2047 Virginia Tech New Cowgill Hall

Based on Virginia Tech Masterplan 2047, Architecture students will move from Cowgill Hall to a new building, which is located in the Alumni Mall now. The architect hopes to create a community belonging to architecture students. Architecture students naturally get in touch with other colleagues in the building. Also, the architect does not want Architecture students to be influenced by people who do not belong to the major.

Architecture students need a quiet and comfortable working environment. Students shall not be distracted by the outside environment. Therefore, the strategy is to take the studio up to the air. The space underneath will become a pathway for the university.

To strengthen the relationship between students and studios, a ring has been designed. Students can learn about the different studio's work through the daily movement and receive more opportunities to communicate with students in different studios.

Loop Studio

Traditional architecture schools have very distinct floor separation. If students from different classes are not on the same floor, meeting with students from other floors will be hard. Especially for introverted students, they will lose the opportunity to communicate with their colleagues and thus may lose a lot of inspiration, which is detrimental to architecture students. Architects believe that architecture is a profession that requires a lot of observation and discussion. In particular, peer-to-peer learning can facilitate the mutual progress of architects. Therefore, the architects used a large ring-like teaching building. Students must pass by their colleagues' studios to come to their studios. Although this approach does not necessarily make introverts more extroverted, it increases the chances of getting more experience.

Playground

The architect believes that architecture students should be free and unafraid to think in a constrained manner. Therefore, their learning environment should also be free and unfettered. The architecture school should be like a community, and it should be a utopian community that is open, free, and without any barriers. The architect tried to break away from the traditional concept of classrooms and instead used completely open spaces for public lectures, of which the Playground is a representative place. The architect named it Playground because it is a space that the users completely define. It can be used both as a pin-up space and as an open space for the classroom. It can also be a space for the architecture students to hold parties in the evening. Students from different classrooms and grades may pass by the Playground during the daytime while a pin-up or a presentation is being held. These students may be interested in participating in the activities here. Then the opportunity for student-to-student interaction increases. At night, students might bring pizza here during their break from work. There may also be beer and champagne, turning the Playground into a party. Students passing by will come forward to a party here. These activities break down the barriers between students and students and make this school a more academic atmosphere and a more united and energetic student body.

Interior vs. Exterior

The architects also designed a chair specifically for the playground. This chair can be freely combined. When two chairs are stacked together, it will become a podium. When people put more chairs together, they will become a pin-up table for the model. The use of this chair is to be developed by the students. Many of the architecture students' initial desire to study architecture stems from Minecraft and Lego, two games that give students a taste of building. The designer is also among these students, so he designed this chair to tribute these two games.

Chair Design

The architects also designed a chair specifically for the playground. This chair can be freely combined. When two chairs are stacked together, it will become a podium. When people put more chairs together, they will become a pin-up table for the model. The use of this chair is to be developed by the students. Many of the architecture students' initial desire to study architecture stems from Minecraft and Lego, two games that give students a taste of building. The designer is also among these students, so he designed this chair to tribute these two games.