurred on Princeton’s campus for decades. Every brick scaled and every tower reached, though, marks a violation of the University’s Environmental Health & Safety guidelines, which state that “the use of University structures for ‘climbing’ is prohibited.”
The practice, however, survives.
Despite the controversy that erupted in 2006 when Public Safety discovered photos of students climbing buildings on the PBS facebook.com group, PBS members continue to attain the highest levels of achievement on campus.
Public Safety reprimanded the members with a warning, PBS member Lisa ’09 said, adding that “they were making sure that we had good protection and were being safe.” All members’ names have been changed to protect them from disciplinary action.
The incident with Public Safety did not deter Princeton builderers, though they now climb primarily at night.
“I think people have done it and will always do it as a measure of excitement,” builderer Greg ’09 said.
Buildering offers students a unique perspective on Princeton’s campus that often goes unperceived, Lisa noted.
“Seeing campus from above can be both exhilarating and clarifying and also fun,” she said. “People don’t tend to look up.”
… “Every building is possible to climb, and it’s definitely more interesting to climb buildings that have cool gargoyles and architecture,” Lisa said. She added that the buildering society was a direct result of the combination of Princeton’s “beautiful Gregorian architecture … and curious, vertically minded people.”
… Buildering experienced a rise in popularity in the United States in the ’70s. Some members of PBS said that the society has been around for much longer than that, perhaps even “since the turn of the century,” Adam said.
Lisa said she did not know when the group was formed, but that she thought “part of the mystique of the group itself” stems from its uncertain origins. “The society is a secret that is kept among students,” she added.
This secrecy might make it difficult for interested students to join PBS, but Lisa said she was confident this obstacle was not insurmountable.
“If people were interested, they would start exploring on campus,” she said. “The society has a way of finding people. At least, that’s what happened to me.”
Daily Princetonian
February 5th, 2009 at 8:13PM
Haven’t heard the specific word "buildering" before, but the general practice has been around for a long time. It’s an extension of tunnel hacking and related activities, popular (and disapproved) on a number of campuses.
February 5th, 2009 at 10:18PM
No hoax–see the "Bouldering" entry in wikipedia. Here at Kansas State, Army ROTC had to be chased off the World War I-vintage old stadium, where they liked to practice rappelling.
February 5th, 2009 at 10:58PM
I know the Engineering building at the University of Colorado at Boulder was moderately popular for "buildering" (though I never knew anybody to use that word).
February 6th, 2009 at 7:57AM
It appears that we have some elite contestants for future Darwin Awards.
February 6th, 2009 at 11:02AM
The activity, though not I think the term, appears in The Rule of Four, a thriller of a few years back written by Princeton students and set on the campus.
February 6th, 2009 at 5:52PM
Check out "parkour" too.
February 6th, 2009 at 6:45PM
Buildering has a long tradition on campuses. It perhaps started, or was at least popularized, by the gentlemen scholars/alpinist in attendance at Oxford and Cambridge in the 1920-30s. But then any city with buildings made of stone or interesting brickwork probably had builderers, enthusiastic climbers using them for training and as intrinsic challenges in between trips to the crags or mountains. That it is frowned upon or illegal adds a frisson of excitement.
As for Darwin Award candidates . . . I speak as a professor, climber, occasional builderer, and former climbing guide, that buildering is likely safer than much crag climbing and that those who climb well on any venue are keenly attuned to the relationship between the climbing medium, athletic skill and body control, and gravity. Driving your car to work is statistically more dangerous than most climbing activities.