Buildings designed to communicate

MMT723@CABRINI EDU

Media buildings convey a message through the design of the structure. Three new buildings have exterior appearances that display media elements to communicate with an outside audience.

Polshek Partnership Architects have created three separate projects that have a digital skin projecting words and pictures on the face of the buildings. Each client was looking for a compelling physical individuality and that is exactly what Polshek Partnership provided. The company does not specialize in media buildings but has successfully produced spectacular structures that capture the attention of observers.

Syracuse University is one of the three sites where media has become part of the building itself. The S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse has just celebrated the opening of Newhouse III, the third building in the Newhouse Communications Complex.

“As I entered the new building, I was amazed at how well Newhouse III connected into Newhouse I and II. It gives you a sense of unity and flows between the three buildings which will ultimately help connect the different departments within Newhouse,” Tom Frost wrote in an email. Frost is a sophomore television, film, and radio major at Syracuse University.

The $31.5million, 74,000-square-foot expansion, was funded by private donations from the Newhouse family and alumni of the school. The project broke ground in late 2005 and finished on schedule in August 2007.A dedication ceremony was held on Sept. 19 2007, with an address given by John G. Roberts, chief justice of the United States.

The building features a three-story glass foyer intersected by pedestrian bridges that connects all three Newhouse buildings. A large glass panel is the front of the building and inscribed along the glass is the entire first amendment in six-foot-high grey letters. The First Amendment serves as a foundation for all communication majors and is an influential reminder to all of the freedoms of America.

“The building is very aesthetically pleasing and flows almost like a flag with the words of the first amendment inscribed on the windows,” Frost said

The second building that Polshek Partnership Architects have completed is the WGBH public broadcasting station in Brighton, Mass. Previously WGBH was spread out in 12 different buildings. Now the station can be found across from the Massachusetts Turnpike in Brighton, allowing thousands of commuters view the building on their daily drive to and from work. The WGBH building has a projected digital picture on the façade that will fascinate the public daily.

At $450 million and 550,000 square feet, the Newseum in Washington, is the largest and most expensive of Polshek Partnership’s three projects. The seven-year production plans to open in the spring, with three parallel buildings facing Pennsylvania Avenue. The First Amendment appears on the Newseum as well, where it is etched in stone.

The communication field is developing everyday and these three buildings are a view of what future architecture could possibly become.