Are You Smarter Than a Two-Percenter? Name These Aggieland Buildings.

Whether it’s been a week or a decade since you last visited Texas A&M University, this quiz will help you brush up on architectural gems scattered across campus. See if you can name the buildings that house the unique features below!
 

1. Since 1978, the one-of-a-kind staircase in this building has celebrated the state’s ranching roots with over 2,500 cattle brands from legendary Texas ranches. Each of its 254 oak planks — one for every county — carries a slice of ranching history, with each brand selected by either a county agricultural agent or cattle raiser.
 

2. Built in 1932 for hands-on agricultural engineering demonstrations — where tractors could even be driven inside — this building is full of character. Watchful stone owls peer down from its exterior, while Latin inscriptions crown the doorway. Inside the main lecture hall, this chandelier made of plow parts lights the room.
 

3. This two-building complex is named for two of campus’s most loyal donors. The first building’s lobby houses this suspended Foucault pendulum that swings over intricate Penrose tiling, proving the Earth’s rotation with quiet elegance. Just next door is a rooftop garden where native Texas plants are sustained by a clever rainwater-catching cistern.
 

4. This literary treasure chest holds George R.R. Martin’s personal collection and is named for a former president of the college’s Board of Directors who saved a young Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas from a merger with The University of Texas. Neoclassical in style, this building features tributes to famous scholars, cattle brand ironwork and this ceiling hand-stenciled by students in the 1930s.
 

5. Constructed in 1932 by Samuel Vosper and Frederick Giesecke, this building features this colorful stone mosaic at its entrance. The building’s namesake, a legendary petroleum engineer and wildcatter who discovered over 50 oil and gas fields, also helped bring President George H.W. Bush’s library to College Station.
 

6. Inside this building’s rotunda, this skylight isn’t the only beautiful thing you’ll see. Look up to find a large bronze Liberty Bell replica and down to see an intricate university seal made of glass ceramic tiles that was donated by the Class of 1978.
 

7. This building’s front façade features fourteen Ionic columns adorned with molded tops. Step inside this beaux arts beauty and you’ll find an interior rich with Texas and Southwestern flair that blends ornamental metals, plaster and colorful stained glass like this into a visual feast. 
 

How many did you get right? 

1-3 – You definitely need a weekend in Aggieland. Time to brush up on your campus locations! 

4-5 – Nice work! There’s maroon in your veins and Aggie Spirit in your step. 

6-7 – Whoop! Reveille herself would be proud! You’re a true expert in all things Aggieland.