Completing the Historic Quad
The assignment for this project was to designa building to fill a corner of an otherwise full historic quad. The site sitson a corner bordering the downtown area and is currently covered with trees andshrubs. The building was to house the president and provost of the university.
Forthis design I decided that it would be important to pay respect to the existingbuildings that make up the quad, but it would also be important to distinguishfrom them. It needed to fit in with the old, but make it obvious that it wasnew. I also felt that is was important to address the bridge between campus anddowntown that the site created. The fact that the president would be housedhere made the idea easy. I felt that makes the president appear accessible toboth the city and the campus was a good gateway.
Mydesign draws from the features and scales of the surrounding buildings as wellas the only real gateway between campus and downtown that currently exists –the arch. The design looks classical, but lets you know that it is newer thanits surroundings by its use of glass. I took advantage of the current curve ofthe fence surrounding campus to add an interesting curve to the building’sfirst couple of floors. On the top floor there is an office cantilevered overthe curve. This is the home of the president, allowing them to appear to beavailable to the city and campus while allowing the protection of being on thetop floor.
