Archinect - News

NC State breaks ground on new engineering building designed by Clark Nexsen

2018-05-22T20:27:00-04:00

“Fitts-Woolard Hall will be a state-of-the-art facility that truly supports our vision of collaborative, interdisciplinary instruction, research and innovation,” states NC State University Chancellor, Randy Woodson. “This project is vital to the future of the College of Engineering.”

NC State University has broken ground on Fitts-Woolard Hall, a new $150 million engineering building on Centennial Campus. In the past 10 years, engineering undergraduate enrollment at NC State has grown by 22 percent, and graduate enrollment has more than doubled. Designed by Clark Nexsen, the new 250,000 square-foot facility will provide an innovative facility to help accommodate that growth and further position the University as an international leader in engineering education.

The design is driven by a commitment to “engineering on display.” The main entry will be flanked by a structural testing lab, senior student project space, and large scale driving simulator, all which will be visible on the exterior and interior of the building. The transparency into these spaces will offers drivers, pedestrians, and building users a glimpse into the research occurring within. Additional laboratory spaces include advanced manufacturing, ergonomics, traffic simulation, bioengineering, and e...

Frank Gehry to design new Krakow Academy of Music complex

2017-04-11T12:51:00-04:00

The Krakow Academy of Music recently announced Gehry Partners as the winner of a competition to design the school's new complex of educational facilities and main concert hall, which will be built on a former military site in the southern part of Krakow's Grzegórzki district.

When the Krakow Academy of Music, a Polish higher-ed institution, launched the two-stage competition last year, they sought a “lively” design that presented the most fitting architectural, functional, and acoustic solutions.

Images via afasiaarchzine.com.

The initial renderings depict a campus of silver cubic buildings with slightly skewed edges, and it looks pretty typical of the Gehry brand to anyone already familiar with his work. In explaining their decision, the jury noted how the winning proposal has “good integration” with the site and realizes its full potential, allowing room for future developments. “The composition of the designed buildings of the Academy is created with a complex of pavilions respectf...

How university presses influence our understanding of urbanism — then, now, and for the future

2015-07-28T18:52:00-04:00

Many [university presses] have a storied history of amplifying voices that were long ignored...The litany is endless, underscoring the audacity of university presses in believing that every city deserves the best ideas possible. We need that. As we make choices about our modern cities, as policymakers, advocates or citizens, we need these books to ground our vision, to help us imagine what is possible. And that’s why the tenuous future of university presses is so alarming.

Get a peek inside Pratt's new Film/Video Department building by WASA/Studio A

2015-07-10T19:58:00-04:00

After occupying a lower-level space in one of Pratt Institute's athletic buildings, prospects are looking bright and shiny for Pratt's Film/Video Department as it settles into its new home on 550 Myrtle Avenue in Brooklyn. The 15,000 square-foot facility was fully gutted and redesigned by WASA/Studio A, whose project team happens to include Pratt alumni like Jack Esterson as lead architect; senior associate Sebastian Touzet as partner-in-charge for design; and project architect Brian Dobrolsky. The $4.5 million renovation began last July.

Built using free-span trusses, the new space has 23-foot ceiling heights and no internal columns. Pratt Architecture Professor and artist Haresh Lalvani created a series of perforated metal panels that wrap around the entrance lobby and cover the walls of the first and second floors. The customized panels display Lalvani's signature eye-popping patterns that are typically seen in his sculptural works.

Formerly known as the Prattstore building, the ne...

Are English universities picking up "American habits" as campus construction booms?

2015-05-06T14:26:00-04:00

The cranes are going up all over universities. A new student village here, an extension to the business school there, airy atria everywhere, even a scattering of 'iconic' or 'signature' buildings aspiring to be on shortlists for architectural awards. Higher education is investing unprecedented amounts in infrastructure – for good and necessary reasons but maybe for bad ones too.

UCL Institute of Education professor Peter Scott comments on the rising trend of English universities leaning toward what he describes as "American habits" at a time when universities are investing greatly in campus construction. Scott lists promising reasons like the upgrading and preservation of historic buildings but also the questionable prestige- and business-driven motives that are already familiar in U.S. institutions.

Santiago Calatrava-designed Florida Polytechnic University prepares for grand opening

2014-08-12T19:18:00-04:00

As the latest addition to Florida's State University System, the new Florida Polytechnic University will formally open to the public on August 16 in Lakeland, Florida and welcome its first students when classes begin on August 25.

Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava designed the 170-acre campus and its main Innovation, Science, and Technology Building — which the firm proudly announces was finished on schedule and under the $60 million budget. The 200,000 sq.ft structure dons Calatrava's signature futuristic style and has already captured local attention, including appearing in the backdrop for a Chrysler Ram truck commercial that aired earlier this year.

Read on for more details about the IST Building, provided by the firm:

"Located on the north side of the central lake it is designed around, the exterior of the 200,000 sq. ft. building is made up of aluminum, aluminum cladding, concrete and glass. The interior is made of concrete flooring and columns, plaster, steel and glass. I...

Bummer: NY Fed Reserve reports high unemployment rates for recent architecture grads

2014-01-06T18:34:00-05:00

The New York Federal Reserve’s latest research report discusses a number of difficulties facing recent college graduates, including unemployment. [...] After dividing the pool into 13 different undergraduate majors, and using data from 2009 to 2011, some academic pursuits proved likelier to land graduates a job. [...] For instance, the unemployment rate for architecture and construction majors was 8%, likely related to the fate of housing-related sectors following the housing bust.