Cornell School of Architecture Competition

In Architecture

Posted: Aug 7th, 2009 / Last Edited: Apr 27th, 2011 Print

Description

Each spring since 1901, first-year architecture students at Cornell spend months constructing a giant dragon to parade around campus from Sibley Hall through campus to the Arts Quad where, if it has survived the traditional assaults from the Engineering School’s rival creature, it is consumed by a bonfire. To celebrate and encourage this tradition, space at the new School of Architecture was made specifically for this activity. The new outdoor, submerged workshop area is connected to the main pedestrian walkway and positioned as a primary focal point in the design of the new Architectural School. Lit late into the night, dragon making along with the more prosaic undertakings of the architecture department are on continual display to the University at large.

In reference to the school’s stated pedagogical approach emphasizing the process of making, the building is itself didactic, offering lessons for students both within and outside the discipline of architecture. Glazed façades allow views into studio spaces, gallery and exhibition space, and the shop’s indoor and outdoor workspaces. Neutral, flexible design studios support social interaction, opportunities for informal learning, and increased engagement among faculty and students. Common jury rooms are suspended within the large, open space, so that students can view each other’s critiques from the design studios. By contrast, an opaque linear bar-structure housing faculty offices pierces the studio space – the only area in the building where there is a quiet, more private zone.

The primary intersection, where the faculty bar crosses the studio space and cantilevers over the main pedestrian walkway at University Avenue, defines the new entrance for the school. This seam resolves tension between the new building and Sibley Hall, between faculty and student environments, and between the architecture department and the general university population.
Each spring since 1901, first-year architecture students at Cornell spend months constructing a giant dragon to parade around campus from Sibley Hall through campus to the Arts Quad where, if it has survived the traditional assaults from the Engineering School’s rival creature, it is consumed by a bonfire. To celebrate and encourage this tradition, space at the new School of Architecture was made specifically for this activity. The new outdoor, submerged workshop area is connected to the main pedestrian walkway and positioned as a primary focal point in the design of the new Architectural School. Lit late into the night, dragon making along with the more prosaic undertakings of the architecture department are on continual display to the University at large.

In reference to the school’s stated pedagogical approach emphasizing the process of making, the building is itself didactic, offering lessons for students both within and outside the discipline of architecture. Glazed façades allow views into studio spaces, gallery and exhibition space, and the shop’s indoor and outdoor workspaces. Neutral, flexible design studios support social interaction, opportunities for informal learning, and increased engagement among faculty and students. Common jury rooms are suspended within the large, open space, so that students can view each other’s critiques from the design studios. By contrast, an opaque linear bar-structure housing faculty offices pierces the studio space – the only area in the building where there is a quiet, more private zone.

The primary intersection, where the faculty bar crosses the studio space and cantilevers over the main pedestrian walkway at University Avenue, defines the new entrance for the school. This seam resolves tension between the new building and Sibley Hall, between faculty and student environments, and between the architecture department and the general university population.
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