“Background building” is a term of derision. As architects, we understand and appreciate the necessity of background buildings. Gehry’s Bilbao wouldn’t have its “effect” if not framed by centuries of dense urban fabric. Unfortunately, architecture has become a zero-sum game. To stand out we must stand apart. To be heard we must be loud. To be new we must destroy, forget, ignore the old. Like so many aspects of modern culture, architecture is entrapped under the tyranny of the OR instead of enriched by the genius of the AND. Larry Speck’s Health Learning Building on the Dell Medical School campus is a design that attempts to reject these simplistic false choices. The design would not be considered “traditional” architecture. It features the latest trend in staggered window fenestration, sustainability bling, and the ubiquitous community stair found in so many academic buildings. However, Speck has been careful to assure the building fits in to the urban fabric and natural environment in which it is sited. In the years to come it will fulfill the role of being a background building, but like the talented architects of the past like Borromini, Bernini and Wagner, it’s unique personality and detailing will bring it to the foreground for those whose tastes have matured beyond magazine cover money shots.