The University of Chicago approved Diller Scofidio + Renfro’s preliminary architectural design for a 90,000-sf building that will facilitate student and faculty collaboration.
The David M. Rubenstein Forum will have a 165-foot tower, containing large and small meeting rooms, and a two-story base with a main lobby, restaurant, and several larger rooms. The University Room will hold 600 people for panels, lectures, and dinners, and the 285-seat Presentation Hall will have tiered seating for presentations, performances, and film screenings. The Lake View Room at the top of the building can hold receptions.
“We composed the tower as a stack of ‘neighborhoods’ with meeting and communal spaces of all sizes—both formal and informal, calm and animated, focused and diffuse,” DS+R Founding Partner Elizabeth Diller said in a statement. “The building prompts its varied populations to cross paths with one another where possible to enhance intellectual exchange. The lower floors of the Rubenstein Forum are porous and dynamic with connections to the campus and the community in all directions. As one climbs the building, there is a progressive retreat from the everyday to more contemplative spaces with dramatic views of Chicago and Lake Michigan.”
DS+R designed floor-to-ceiling windows to draw in as much natural light as possible, and to provide views of the main campus, surrounding neighborhoods, the city skyline, and the lakeshore.
The school and the architect held focus groups and consulted with more than 100 faculty and staff to determine the program for the building, which includes the number, size, and type of rooms. The school needs a place on campus to host university functions.
“Too often events hosted by the university are held in other parts of Chicago, and our guests are denied the opportunity to experience the intellectually dynamic and beautiful campus that we have in Hyde Park,” University of Chicago Executive Vice President David Fithian said in a statement.
DS+R was selected to design the Rubenstein Forum in October 2015. The school’s newspaper, the Chicago Maroon, reported that construction will begin this year, and the building is expected to be completed by 2018.
Rubenstein Forum. Courtesy Diller Scofidio + Renfro. Click to enlarge.
Related Stories
| Jun 1, 2012
New BD+C University Course on Insulated Metal Panels available
By completing this course, you earn 1.0 HSW/SD AIA Learning Units.
| Jun 1, 2012
K-State Olathe Innovation Campus receives LEED Silver
Aspects of the design included a curtain wall and punched openings allowing natural light deep into the building, regional materials were used, which minimized the need for heavy hauling, and much of the final material included pre and post-consumer recycled content.
| May 31, 2012
2011 Reconstruction Award Profile: Seegers Student Union at Muhlenberg College
Seegers Student Union at Muhlenberg College has been reconstructed to serve as the core of social life on campus.
| May 31, 2012
New School’s University Center in NYC topped out
16-story will provide new focal point for campus.
| May 31, 2012
Perkins+Will-designed engineering building at University of Buffalo opens
Clad in glass and copper-colored panels, the three-story building thrusts outward from the core of the campus to establish a new identity for the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the campus at large.
| May 29, 2012
Reconstruction Awards Entry Information
Download a PDF of the Entry Information at the bottom of this page.
| May 24, 2012
2012 Reconstruction Awards Entry Form
Download a PDF of the Entry Form at the bottom of this page.
| May 9, 2012
Shepley Bulfinch given IIDA Design award for Woodruff Library?
The design challenges included creating an entry sequence to orient patrons and highlight services; establishing a sense of identity visible from the exterior; and providing a flexible extended-hours access for part of the learning commons.
| May 8, 2012
Morgan/Harbour completes three projects at Columbia Centre
Projects completed on behalf of property owner, White Oak Realty Partners, LLC, Pearlmark Realty Partners, LLC and Angelo Gordon & Co.
| May 7, 2012
2012 BUILDING TEAM AWARDS: TD Ameritrade Park
The new stadium for the College World Series in Omaha combines big-league amenities within a traditional minor league atmosphere.