Seen in a discussion on this article about Brutalism on college campuses:
Player 1: The fact that the building Faner replaced was burned down not once but twice by arsonists--not to mention the city's protest history--makes me think Lowder is wrong in the case of SIU.
Player 2: That, and the gates that used to be in the bottom of each wing.
The particular building in question has had fawning aesthetic and historical write ups done on it before by n00bs who don't even mention the gates that used to be there. Maybe some buildings were made to look like fortresses as an aesthetic statement. Other times though, discussions about the motivations for the architecture can be rendered moot by the fact that the building was indeed used as a fortress.
Update: Here's a picture
Found in the Wikimedia commons.