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
![](/sites/default/files/Universiteitsbibliotheek%20KU%20Leuven%2C%20Copyright%20Michiel%20van%20Dijk.jpg)
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
| Jul 16, 2013
Robotics: A new way to demolish buildings
A robot prototype uses water jets to break up concrete structures and then sucks up the water and debris for reuse and recycling.
| Jul 15, 2013
Mergers and acquisitions transform engineering sector [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Merger and acquisition deals by MEP, commissioning, structural, and specialty engineering firms were up 14% nationwide in 2012 compared with 2011.
| Jul 15, 2013
Top Engineering/Architecture Firms [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Jacobs, AECOM, Parsons Brinckerhoff top Building Design+Construction's 2013 ranking of the largest engineering/architecture firms in the United States.
| Jul 15, 2013
Top Architecture/Engineering Firms [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Stantec, HOK, HDR top Building Design+Construction's 2013 ranking of the largest architecture/engineering firms in the United States.
| Jul 15, 2013
Top Architecture Firms [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Gensler, Perkins+Will, NBBJ top Building Design+Construction's 2013 ranking of the largest architecture firms in the United States.
| Jul 15, 2013
Zaha Hadid unveils plan for boutique condo development in New York
Related Companies taps the London-based architect for the 11-story 520 West 28th Street residential development adjacent to the High Line in Chelsea.
| Jul 12, 2013
12 award-winning healthcare projects [slideshow]
AIA's Academy of Architecture for Health announced the recipients of the 2013 AIA National Healthcare Design Awards.
| Jul 11, 2013
Bill to borrow more for college spending in Michigan criticized due to ‘higher-ed bubble’
An amendment to a Michigan appropriations budget authorizes an increase in state debt to pay for state university construction projects. But some experts see a “higher education bubble” on the horizon, and said more taxpayer debt for more buildings is a bad idea.
| Jul 11, 2013
Skanska exits U.S. Chamber of Commerce over LEED controversy
Skanska USA resigned from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce over the Chamber’s decision to support the American High-Performance Buildings Coalition.