The primary challenge was to create a spatial identity for this contemporary department in the iconic Craig Ellwood building constructed for the school in 1976. The building, considered by some to be Ellwood’s best non-residential work, is a study in Miesian high modernism. While the exterior, the structural system, the underlying order and especially the bridge are extraordinary, some of the building interiors clearly deviated from the driving concepts of flexibility, transparency and openness. Our approach coined ‘even less is more’ was to work to understand and accentuate (through reduction) the ordering system and the building proportions. We worked diligently to exploit latent building qualities through light, transparency, reflectivity and contrast.

The primary challenge was to create a spatial identity for this contemporary department in the iconic Craig Ellwood building constructed for the school in 1976. The building, considered by some to be Ellwood’s best non-residential work, is a study in Miesian high modernism. While the exterior, the structural system, the underlying order and especially the bridge are extraordinary, some of the building interiors clearly deviated from the driving concepts of flexibility, transparency and openness. Our approach coined ‘even less is more’ was to work to understand and accentuate (through reduction) the ordering system and the building proportions. We worked diligently to exploit latent building qualities through light, transparency, reflectivity and contrast.