A proposal was made to merge the department of art with the school of architecture - a merger to promote through the architecture a symbiotic relationship between the disciplines Architecture and Art while maintaining autonomous identities.  An important consideration in the project is the "Gateway" function which the site serves to the university from the Brookland/CUA Metro Station.

Critical to the arrival sequence is the way in which the tower and dome of the Shrine reveal
themselves to the visitor.  The sequence should be choreographed in such a way as to heighten and intensify the moment of arrival. 

The parti for the Academy Art is an architectural dagger which forms a pathway that inside and out leads participants on an eratic unpredictible journey across campus and affords them the opportunity to encounter art and architecture.