Mediated Textuality

Emerging building technologies have widened the possibility of looking at buildings as a medium of information visualization. Media facades are getting popularity in terms of utilizing façade for creating moving images which starts to communicate or interact with people.This communication ranges from simple advertisement to data visualization of complex current affairs, climate, social media etc. Syracuse University New House has an interior media wall, which displays the names of the donors. However, there is no media facade, which could be an essential part of the campus life. This project explores the potentiality of a media façade in a university campus that is integrated with the knowledge box – the library and establish an informational connection between the two sides of the façade- interior and exterior.

The project requirement allowed us to work in a dimension of 60 feet by 200 feet floor area. From this volume an atrium has been curved out ,which allowed the old and the new addition of the Bird Library get some sky light. The chunk of green space in front of the bird library has got some contextual influence on the building and the project starts to response to that by indicating the location of the media surface on the façade system. The project introduces a second layer of media wall on the south side of the atrium. To represent a pseudo continuity on the façade from the point of entrance.The form continues to evolve based on the program being generated inside the building. A sunken plaza has been added to the basement level not only to provide the library a new entry level but also to create a plaza for the students to gather, interact and communicate with the façade. This plaza and the façade together can create a platform for the students where they can raise their voice, establish their rights or simply can celebrate a win in a game.

Studio Critic: Randall Korman, Syracuse University School of Architecture