Construction project database Emporis today released its list of the world's top university buildings. They range from the globe's tallest higher education building, Lomonosov Moscow State University's 240-meter-tall, 36-story Main Building, to the tent-like Campus Luigi Einaudi building in Turin, Italy.
It's an entertaining exercise to debate the design merits of the world's most decorated buildings. But are these 13 structures really the best university projects?
Don't get us wrong: every one of these buildings is "spectacular" in its own way. But think about the dozens of higher ed buildings in the U.S. alone that are on par with these projects.
The lone U.S. representative is Cornell's Bradfield Hall. What about Mies' Crown Hall at IIT in Chicago? Or Frank Lloyd Wright's work at Florida Southern College? Even Gehry's Stata Center at MIT?
Thank you Emporis for kicking off this debate. We know a definitive list does not exist.
BD+C readers: We want your feedback on this list! Which projects are missing from the Emporis report? Offer your feedback in the comments section at the bottom of this post (or email the BD+C editors directly at dbarista@sgcmail.com).
Here is the full Emporis' report:
Grade A Architecture: The World's Most Spectacular University Buildings
Lecture halls at dizzying heights, libraries with glass-domed roofs or crooked seminar rooms with slanting walls – it is not just in the field of learning that universities have plenty to offer, but on an architectural level, too.
From the historic Universiteitsbibliotheek KU Leuven of 1928 to the enormous glass sphere of the Philologische Bibliothek in Berlin to the brand-new, tent-like Campus Luigi Einaudi in Turin: Emporis (www.emporis.com), the international provider of building data, has compiled a selection of the most spectacular university buildings from around the world.
Biblioteca Central, Mexico City. Copyright: Luis Ibáñez
All students set their sights high, but for the 30,000 enrolled at Lomonosov Moscow State University, this is meant literally as well as figuratively, since their main building, dating from 1953, is the world's tallest university building at 240 meters in height. Over its 36 stories it contains everything one could expect from an educational institution, including a 1,500-seat auditorium, seminar rooms, a library, and even a museum.
A further example of concentration of knowledge is the Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower in Tokyo: Completed in 2008, the 204-meter-tall, cocoon-shaped skyscraper is home to no fewer than three different colleges, their teaching rooms offering breathtaking views of the city.
By contrast, the architects of the Swanston Academic Building and the Sharp Centre for Design use colorful elements to set accents. The first catches the eye with its wavy and jagged facade that mirrors the colors of the surrounding buildings. Inside, loud red, green and yellow are the dominant hues.
Swanston Academic Building, Melbourne, Australia. Copyright: RMIT / Flickr
The shape and coloring of the Sharp Centre for Design also represent a distinct contrast to its surroundings: The Centre's black-and-white structure, which is reminiscent of a chessboard, stands on bright stilts and appears to hover above the neighboring buildings.
Perhaps less colorful, but at least as spectacular, is the effect created by Bradfield Hall at Cornell University. The dark-red brick building with its rectangular and round pillars is almost entirely windowless, all of which combines to give it the weighty, massive appearance of a medieval fort.
The Graduate Centre of London Metropolitan University and the Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre in Hong Kong also opt for monochrome facades, in gray and white respectively. Nevertheless, both buildings jump straight out of the landscape: The slanting walls with their narrow window slits seem to positively sink into one another.
Wherever one looks, universities are increasingly setting store by having architectural highlights on campus. Some of the chunky relics of the 60s and 70s, on the other hand, are being torn down. This was recently the case in Frankfurt am Main, where February 2, 2014., saw the demolition of the AfE-Turm. In the largest inner-city controlled blasting Europe has ever seen, the high-rise at the Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe-Universität, dating from 1972, was destroyed in a matter of seconds.
Bradfield Hall, Ithaca, N.Y. Copyright: John W. Cahill
Campus Luigi Einaudi, Turin, Italy. Copyright: Carmelo D'Agostino / Flickr
Faculty of History, Cambridge, England. Copyright: John Levett / Flickr
Graduate Centre, London. Copyright: J Haeske / Flickr
Universiteitsbibliotheek KU Leuven, Belgium. Copyright: Michiel van Dijk
Emporis is a leading database of information about building and construction projects, based in Germany. For over a decade Emporis has helped companies, organizations and individuals stay informed about the building industry. The Emporis Skyscraper Award is the world’s most renowned prize for high-rise architecture.
Related Stories
| Dec 1, 2014
9 most controversial buildings ever: ArchDaily report
Inexplicable designs. Questionable functionality. Absurd budgeting. Just plain inappropriate. These are some of the characteristics that distinguish projects that ArchDaily has identified as most controversial in the annals of architecture and construction.
| Dec 1, 2014
Skanska, Foster + Partners team up on development of first commercial 3D concrete printing robot
Skanska will participate in an 18-month program with a consortium of partners to develop a robot capable of printing complex structural components with concrete.
| Dec 1, 2014
How public-private partnerships can help with public building projects
Minimizing lifecycle costs and transferring risk to the private sector are among the benefits to applying the P3 project delivery model on public building projects, according to experts from Skanska USA.
High-rise Construction | Dec 1, 2014
ThyssenKrupp develops world’s first rope-free elevator system
ThyssenKrupp's latest offering, named MULTI, will allow several cabins in the same shaft to move vertically and horizontally.
| Nov 29, 2014
20 tallest towers that were never completed
Remember the Chicago Spire? What about Russia Tower? These are two of the tallest building projects that were started, but never completed, according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. The CTBUH Research team offers a roundup of the top 20 stalled skyscrapers across the globe.
| Nov 26, 2014
USITT Selects Bahrain National Theatre for Honor Award
The Bahrain National Theatre will be recognized with an Honor Award by the United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) in 2015.
| Nov 26, 2014
How the 'maker culture' brings the power of design to life
Most people affiliate the maker culture with metal working, welding, ceramics, glass blowing, painting, and soldering. But it also includes coding and online content creation, writes Gensler’s Douglas Wittnebel.
| Nov 26, 2014
U.S. Steel decides to stay in Pittsburgh, plans new HQ near Penguins arena
The giant steelmaker has agreed to move into a new headquarters that is slated to be part of a major redevelopment.
Sponsored | | Nov 26, 2014
It’s time to start trusting your employees more
A recent study published in the journal Psychological Science revealed that employees were 26% more satisfied in their roles when they had positions of power. SPONSORED CONTENT
Sponsored | | Nov 26, 2014
What’s in a coating?
A beautiful coating on metal products can make a strong statement, whether used on a high-end commercial project or an industrial building. SPONSORED CONTENT