The campus is built as a response to the larger campus, where students from various disciples are allowed to witness the process of architecture. The building is designed as a three dimensional corridor, making visual and physical connections between the endless expanses of buildings that inhabit the campus. It is designed as an experience for every student alike, to witness the process of architecture. A large staircase at the entrance opens the architecture block to the whole campus to allow the public to permeate inside. This fosters a new engagement between the discipline, students and public. The staircase creates an elevated plinth that houses several activities, pushing functions up, and allowing studios and corridors to be viewed by the public from outside. As one traverses through the site, studios and semi gathering spaces open up as unexpected pause points and extensions to this corridor. Each studio is knit to a landscape that alters the ambience.
The landscape creates a buffer between learning and public space, but open it out enough to be witnessed in the same manner an art is viewed in a gallery. Corridors operate as in between space, blurring the boundaries of function. There are many semi gathering spaces that find expression as extensions of the classrooms and studios, so a truly limitless experience is attempted, one that is the crucible of architectural education. A parasol roof protects the building in such a way that it retains the openness of the campus, by allowing light and air to move in from all sides. The sheer size and scale of the roof offers one the unique experience of learning outdoor, whilst enjoying the cocoon environment of a closed sheltered space. The building is designed around existing trees which contribute to the studios as landscapes courtyards that bleed into the studio. The marriage of landscape, built environment and the larger public form the skeleton for our design.
