Exploring Permeable Density
The proposed project – a new academic building on the Tempe Campus – is intended to explore and challenge permeable density of the built environment.
The purpose of the project is to create a “sponge building” – a porous mass with an internal skeleton that will let people and the environment go through and absorb functions to stay relevant and resilient. After taking into consideration the context of the site, current trends in the transformation of education and workspaces, the initial program requirements were blended with the newly added functions to increase density on the site and attract new groups of users and visitors. The structure of the building and its envelope follow the idea of visual and physical permeability and pulls students, faculty, businesses, researchers, and wanderers inside while inviting them to come together and collaborate.
After conducted context analysis, the initial program requirements for academic department, university classrooms, and student support for department were expanded to include business area, transformable event spaces, public facilities, and residential units, which are distributed on the eight levels of the building.
Building Structure
Interactive façade with concrete walls for changeable graffiti artworks
The skatepark and the public plaza open the view on the garden with a water feature in the courtyard
The open office plan allows for changing the layout of collaboration zones divided with movable planters
Publicly accessible terraces on each floor serve as inviting collaborative spaces
The transformable event space can accommodate workshops, lectures, exhibitions, conferences, etc.
Campus core
Complete project book can be found HERE