Prior to our tour of the CCD, I was able to walk through another iconic design on the University of Chicago campus. The Logan Center for the Arts by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects was finished in 2012 and serves a dynamic hub for art education and performance. The three story podium that you enter into houses studio space, a café, production and editing labs, two theaters, and a larger performance hall. Adjacent to the podium is a courtyard and roof deck. I imagine when the weather is better, these two spaces serve as vibrant gathering plazas before and after performances. The ten story tower contains classrooms, screening rooms, music practice rooms, workshops, and editing labs. As you descend down the tower you run into break out spaces of different sizes and different furniture layouts. The concept of informal gathering spaces complimenting formal space appeared to run through the entire building.
As Meghna and myself explore the concept of "social interaction" for our studio project, The Logan Center for the Arts could be an influential precedent. Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects do a great job of utilizing every corner of the building for human activation. As you can see in the photo below, they design the landings of each stairwell to serve as breakout spaces for a small group. Through natural lighting and effective adjacencies, the building appears to facilitate a fantastic student atmosphere. With all of the different spaces and activities going on in this building, I could see myself spending half of a day there. Our monolithic form that we presented at our pin-up has an opportunity to create these exceptional experiences for our users.
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