School of Hard Blocks

While I can certainly respect the knowledgeable opinions of Times architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff (“Learning’s Halls, Hallowed Again,” Feb. 15), they are just that: subjective opinions. For myself, judging the design only from the review’s text and photos, the harsh sci-fi shapes and surfaces of Diamond Ranch High School in Pomona leave me cold--a chill I fear many of the students may ultimately experience.

The Morphosis design seems much more apropos for a modern museum or high-tech firm. To my eye, it simply does not embody the values I associate with an education campus: an enveloping, welcoming sense of community and purpose. The severe, fragmented forms seem to divide and alienate.

Education (at that level) is all about the introduction and reinforcement of values and ideas that are primarily traditional in nature; it is left to universities to scale new thresholds. A warmer, more intimate, more organic design would better reflect this criteria.

PETER LITTLE

Monrovia

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Pity the people of Pomona who got a shell of a school for $28 million. I’m of the belief that it’s what’s inside that counts.

MITCHELL LANE

La Canada