Honor Award
Social Studies/ASU
Location
Lattie F. Coor Hall, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
Design
Krivanek+Breaux/Art+Design, Chicago, IL
Design Team
BJ Krivanek (Principal in Charge), Joel Breaux
Fabrication
Sundt Construction
Client
Arizona State University
Consultants
Gensler, Los Angeles (architects); Jones Studio
Photos
BJ Krivanek
In the development of a site-specific public art program for a new building on the ASU campus, Krivanek+Breaux considered the social dynamics of a multi-use classroom building within the campus and its relationship to the outside community.
The outer perimeter of the glass tower will primarily house faculty offices facing outward toward the campus and city. The apparent visual transparency of the façade suggests a collective act of seeing. This reflects interpretations back toward the community, as any glass surface will. This concept is made more explicit through the inscription of glass modules with fragments of languages, suggesting that language is a raw material that will be given form and disseminated as an ongoing process.
To engage natural phenomena and to reference the social dynamics between the University and the outside community, a typographic structure extends outward from the upper edge of the west façade. In the course of the day, once the sun skims the façade, the word "Explore," legible in English or Spanish, will cast a shadow upon the ground.
Jury Comment
"Silhouette, reflection, and shadow are explored in this striking application of type as sculpture. The boldly cantilevered letters with supporting multi-lingual word fragments come together to deliver a powerful and provocative statement about observation that underscores the building's purpose."