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March 18, 2005
Dragon Day
A whole lotta fun was had at Cornell today for Dragon Day. It’s an annual tradition where students in architecture build a gigantic dragon, march it through campus then burn it till crisp. It seems a fitting send-off party for spring break, but I can’t say why this was started (in 1901)in the first place.
The parade route covered enough ground to attract at least a couple of thousand people. The architecture students wore an array of bright, glittery and ridiculous costumes while chanting “BURN IT” and racing in circles around sad dragon. I saw a guy dressed as an iPod. Then there was Elvis, some Smurfy girls, fairies and a guy with a plastic rocking horse slung over his shoulders.
I had good position for photos and received enough heat from the bonfire to dry the hair (had it been wet). When only the wire-frame carcass of the dragon remained and its ashes began to settle onto the crowd, people scattered away quickly. But the memories would remain - or the campfire stench would anyway.
Before and after:
Popular and happy, naive dragon
Dead dragon.
Posted by Tiffany on March 18, 2005 03:15 PM
Comments
Great pictures! I'm so sorry I missed this year's Dragon Day...
Posted by: Shane at March 18, 2005 03:23 PM
I think it's the engineers that burn the dragon that the architects built. Nice pictures.
Posted by: at March 18, 2005 06:42 PM
It is difficult to look at those pictures and not think of Robert Munsch's children's book, The Paper Bag Princess.
Posted by: Expat at March 22, 2005 12:04 PM
first and second year arch students build the dragon; engineering students burn it. the idea is that the architects are too imaginative and can't create a structurally sound dragon so the engineering students condemn it and burn it. it's a ritual rooted in the age-old rivalry between engineers, who are perceived as too rooted in reality, and architects, who are supposedly too imaginative.
Posted by: anonymous at March 23, 2005 01:16 PM
Wow. Four years at Cornell and I never knew that history of Dragon Day...
Unfortunately, I was an Aggie. So, I had to watch from the sidelines. Where do we fit in this epic struggle between reality and imagination?
Posted by: Shane at March 23, 2005 01:45 PM
Thanks for the history anonymous person. Knowing that makes the whole event much more exciting!
Posted by: Tiffany at March 23, 2005 05:13 PM
There are many myths surrounding Dragon Day.
The idea that the engineers burn the dragon is absolutely false. It is always burned by an architecture student, usually a 5th year or grad. It is true that a rivalry between the architecture and engineering students exists; however, engineers play no significant role in the process other than to create some sort of response, which in the past has taken several forms based on the theme of the phoenix.
The upperclassmen (2nd-5th + grad students) dress up and form the parade. While many Cornell students watch and cheer the procession, in the past some have taken it upon themselves to hurl objects at the dragon and the architecture students themselves - eggs, snowballs, frozen oranges, and urine, to name a few.
Also, it is first year architecture students ONLY who build the dragon, and it is a right of passage to the program (each year is remembered by the quality of its dragon). The entire process, from the selling of t-shirts to raise the money for materials, the construction of the dragon, through to the physical movement of the dragon across campus is ALL the work of first year students. It is an incredibly laborious effort and the experience becomes permanently etched in the minds of those involved... the entire process is truly incredible.
This year's Dragon looks particularly impressive - kudos to the freshmen architects.
Posted by: CU architecture alum at March 23, 2005 10:13 PM