Tradition says the three joined brownstones that make up the Charles Royal Building (1319 North Charles
Street) were once an hourly-occupancy hotel with an attached bar called "The Pink Bucket." Another story claims that after playing the Club Charles just up the street, Lenny Bruce met his wife-to-be in that very same dive. Allegedly, some lucky faculty member (we're not sure who) sits in what was once the madam's office.
Today the corner of Charles and Mount Royal is a far cry from the heyday of nightclubs and fancy houses: it's a brief stroll from the Lyric Theatre and Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, right across the street from U.B.'s Thumel Business Center, and a short walk to wonderful restaurants: Italian, Thai, Japanese, Indian, Afgan, Caribbean, Ethiopian, sushi, and the always popular Pizza, Bagel, Burger, and Deli.
Charles Royal houses all faculty offices, labs, and primary classroom space for the School of Communications Design. The fourth floor of the building is devoted the Graphics Lab. Much of the third floor is occupied by audio and video production facilities that make up the Media Lab.
There are many technological resources for faculty and students in the Charles Royal Building, some of which are unique to the building and the School of Communications Design.
Communications Design students spend a fair amount of time at Charles Royal -- designing layouts and pulling proofs in the Graphics Lab, mixing digital video in the Media Lab, going through Saturday afternoon crits in Writing and Graphics and eventually brainstorming projects in their Capstone course.
In 2008, the School of Communications Design will move into the newly renovated, former Knights of Pythias building just across the street. Much as we'll miss the charm of Charles-Royal, we look forward to twice the space we have now for labs, classrooms, small group work areas, etc.
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