Diné College Library
Shiprock, New Mexco
Diné College, located in Tsaile, Ariz., serves residents of the 26,000 square-mile Navajo Nation across Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. Founded in 1968, Diné College has two main campuses and six community centers serving approximately 2,000 students.
The new Diné College Library on the Shiprock, N.M., campus respects the vital connection between the Diné and the natural world. The library honors the built form of the sacred hogan and echoes the curving representation of the Navajo world-view.
Arched forms and curved walls present a gentle and welcoming spirit. Spaces created between the large curved forms align to special landforms, sacred directions, and celestial relationships that surround and define the world of the Navajo.
A long slit cut in the east wall of the library allows the rising sun to penetrate deep into the interior twice annually, corresponding with the beginning and ending of the school year. As the rays pierce the interior, they glance along a long stone wall and enter the Storytelling Room.
The family hogan, the center of Navajo life, is placed at the very center of the library as the Storytelling Room. It features a dramatic blue translucent enclosure rising like a prayer through the roof of the library. Lights and fiber optics in the ceiling surrounding the Story Telling Room display the Big Dipper, the North Star, and other constellations important to the storytelling tradition of the Diné.
Pierce College - Student Services Center Woodland Hills, CA
The new Student Services Center at Pierce College is prominently situated at the campus promenade. Human interaction is encouraged and the student experience enhanced by this new campus hub.
The building serves as a landmark for students, staff, and visitors entering campus. The design clarifies function and wayfinding and features walk-up windows and internet based services via computer stations. A welcoming, open courtyard conveys a relaxing and calm campus environment. The architectural vocabulary blends seaminglessly with the Mission-revival style of the original campus.
College of the Desert - Student Services Center Palm Desert, CA
This LEED-Certified student services center was designed as an open, inviting edifice that stretches its arms to the community, fits within the context of the existing campus buildings, and allows for easy access to the students with multiple points of entry. It serves as a “front door” drawing visitors to the heart of the campus, and provides a convenient one-stop location for several student services.
The dramatic glass entrance lobby transforms into a glowing lantern at night, which serves as a beacon and facilitates wayfinding. The entrance is shaped like the open pages of a book and allows for views into the main lobby atrium, while the vertical articulation of the deep-set windows of the building responds to the desert conditions and the character of the existing buildings.
Harbor College - Library Learning Resource Center Wilmington, CA
The new Library Learning Resource Center at Harbor College will fulfill the goals of the Campus Master Plan. The building integrates with other new campus facilities to define a prominent new campus mall and its unique materials will showcase it as a landmark, sustainable building. It will provide students with a state-of-the-art, highly functional, pleasant, and inspirational learning environment
The south facade will serve as a prominent backdrop to the campus mall. It will be clad with a curtain wall of horizontal louvers to block the southern sun. A glass box will house the periodical reading room will protrude through stylish louvers and offer commanding views overlooking the campus. A suspended canopy of photovoltaic panels will cap this facade.
Straight-forward, user-friendly way-finding systems promote circulation flow. The main entrance opens to a dramatic atrium. This space will provide users with clear visuals to the upper level. The Learning Center adjacent to the Library Computing area will foster a lively and collaborative environment.
