New York-based architecture firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R) has recently unveiled its design for a 170,000-square-foot stacked campus building at the University of Toronto, to be known as “90 Queen’s Park.” The design features indented floors that cut into one side.Describing the new project, the architecture firm stated in its press release, “90 Queen’s Park provides an urban and cultural hub, bringing together nine previously dispersed departments — including the School of History, Music, Law, Near, and Middle Eastern Civilizations, Islamic Studies, and Jewish Studies, and a home for the new School of Cities — into a single building.” Conceived as a multidisciplinary facility, the new building responds to its site forces and diverse users with a dual identity: a smooth cohesive block of program containing faculty offices and workspaces to the north expresses the unity of the building, while the individuality of each constituent department is revealed by an erosion of the facade to the south, which is shaped by an imprint of the historic Falconer Hall. At the heart of the building is a dynamic central atrium and stair linking clusters of lounge spaces, study spaces, and meeting rooms. This public commons fosters access and views between the disciplines, promoting a culture of collaboration.DS+R won the contract to design the building in a 2016 competition. The proposed building will have nine floors with a dual construction: one side of the exterior is flush with floors stacked evenly on top of one another, while the other is made up of staggered indented volumes. Some portions are single-, double-, and triple-height to create a layered effect, while others are glazed to give the appearance of the exterior peeling away. The building will be housed at the site of the old McLaughlin Planetarium and is proposed to be built with glass and masonry, drawing on brick structures in the surrounding area.In the new renditions of the design revealed by the architecture firm, 90 Queen’s Park is envisioned as a central gathering space. As described in DS+R’s press note, “The design buries the access road under the building to create a generous new entry plaza with a terraced landscape. A cafe and restaurant extend from the inside-out with a gently stepped hardscape and softscape marking entry from the north. At ground level, the center provides direct access into the Edward Johnson Building and Falconer Hall. Located on the second floor, the School of Cities' Urban Lab forms a canopy for the southern entry with classrooms performing the same function at the north plaza. Floating above neighboring buildings within the erosion, the center’s 250-seat recital hall and a flexible event space provide larger gathering spaces where visitors can enjoy views of downtown Toronto.”DS+R is collaborating with two Toronto-based practices for the project. Proposed to be completed in 2020, DS+R’s intervention to the nearly-200-year-old university will be among its most stand-out modern structures when complete. https://www.blouinartinfo.com/ Founder: Louise Blouin
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