In Krzyzewskiville, students' tents dominate the conversation

As we reported yesterday, a record number of students decided to "black tent" this year. Because black tenters are prohibited from using commercially produced tents, many students created elaborate structures from wood, PVC piping, and other materials. Some of these tents stood as a monument to Duke students' ingenuity and persistence.

Duke Blue Planet also got in on the discussion, and Amile Jefferson interviewed residents of some of the more impressive tents.

Other tenters took a different approach, choosing to invest less time in what they saw as only a temporary shelter. Many of these tent groups formed later in the process, after word spread that an unusually high number of black tents had lined up on day one.

Last night, however, the line monitors announced that all the tents had to be replaced by formal tent structures for safety reasons. For those with temporary structures, the announcement changed nothing—they were planning on replacing their tents at the first opportunity. But for those who built more elaborate shelters, the announcement meant destroying a home.

In memoriam, here are some tidbits about the most noteworthy tents.

• "The Cathedral" was a 15-foot tall structure resembling a small house, with a slanted roof sitting atop eight-foot walls. The Cathedral was unique in that anyone could stand anywhere inside the tent, and, as its creators proudly noted, it was the tallest tent in Krzyzewskiville. In all likelihood, it will remain the tallest Krzyzewskiville structure in history.
• "The Fortress," as featured in Duke Blue Planet's video, is particularly noteworthy because it was built using insulation panels.  Those kept the Fortress's 24 residents warm on even the coldest of nights.
• Semicircular structures, like "The Predator," were the trendiest tents in Krzyzewskiville. I spoke with one group which had based its design on The Predator's, and there seemed to be several other late-starting groups that had done so as well. These tents, to my untrained eye, seemed to provide the best combination of stability and spaciousness.
• Engineers make the best tents. Every single one of these noteworthy tents housed at least one engineer. That was not the case for all tent groups. One Pratt student even suggested making tent construction a class, or at least an extra credit project in EGR 201, which covers the mechanics of static structures.