The building concept is derived from our client’s vision, an international NGO, to work with communities worldwide – to bring people together, to promote positive change and provide a platform to access knowledge, while training future leaders from developing countries.
The University Campus for Human Rights takes the form of a circle, around which key spaces are organised – library campus, research centre and accommodation. The form is a generous welcoming gesture that aims to translate the ethos of the university advocating for equity, togetherness, human rights, peace and democracy.
The design is a simple knot exercise of union derived from an early concept sketch. By celebrating the circular gesture, the building’s three main programmes are combined into one simple movement. The three threads weave the building into one beautiful unified organism.
The three main programmes: campus, research centre and accommodation, form the three threads which are interwoven around each other to generate the building diagram resulting in a bold yet simple concept – human in scale and resolution.
This bold and clean gesture allows us to effortlessly weave the spaces together and allows for scalability and flexibility in the construction sequence – our client has the opportunity to choose to start from building one of the linear spaces and follow from there to complete the circular form.
The heart of the campus becomes both a space for socialising and one for self-reflection; beautifully landscaped trees and vegetation which breathe life. The garden changes with seasons – blooming in the spring and gently withering in the winter.
The building is to be understood by students, teachers and visitors, reinforcing notions of unity, collaboration, sustainability and coming together.
Type: ARCHITECTURE
Location: Vienna, Austria
Size: 36,000 sqm
For: International NGO for Human Rights
Status: Invited competition
With thanks to: Ahad Almeida for the visualisations
Featured in: A’A’