Contact: Jim Gardner, Executive Director of University Communications, (973) 596-3433
New Architecture Building Completed at
NJITNEWARK -- Wednesday, February 4, 1998 -- A state-of-the-art building for the New Jersey School of Architecture at New Jersey Institute of Technology has opened.
The 111,900 gross square-foot edifice, the fifth largest school of architecture in the country, is the jewel in a complex of five buildings that are part of new construction or renovation. It was designed by the architectural firm, The Hillier Group of Princeton, N.J., and built at a cost of $26.6 million.
"This whole building was conceived as a kind of facility that does not exist anywhere else: It is a School of Architecture that responds to the needs of the future," said Urs. P. Gauchat, Dean of the School of Architecture, which offers B.Arch. and M.Arch. programs.
"It’s obviously a sign of recognition and confidence by the Board of Trustees and Dr. Saul K. Fenster, NJIT president, in providing the School of Architecture with a magnificent facility. We realize, however, that it comes with the expectation that we excel even more in the future," Gauchat said
The official opening ceremony will take place in the Fall of 1998. A small ceremony to unveil the building is scheduled for later this Spring.
The new building is a southward extension of Weston Hall, a long building along Martin Luther King Boulevard. Access from the campus is along an elevated ramp from Summit Place, rising to a distinctive new entrance pavilion at the juncture of the old Weston Hall and the new.
A soaring "kinetic" atrium at the entrance connects the old and new buildings while preserving the identity of each. Inside the atrium, a hub of function and activity, is the connection between all floors. From the entry, one can see the gallery, studio, library, teaching spaces and the administrative offices. In contrast to the old Weston Hall, the new building enjoys openness and from within the large complex, offers long views of the two major cities beyond.
"It’s heart-warming and encouraging for the faculty, administration and students alike to have a beautiful building that provides spectacular views of Newark and New York City. It is the kind of thing that elevates the spirit and warms the soul," Gauchat said. "It provides an educational environment that makes it a pleasure to teach and learn in."
As part of the renovation, old Weston Hall has been given a new brick exterior to match the new building, which has yet to be named as the School of Architecture seeks a benefactor.
Eventually, every student desk will be wired for access to the Computer-Aided Design (CAD) program, helping the School of Architecture to maintain its position as a national leader in the area of CAD.
"The building really makes a statement from within, and statement about NJIT in regards to its relationship with the City of Newark," Gauchat said. "One of the architectural concepts that gave rise to the building form was its presence as a lantern on the hill. Students will be working around the clock, so the building will be illuminated at all hours.
"There will be feverish activity day and night. It will give the impression of a working campus, not that of a group of inanimate buildings. It enlivens the whole campus scene and gives an image of NJIT as a critical working component of the City of Newark," Gauchat said.
Conceptually the building was developed by architect Alan Chimicoff, the chief designer of The Hillier Group, along with a faculty committee from the School of Architecture.
The other companies that took part in the project included; Turner Construction (construction manager), Schoor & DePalma (civil engineers), Leroy Callender PC & CEC, Inc. (structural engineer); R.G. Vanderwell (mechanical engineer) and Robert Newel & Associates (lighting consultant). The Hillier Group is also the contracted landscape architect.
"The functional aspects and their disposition within the building respect how we perceive our own needs. It is remarkable that the architects were able to respond to our needs as closely as they did." Gauchat said.
This building provides an important link that ties the South campus to the rest of the campus.
"All can be seen as dynamic, angular and kinetic in contrast to the measured regimentation of old Weston and to the systematic arrangements of the new studio building. Here the contrast between the regular and irregular, between normative thesis and antithetical counterproposal is joined in a dialog that simultaneously reveres and challenges convention," said Chimicoff, the project principal architect.
The new building includes a state-of-the-art civil engineering laboratory.
"We hope this is the first sign of a long and close relationship between Architecture and Civil Engineering. We believe the gradual erosion of the professional boundaries between the two disciplines is not only inevitable but a very positive step," Gauchat said.
NJIT is a public research university enrolling nearly 8,200 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students in 73 degree programs through its five colleges: Newark College of Engineering, School of Architecture, College of Science and Liberal Arts, the School of Management and the Albert Dorman Honors College. Research initiatives include manufacturing, microelectronics, transportation, computer science, solar astrophysics, environmental engineering and science, and architecture and building science. U.S. News and World Report's 1998 Annual Guide to America's Best Colleges ranked NJIT among the top 175 national universities. Money Magazine's Best College Buys 1998 rated NJIT as the sixth best value among U.S. science and technology schools.
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