Northern Minnesota, built on iron and timber, becomes the setting for a building that samples this rich diversity and makes a priority of teaching its users about materials, how they go together, how they age, and how they express the forces inherent in any structure.
Throughout the seasons, the facade is activated by a dynamic demonstration of kinetic energy. On a rainy day, water pours from the scuppers and splashes into cisterns for collection, filtration, and redistribution. A portion of this reclaimed water is used in the hydraulics laboratory for experiments. During winter months impressive frozen columns connect scupper and cistern.
The interior continues the pedagogic approach with the building’s mechanical systems and architectural features on display. Layers of clear glass permit penetrating views from one end of the building to the other, and across slices of space through the hydraulics and structural laboratories.
How can an aspiring civil engineer resist a building that spouts water, corrodes constructively before one’s eyes - and has the biggest toys on campus?
Team:
Architects: Ross Barney Architects
Photographer: Kate Joyce Studios
