Beautiful place to study?

I am currently at one of Australia's most beautiful universities (according to its website anyway). The campus is especially charming at night where you can sport couples making out (it is not because of this that I consider it charming) and strolling along in the cold winter night.

Part of the great court

Great court is bathed in romantic orange glow when night falls

Even the Staff House in the background is pretty

And the campus has 3 lakes that are simply spectacular in the evening

Where ducks swim around undisturbed by the public (most of the times)

See how there is careful garden landscaping to enhance the overall beauty of the campus

With places where you can enjoy the bright blue sky with its fluffy white clouds that look almost edible

Where the Art Museum has picturesque (though not night-mode-compatible as seen in the poor quality of this photo) water features that makes a joy to visit at night, perhaps a world apart from the University Cultural Center in NUS that has been criticised as having too "cold" an architecture

Here I am thinking about the next poop I should crap on my blog at the faculty of Business, Economics and Law (BEL) and I managed to excrete a Nokia 7620

After looking at all the scenic photos, I asked myself this question: Does studying at a beautiful campus make any difference? Sure, I might have more venues to take pictures and if I am a poet, I might be inspired by the aesthetically pleasing qualities of the university. However, would its beauty be of significance to most students?

This brought to mind a complaint I once heard. Why are the schools in Singapore so excessively designed? By excessive, it is meant that there are many features in the schools that are not there for functionality. These include structures such as canopy over the roof (so it's not there for shelter) and glass walls. So who's paying for all the renovations? No one wants to study in an ugly school but doesn't having designer schools at the primary level sound a tad extravagant to you? Do you think children at that age would appreciate the garden sculptures or the water features located at different parts of the school? I would think that the taste of the food in the canteen would be of more import.

Back to the point of having an attractive campus. If you look into the lecture theatres and tutorial/seminar rooms of even the most beautiful university, I think you would be hard-pressed to differentiate it from another university. It is because the basic features would be the same. The tables, chairs, carpeting, lightings and room temperature would all be similar and I think even the most amazing architecture and design would not move a student to study if he/she is simply not into it. Being business enterprises, I think having more beautiful campuses would only increase the normative pressure on other universities to keep up.