Designing Higher Education: Architecture for Aspiring Architects

Design schools are incredible places of innovation, critique, and powerful problem solving. As architecture for architects, the best school designs can motivate, encourage, and inspire the next generation of designers. These buildings often adopt the very vocabulary and ideas being explored in contemporary practice and academia, expressing the dynamic relationships being taught within them: theory and praxis, tectonics and space, as well as community and technology. At best, these buildings are forums to exchange ideas and empower education.

The following projects represent some of the best new architecture school designs across the United States and abroad. They are designs that emerged from faculty or students within the school itself, alumni, or distinguished architects. They show a great range in scale and complexity, accommodating similar, but often varying, programs. Each manifests a diverse process of becoming, the spatial needs for intellectual and creative development in a challenging and evolving practice. While some are standalone buildings, others are additions and renovations of existing facilities. The diverse range of spatial and formal explorations embody the varying ideologies and approaches to architectural education in place today.

Seona Reid Building by Steven Holl Architects, Glasgow, Scotland

The Seona Reid Building was designed to complement Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s 1909 Glasgow School of Art. Where Mackintosh’s design utilizes masonry, the Reid Building uses a large acid-etched glass façade. Holl’s design tried to embody the school’s aspirations in the city’s fabric, where a plan of volumes exist in varying light conditions. Each of these volumes address different environmental and programmatic problems in the overall design.

Milstein Hall by OMA, Ithaca, N.Y.

Designed by Rem Koolhaas and OMA and completed in 2011, Milstein Hall is an addition to the architect’s alma mater, the College of Architecture, Art and Planning at Cornell University. With a program that includes studios, auditorium, crit spaces, and public spaces, Milstein Hall provided a needed connection between two existing buildings on campus. The addition was conceived as a “pedagogical platform for the architecture, art and planning departments — an open condition that could trigger interaction and discussion.”

Photos by Timothy Hursley.

Vol Walker Hall and the Steven L. Anderson Design Center by Marlon Blackwell Architect, Fayetteville, Ark.

Removing 13,000 square feet of library space in Vol Walker Hall, the new addition of the Steven L. Anderson Design Center features studio and critique spaces as well as an auditorium and roof terrace. Careful material detailing honors the building’s historic counterpart while establishing a powerful language of its own. A large fritted-glass brise-soleil was used to screen western sunlight and illustrate construction methods.

41 Cooper Square by Morphosis, New York

Designed to house a school of engineering and spaces for the humanities, art, and architecture departments, 41 Cooper Square was designed as an iconic building, one that “reflects values and aspirations as a center for advanced and innovative education” while also operating as a vehicle for collaboration. A large vertical piazza and grand stair was designed to connect the college’s three schools, rising four stories from the ground level.

Tulane School of Architecture by KieranTimberlake, New Orleans

A proposed addition to the historic Richardson Memorial Hall, Kieran Timberlake’s design aims to “create the most comfortable environment possible while using the least amount of energy.” Schematically, the addition will include a floating box and a geometric base. It will house studios, pinup spaces, fabrication and media facilities, and a café.

Abedian School of Architecture by Crab Studio, Queensland, Australia

A combination of “scoops” and a long, airy hallway, the Abedian School was designed to promote intimate interaction between small groups. It was also designed for climate, sensitively opening to the hot and occasionally humid weather through fan-like roofs, sunshade “eyebrows,” and slits. The design promotes a “sense of theater” throughout for a unique and stimulating place to learn and create.

The Forum at Marvin Hall by Studio 804, Lawrence, Kan.

Addressing the need for a common space and auditorium, the Forum was created by the University of Kansas’s Studio 804 Design/Build program. Building off of the Studio’s previous experience, the students were granted permission to build on state property. The final design, completed after only a year, includes a 121-seat auditorium carefully situated above an existing mechanical room.

School of Architecture and Design/Library by Heneghan Peng Architects, London, U.K.

The School of Architecture and Library at the University of Greenwich was created for casual interaction and dialogue. The design explores a studio as a large factory floor, courtyards, and light wells. In comparison, the library is centered around a central stair and diverse spaces for learning. The two spaces were conceived so that future designers could continue to “self-detail” the building.

Author: Eric Baldwin

Based in New York City, Eric was trained in both architecture and communications. As Director of Communications at Sasaki, he has a background spanning media, academia, and practice. He's deeply committed to trying as many restaurants as possible in NYC.