ArtCenter Mullin Transportation Design Center

June 2024

Art Center College of Design’s historic wind tunnel has been transformed into the state-of-the-art Mullin Transportation Center (MTDC). Located on the College’s South Campus in Pasadena, the MTDC is a central feature in the reimagined 950 building, now a creative hub for all disciplines. The comprehensive redesign support’s ArtCenter’s world world-renowned Transportation Design program—providing capability for full-scale vehicular models, better replicating the experiences of professional design studios.

DJA’s design nearly doubles the square footage of the wind tunnel, converting the barrel-vaulted, 43-foot high space to hold 31,000 square feet of specialized creative labs, large-scale makerspaces, classrooms, exhibition areas, studios and offices. DJA worked closely with ArtCenter to conceptualize vehicle-intensive spaces that facilitate research, experimentation, and forward-thinking design with capabilities for the next generation of teaching, learning, and creating. New galleries and a hovering mezzanine highlight student work, inspiring creativity and embodying ArtCenter's "see, think, do" philosophy. The wind tunnel, originally designed to simulate motion by testing objects fixed in space, has been converted to accept actual motion. The overall design acknowledges the interplay of time, and the evolution of design processes related to transportation and modern aviation. A taut, smooth aesthetic of strange lightness hovers in contrast to the rough lovely wooden vessel of the original wind tunnel.

The physical and visual access integrated throughout the space form a juncture where all disciplines and constituencies of ArtCenter can converge. MTDC represents a future of intersectionality, where silos are replaced by opportunity, fluidity, and a sense of belonging.