At the main entrance to the UBC campus along University Boulevard are two strategic insertions into the transit infrastructure that provide covered shelter for the trolley-bus loop. The transit shelters act as a conceptual extension of the nearby line of Katsura trees. Slender steel columns are arranged in a staggered line and hold up an over-sized cellular wood structure clad in glass.
KUA2 is the result of a first prize in an invited architectural competition. KUA2 is a new, central section of Copenhagen University, Southern Campus. The project is part of a trilogy, which includes faculties of the Humanities, Law and Theology. The new section forms a new organizational center for the Humanities and the Southern Campus as a whole.
Erasmus University Rotterdam has opened the new public heart of its Woudestein campus. The project can be seen as a benchmark for the way grim and gloomy ’60s and ’70s institutional areas can be sparked to life. A new semi-sunken garage has been integrated with a new public space design and pond. Together with a new student pavilion, they mark the realization of the first phase of a unique and ambitious revitalization master plan. The master plan was designed by the collaborating Dutch firms Juurlink [+] Geluk and jvantspijker architects.
The project is a contemporary evolution of the classic courtyard tipology, unfolding the four sides of the courtyard along the axis of the main road,creating a central urban square facing south for both students and citizens.
The four sides go up from east to west according to the heights of the surrounding buildings. It allows to keep the view of the main Alvar Aalto building and creating a main access.
Project: THE HUG – Otaniemi Central Campus of AAl to University
The former carriageable roads are processed in the main pedestrian and cycle paths, keeping the total permeability of the site in the main points of access.
The creation of two different external levels that takes shape from theterrain, has enabled the customization of two different open spaces.
The Lower square at 0.00 represents “THE HUG”, the most dynamic front, south faced, the New Centrality of the Alvar Aalto Campus. In this space of social interaction all the public university activities and the commercial/gastronomic frontare concentrated. The north side of “THE HUG”, which is less enlightened, becomes the Media Lume of the campus with the presence of two theatres and one exterior stage.
The Upper square at +5.00 is the quieter front of the project thought as a green open space with big terraces.The goal is to keep low in front the Alvar Aalto’s building.
The program is developed in a linear way on the site. Placing on the south-east the commercial front and on the north-west the university activities. Following the logics of the planning, the program turns into a curve that ends on the VTT Building and generates the large central space,”THE HUG”.
This approach creates an interactive environment for pedestrian and bicycle traffic, releasing and lengthening the visual outlook.
The basement of the building is a vibrant glazed space, conceived like a green house, whereon the east side is concentrated a large retail front, such as grocery shop, copy shop, material shop, book shop, galleries and restaurants, and on the west side all the common activities of the university campus, such as exhibition spaces, lounge point, interactive and audiovisual areas, administrations,stages (Media Lume).
This mix will guarantee a continuous daily life of this place, making it an attractive center either for its users orfor those of the nearby universities. In fact the project’s purpose is to provide a clever urban link between all the activities already existing and those that will be realized.
On this common basement three boxesare settled. The lower one, that is in visual relation with the Alvar Aalto building, hosts all dining activities with their beautiful terraces on both sides. The other two boxes represent all the university program (Media, Architecture,Design and Art, VTT extension).
The university boxes work like a covered courtyard providing external views on campus and at the same time give more intimate interior views. The possibility to share the spaces between the various faculties makes possible the interaction between the different disciplines.
The development of the internal program is based on the principle of the mixing and sharing of activities, believing that this system could be a fruitful way to break down the usual concept of a university campus.
The VTT expansion has been considered as an integrant part of the project being one of the sides that embraces this new centrality, in fact the highest box relies on the corner building, connecting it to the whole system and bringing into it new cultural energy.
The Shading envelope provides a climate control depending on the exposition, concentrating glazed surfaces on the south-west to accumulate heat during daylight hours and more opaque surfaces on the north side to eliminate the heat loss.
The roofs play a key role in the project as generators of life, interactions and energy. The lowest roof is totally merged with the ground, being a beautiful terrace and a set back with the Aalto building.
The second and the third roof are two powerful terraces serving the university spaces where in summer period students can enjoy the beautiful views on the bay. Those two roof decks could be imagined also as exhibition spaces for the artistic production of the campus. The Highest roof is equipped with wind turbines that guarantee the production of the energy for the new building and the surroundings.
All the design choices are directed in the way of durable development through the use of high performance materials, capable of limiting consumption, natural ventilation, natural management of humidity inside, rainwater recovery and the use of renewable energy such as geothermal energy.
The rectangle is the neutral form par excellence, because its corners balance the two opposing forces of the line: the vertical and horizontal”.
The University of Paris IV-Sorbonne’s Clignancourt Centre was built in 1968 on a former military site located between Boulevard Ney and the Paris Beltway, in the city’s 18th arrondissement. Its renovation, begun in 2009, is part of the redevelopment of the entire Clignancourt neighbourhood.
Tags: France, Paris Comments Off on Centre Clignancourt, an extension of the Sorbonne University in Paris, France by GPAA – Gaëlle Péneau Architectes Associés
A project that foments higher education in a privileged natural setting
From Pointe Noire to Ouesso, construction sites in the Republic of Congo are readily multiplying due to the interest given by international investors and the prospects of economic development: the country looks to the future and plans for a full industrialization by 2025.
The purpose of the architectural project is to observe and visualize the potential of the property where the Medical University of Varna is situated. The need for new functional areas and aesthetic norms missing in the current building designed and built not for medical school is the heart of this research. The building of the Medical University of Varna is situated in an urban residential area in a square between Tsar Asen Str., General Gurko Str., Marin Drinov Str. And Ivan Aksakov Str. in the vicinity to a park area.
Uniting the faculties of Law and Political Science within a single, modern campus for 5,000 students, the project has created flexible new facilities for Turin University, as well as establishing new connections between the institution and wider community. The design links the former Italgas site on the southern bank of the River Dora with the neighbourhood of Borgo Rossini, regenerating a formerly industrial quarter close to the historic heart of the city, and turning the former source of Turin’s energy into an educational powerhouse to drive future prosperity.
Forbo Flooring Systems’ unique in-house design service has brought to life a striking new refurbishment project at Loughborough University in Leicestershire, where a wide range of Forbo’s textile and resilient products have been specified as part of an exciting integrated flooring solution.
The aim was to provide a stimulating and modern study area, that was attractive and engaging to students, enhancing the overall image of the University,” comments Sarah Gorey, Furnishing & Design Manager at the University, who specified the products.
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