University of Cincinnati Campus Recreation Center
Cincinnati, Ohio · 2006
A precedent for dynamic, large-scale campus architecture utilizing sweeping curved metal screens and cantilevered volumes to define active pedestrian plazas.
- What we like about this project
- The way the massive curved screen appears to float weightlessly above the transparent, glazed lower levels.
Materials
- metal-cladding
- glass
- concrete
- paving-stones
Visual identifiers
- curved-metal-screen
- cantilevered-volume
- glazed-ribbon-window
- campus-plaza
- terrace-steps
Style tags
- deconstructivist
- high-tech
- expressive
- contemporary
Visual tags
- deconstructivism
- dynamic-massing
- night-lighting
- institutional
- plaza-design
- Geometry
- A sweeping, dynamic curved volume wrapped in horizontal metal louvers floats above a glazed, multi-tiered base, contrasting with an angular, faceted volume to the right.
- Facade system
- Curtain wall glazing system integrated with a custom horizontal metal louver screen.
- Structural guess
- Steel truss system supporting the cantilevered curved screen, with concrete columns supporting the main floor plates.
- Spatial scale
- Large-scale institutional or civic complex with multi-story volumes framing a wide pedestrian thoroughfare.
- Lighting
- Dramatic night lighting with uplighting washing the metal screen, interior light spilling through glass bands, and a deep blue twilight sky.
- Atmosphere
- Futuristic and energetic, defined by glowing glass bands and the sweeping metallic curve against the night sky.
- Environmental context
- An active university campus plaza with terraced steps, young deciduous trees, and integrated pedestrian lighting.
- Spatial experience
- The building forms a dramatic, sheltered public plaza at dusk, drawing pedestrians along a terraced walkway beneath the cantilevered underbelly of the main curved mass.
- Composition rhythm
- The horizontal rhythm of the metal louvers and ribbon windows is punctuated by vertical structural columns and the diagonal rise of the adjacent terraced steps.
- Style reading
- Deconstructivist and high-tech expressive architecture
- Program
- University recreation and student center
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture
- Materials
- metal-cladding, glass, concrete, paving-stones
- Visual identifiers
- curved-metal-screen, cantilevered-volume, glazed-ribbon-window, campus-plaza, terrace-steps
- Style tags
- deconstructivist, high-tech, expressive, contemporary
- Visual tags
- deconstructivism, dynamic-massing, night-lighting, institutional, plaza-design
- Geometry
- A sweeping, dynamic curved volume wrapped in horizontal metal louvers floats above a glazed, multi-tiered base, contrasting with an angular, faceted volume to the right.
- Facade system
- Curtain wall glazing system integrated with a custom horizontal metal louver screen.
- Structural guess
- Steel truss system supporting the cantilevered curved screen, with concrete columns supporting the main floor plates.
- Spatial scale
- Large-scale institutional or civic complex with multi-story volumes framing a wide pedestrian thoroughfare.
- Lighting
- Dramatic night lighting with uplighting washing the metal screen, interior light spilling through glass bands, and a deep blue twilight sky.
- Atmosphere
- Futuristic and energetic, defined by glowing glass bands and the sweeping metallic curve against the night sky.
- Environmental context
- An active university campus plaza with terraced steps, young deciduous trees, and integrated pedestrian lighting.
- Spatial experience
- The building forms a dramatic, sheltered public plaza at dusk, drawing pedestrians along a terraced walkway beneath the cantilevered underbelly of the main curved mass.
- Composition rhythm
- The horizontal rhythm of the metal louvers and ribbon windows is punctuated by vertical structural columns and the diagonal rise of the adjacent terraced steps.
- Style reading
- Deconstructivist and high-tech expressive architecture
- Program
- University recreation and student center
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture