Student center

By Phyllis Richardson - 30 April 2014

The buildings at the eastern edge of the campus are a subdued anchor to the collection of architectural landmarks that precede them. Their checkered white and grey façades are visual partner to the grey and white pattern of the complex by Estudio Carme Pinós. They too carry their volumes in a linear, rather than a stacked or soaring form. The architect described the buildings as being akin to millefeuille pastry, with a succession of slender layers. Abe’s design defines the layers horizontally, with two long main blocks, separated by an atrium running along the middle and each clad on either side in a continuous façade of darkened windows and white panels. Each segment is gently curved, expressing a sense of movement and delicacy.
The project includes five such layered buildings: three extending along the southern boundary of the site, and slightly overlapping one another, and two more running roughly parallel to these. Further, the façades are not simply flat or evenly flowing surfaces, but are composed of vertical layers, each following its own curve. So where one floor curves outward, the floors above below move inward, creating small projections and recessions. Together with the patches of dark and light, this layering of curves gives the impression of something gracefully woven.
Inside, within the atrium spaces, stairways and ramps introduce more curving lines, challenging any notions of rigidity and preventing what might have been long, numbing corridors. In between the buildings, the open plaza spaces are meant by the practice for students to gather though these still feel a bit stark and would be helped by further planting and seating.