It’s good to have friends. We wouldn’t get very far without each other.
I’ve been reflecting on this simple truth lately because this year, 2025, is our firm’s 90th anniversary. We may tend to think of design as an artistic and technical practice carried out by trained experts. But what we do would have no direction, no purpose, and would find no form without the relationships we’ve been lucky enough to cultivate with our clients.
The web of connections that defines our world is vast and robust, but like a garden it requires tending to flourish into its most supportive potential. In this issue of Current, like any good gardener, we pay close attention to many of the relationships that have brought us to where we are today and that are propelling us onward. The stories that follow illuminate more than just the connections of friendship; they cast light on the links between people and place, past and present, technology and the future.
You’ll learn how the Crow Island School in Winnetka, Illinois, which opened in the 1930s, continues to inspire and influence K-12 education today. You’ll discover how Fermilab is planning to study the fundamental building blocks of the universe. You’ll hear from the CEO of global electric vehicle company NIO about the future of zero-emissions mobility. You’ll see how Los Angeles developer Holos Communities is addressing the housing affordability crisis. And much more.
As we celebrate our 90th year and look optimistically toward the future, we hope the stories within these pages prompt you to reflect on the connections that make life more beautiful.
Phil Harrison Editorial Advisor CEO, Perkins&Will
Volume 03 ― Connections, illuminated
CURRENT
Volume 03 ―
Connections, illuminated
Where place, people, and purpose intersect, a universe of potential blooms. This issue of Current connects you to stories of enduring relationships, bold endeavors, and overdue reconciliation. The articles are organized by the following themes:
Climate Impact
The urgent need to reduce our environmental footprint
Future of Design
These trends will shape tomorrow
For the Love of People Designing with, by, and for the community
Head to the Heart
How the brain experiences place
High Tech’s Higher Purpose When machines enhance the human experience
Working Well Health, productivity, and talent retention in a post-pandemic world
Pro Tip: Don’t forget to explore Current’s interactive online content and sign up to have insights automatically delivered to your inbox.
perkinswill.com/insights
Photo: Scott Norsworthy
Photo: Zhu Yumeng
Photo: Steve Hall
8 Working Well
This Isn’t an Office!
Cognizant’s new headquarters establishes a model for the hybrid work era.
12 Working Well Future View
How do you design for an experiment whose parameters are yet to be discovered?
14
Climate Impact Turning the Page
2 CEOs discuss why they’re investing in projects that do as much for the health of people and the environment as they do for their businesses.
20 Project Spotlight Kirkland & Ellis
An international law firm brings the glory of nature inside.
26 For the Love of People Road to Reconciliation
3 must-see places in the U.S. give voice to Black history, culture, and civil rights.
32
Project Spotlight Weldon Library Revitalization
Community space and light revitalize a Brutalist library.
38
High Tech’s Higher Purpose Blue Sky Drive
What do artificial intelligence, upcycled attire, and specialty drinks have to do with electric vehicles?
44 Climate Impact Second Acts
These struggling malls became new destinations for health, fun, and learning.
49 For the Love of People Scrubs to Sketches
Medical professionals bring clinical expertise to the design process.
53 For the Love of People An Education to Remember
In the 1970s, a remarkable school in Tehran celebrated international diversity.
64
Special Content 90 Years of Connections
Perkins&Will honors a prolific legacy of design.
66
Head to the Heart Still Modern
85 years after opening, the Crow Island School remains a paragon of scholastic architecture.
73 For the Love of People How to House
This developer is confronting LA’s housing crisis with mixed-income communities and creative financing.
78
High Tech’s Higher Purpose Datascapes for Better Cities
The conditions of downtown streets contribute to their vibrancy. Here’s a new way to set the right scene.
80
Project Spotlight Beijing Performing Arts Centre
China’s dedication to the arts takes shape on the Grand Canal.
90 Future of Design Healthy Building
Specifying materials that are safe for people and the environment is the first step in designing for life. Here’s a guide to making good choices.
92
High Tech’s Higher Purpose A Spirit of Stewardship
As campuses face declining enrollment and funding challenges, this trailblazing leader envisions a smaller, stronger state university.
95
Future of Design Fast, Frequent, and Affordable
High-speed rail is coming to North America with the promise of reshaping communities for the better, if the variables are balanced just so.
98 Climate Impact Great Performances
3 case studies show how landscape design can provide greater functionality and resilience.
This Isn’t an Office!
Cognizant’s new headquarters establishes a model for the hybrid work era.
Over the last few years, it seems like we’ve made workplaces everywhere but the traditional office, from the local coffee shop and nearby coworking space to the dining room table, or wherever the smartphone has bars. This has particularly been the case in the UK, which The Guardian in 2023 declared the “work-from-home-capital of Europe,” with up to 40% of employees doing at least some of their laboring hours remotely.
For the UK-based technological solutions company Cognizant, this trend collided with another reality. Before its recent move into a new headquarters, the company operated eight traditional business spaces scattered across London. “The offices were used by different teams. Some of them were used by everyone. And some were just super-siloed,” says Penny Tonks, associate director of real estate strategy and asset management for Cognizant’s European region. The situation posed challenges of workplace communication and cohesion, to be sure. But it also created friction that sparked a quest to redefine what a workplace could be. “It was an opportunity to bring people together,” Tonks says.
Even before Covid, Cognizant had begun planning to consolidate its workplaces. “We knew we had underutilization in some of the offices that came with acquisitions,” Tonks says. “And our teams already had the flexibility to work from home.” As a result, the new space could be more efficient, unburdened by the need to accommodate all of the company’s staff. It could be nimbler, too, allowing the ability to transform desking and cubicles, walls, and even complete rooms from public meeting areas to private workspaces and back again.
A workplace should be a place where people want to be. Cognizant chose a location in Spitalfields to be close to clients. “It’s right at the edge of Shoreditch,” Tonks says, referring to a hip neighborhood that attracts creatives. “And we’ve got easy access across the city, with the Elizabeth line. It was really important to get the best commute for people that we could.”
Photo: Ed Reeve
Working with a London-based team of designers, the company conceived a three-floor headquarters created, Tonks says, to support talent attraction and retention. This meant incorporating the best strategies for individual and collaborative working: Soundproof pods replicate the focused intimacy of working from home, and tables sized for paired conversation anchor small meeting rooms. “Just to be able to close the door and be in your own space, rather than an open space, is really beneficial,” she says. “People still need to find the quiet time they need.” But they also want community. Circulation paths create possibilities for intentional coincidences via open labs and communication visibility.
Larger meeting spaces, with adjoining and flexible desking and lockers, can be booked in advance, and their whiteboards can be rolled into storage. “It was intentional to not allocate spaces to any of the business units or teams, but to make them as usable as possible for everybody,” she says. Teams can book rooms for an entire day, and even the boardroom is uniquely flexible: It can turn into a workshop with a flip of its bespoke table. The project was built to BREEAM Outstanding and WELL Platinum standards. “That was particularly important to recent grads and other early-career recruits,” Tonks says. “It was important to practice what we preach on that front and invest in the right sort of space.”
One strategy involved furnishings. The design team piloted new furniture in Cognizant’s previous location in Paddington, incorporating workers’ feedback via QR code. The most successful new pieces were then mixed with existing furnishings from the various offices, resulting in an environmentally friendly 40% reuse rate and ensuring the new workplace felt both familiar and fresh.
But the new headquarters’ most successful feature might just be its most public. On the third floor, a flexible event space allows Cognizant to transition from renting venues to hosting in-house. “It’s off the charts in terms of utilization,” Tonks says. “To be able to bring people, whether they’re clients or industry colleagues, into our space to showcase our way of working makes a world of difference.” The best workspace, then, isn’t just an office in the right part of town. It’s a place you want to show off and share.•
Left: The design provides a variety of settings for different work styles, from open public areas to private, soundproof booths. These café tables present a happy medium.
Above: On the fifth floor, a flexible space gives Cognizant the ability to host events in-house. It has proven popular with staff, as well as clients and industry colleagues.
Photos: Ed Reeve
Future View
How do you design for an experiment whose parameters are yet to be discovered?
As the leading particle physics and accelerator laboratory in the U.S., Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory has, over its 50-plus-year history, upheld the principles of rigor and creativity in its pursuit of knowledge. This commitment is apparent in its 6,800-acre campus in Batavia, Illinois, which was developed by the lab’s visionary first director, Robert R. Wilson. Wilson understood that design excellence— alongside some of the world’s most powerful accelerators—was a key component for attracting financial support and esteemed scientists from around the globe. He insisted on “good architecture.” At the heart of the complex is the central operations building, Wilson Hall, a dramatic, sweeping brutalist tower that boldly announces Fermilab’s pioneering work.
Uncertainty
When it came time to expand the campus to advance Fermilab’s research focus on neutrinos—the universe’s most abundant particle, so tiny its mass cannot be weighed—a rigorous yet creative approach was needed. The Integrated Engineering Research Center (IERC) would be the largest purpose-built lab and office building on the campus since Wilson Hall opened in 1974. It was envisioned to bring together, under one roof, different research teams, technicians, and engineers from various disciplines who had previously been scattered across the campus. This would enable collaboration in support of the international DUNE (Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment) project, which aims to unlock the mystery of neutrinos to help us better understand the universe, how it works, and why we are here.
The new IERC had to support ongoing experiments, but it also had to be extremely adaptable and able to accommodate future uses that cannot be anticipated today. Most importantly, it would need to connect to Wilson Hall, further facilitating interaction between the engineering community and researchers. But it had to make its own bold statement without overshadowing the historic structure.
Analysis
Instead of simply guessing about future uses, Fermilab and its design team collaborated on detailed interviews with dozens of engineers and scientists who would be using the new labs. They then reviewed a wide range of scientific use-cases for projects planned on a 20-year horizon to best understand the types of spatial support that speculative projects might demand, like clean-class requirements and fabrication and assembly capabilities, as well as the need to house equipment and services.
Examining the data led to a set of guiding principles for the design. To enable maximum flexibility for future unknown uses, the team specified functional placeholders and spaces that could be adapted as needs became clearly defined over time.
“The completed building is exactly what we set out to achieve,” says Erik Gottschalk, Fermilab’s science liaison for the building design, “which is largely a result of the requirements process driving the design, rather than the design being driven by a bunch of opinions about what the building should look like.”
Synthesis
The 82,000-square-foot concrete-and-glass IERC emerged as a two-story linear structure that takes cues from Wilson Hall’s proportions and language while nodding to its profile in section. Inside, the team developed a modular approach to space allocation and building systems, enabling plug-andplay for future spatial requirements and systems.
On the ground floor, project labs for large-scale needs lead off either side of a long central support spine that supplies services like power, gasses, data, and exhaust. In addition to a variety of ISO classified clean room facilities, other labs are designed to be clean-class “capable” and can be retrofitted on an as-needed-basis, minimizing unnecessary infrastructure and greatly helping the bottom line. Open workspaces employ modular components, making them ideal environments for interdisciplinary collaboration. Hybrid and testing labs occupy the second level, ringed by daylight-drenched offices along the building’s perimeter. In addition to bringing people together, the new building puts a premium on visual connections. Besides the ample glazing that links occupants to the world outside, transparency between interior spaces dominates where it makes sense. For example, visual learning laboratories invite visitors on guided tours to observe the work happening here.
Preparedness
With the new IERC, Fermilab upholds its commitment to innovation and continues its tradition of investing in smart design. The building meets today’s functional and human requirements while preparing for tomorrow’s ever-evolving needs. It is uniquely positioned to help advance critical scientific investigation and further our understanding of the universe. “It puts science on display,” says Gottschalk, “with a view to the future.”•
Photos: James Steinkamp Photography
Turning the Page
2 CEOs discuss why they’re investing in projects that do as much for the health of people and the environment as they do for their businesses.
Regenerative design is a holistic approach to designing buildings, landscapes, cities, and places. It goes beyond the idea of doing less harm to instead make positive environmental impacts. Regenerative design also makes good business sense. To find out how, Jason F. McLennan, chief sustainability officer at Perkins&Will, talked to Rob McEwen, founder and CEO of McEwen Mining, who is developing a copper mine and environmentally friendly mining camp in Argentina; and Eddie Opler, CEO and chairman of World’s Finest Chocolate, who is reimagining his company’s Chicago factory along regenerative lines. Both McEwen and Opler are pursuing Living Building Challenge certification for their projects and pushing their industries, both of which have been in the spotlight for the negative impacts they have on people and the planet, toward greater social and environmental responsibility.
Participants
Rob McEwen: Founder and CEO, McEwen Mining
Eddie Opler: CEO and Chairman, World’s Finest Chocolate
Jason F. McLennan, Moderator: Chief Sustainability Officer, Perkins&Will
Jason F. McLennan: You both make things the world needs. What do you do and/or make?
Rob McEwen: We produce gold and silver from three mines in the Americas. Also, we own 48% of McEwen Copper, which owns 100% of the Los Azules copper project. This is where we are working to design a mine that will help redefine and transform the public’s negative impression of mining by creating the first regenerative green copper mine in the world. Los Azules is located in the beautiful Andes Mountains in northern Argentina, on the border with Chile.
Eddie Opler: We’re a third-generation business that makes chocolate products, largely focused on bars and chocolate-covered nuts. Our goal has always been to provide a high-quality product at an affordable price. My grandfather founded the company, and I took over from my father in 2022.
JFM: How do your industries impact society?
RM: The mining industry and in particular copper provides the foundation materials for the modern world. Copper is used extensively to manufacture electric vehicles, solar cells, wind turbines, all manner of electrical products, and it facilitates the Internet and AI. So the impact is substantial and critical to sustaining civilization as we know it. Unfortunately, most of the world is unaware of mining’s contribution but very critical of its history. It is this negative perception that we are working to change with our Los Azules project.
EO: Well, for one thing, everybody loves chocolate! And we currently work with 3 million to 4 million families a year who sell our products as fundraisers, typically for schools that want to do things like enhance a computer lab or build a playground or take field trips. Beyond the benefits of raising money for projects, the sales process teaches kids valuable skills. We’ve also started partnering with large and small retailers across the country to help fund their charitable projects. We’ve raised over $4.6 billion over the years.
JFM: Why did you get interested in sustainability?
RM: Nature’s beauty, majesty, diversity, and fragility fills me with awe! The location of our Los Azules project, which is at 10,000 feet above sea level, is inspiring. I could spend days with a camera capturing images of its broad valleys and variety of pastel colors cascading down the mountain peaks that pierce the blue sky. At night, the sky is so clear it seems like you can reach up and touch the stars. It’s a beautiful setting and it motivated me to figure out how to protect it, the people who will work there, and the people who live downstream. We are designing to minimize our disturbance while mining and ensuring our reclamation efforts benefit all creatures and humankind.
“It’s a beautiful setting and it motivated me to figure out how to protect it, the people who will work there and the people who live downstream.”
Rob McEwen
EO: Nature has always been a big part of my life, and lately my kids have helped me understand the importance of climate change and our potential to have a positive impact on our business and beyond. And nature was such a key outlet for me during the pandemic that I’ve been inspired to make sure we can share it with future generations. These things have combined to make sustainability a key mission for me, something that I wanted to share with our employees, with our customers, and millions of kids.
JFM: So along those lines, Rob, what are your industry’s big impacts on the environment, and how will your project be better?
RM: Mining can be a large user of water and energy in the form of fossil fuels. The mine we are designing will not be your conventional copper mine because it will utilize a heap leach process that will use less than one quarter of the water and produce no tailings. Since it will be powered by renewable energy sources like wind, solar, and hydro, and utilize an electric mobile fleet and electric equipment wherever possible, it will emit one-third less carbon. Our design plans to be carbon neutral by 2038.
JFM: Some of my environmental colleagues say to me, ‘Why are you working with a mining company?’ And I ask them, ‘Why aren’t you working with a mining company?’ Because if we want solar panels, we need copper. If we want batteries, we need copper and other metals. These resources are the building blocks for a sustainable future. But we need to change how they are extracted and how they are processed and the net impact on the environment of doing so—and that’s at the heart of our collaboration on the camp.
RM: Yes, you are creating a work camp like no other. The accommodations for miners working in remote locations like Los Azules are usually small, unimaginative industrial boxes: functional, but not attractive. With the industry experiencing a growing labor shortage, comfortable, attractive, restful accommodation will be a competitive advantage. I really like what you and your team have designed as it ties into the history of the region—adopting the terraced approach the Incas used to cultivate the mountainsides. Its terraces are enclosed in a light-filled structure providing multi-level walkways, hanging gardens growing fresh produce, collecting and treating its own water, and all powered by a large solar array. I believe it will be a very positive model for attracting scarce skills and talent and be a big advance in ecoinnovation for mining.
Photo: McEwan
JFM: Eddie, what about you? What are your industry’s big environmental impacts, and where can it do better?
EO: I mistakenly assumed that our factory footprint would be the largest factor, along with our product distribution. But it’s actually a start-to-finish supply chain issue. After doing a study with you and your team, we were surprised to learn that about 90% of our environmental impact happens before the raw materials arrive at our factory, mainly involving cocoa production but also milk and sugar. Those learnings have helped us focus on reducing our carbon impact and figuring out ways to build sustainable practices into our business model going forward.
JFM: What are the social impacts of your business and what do you think is your company’s responsibility to the communities in which you work?
RM: Mining will impact the economics of communities close to its activities. First, it is one of the highest paying industries, so there will generally be an increase in income. It almost always encourages the development of secondary and tertiary commercial activities to service the mine, as well as improved access to healthcare and training in many disciplines that increase one’s ability to have a higher standard of living. On the potential downside, there’s increased traffic and disruption of the labor pool for lower paying agricultural and farming jobs.
“I don’t want to look back and know that I built a new factory in the old way. Why not look at this much more holistically now? I want to hold a beacon of hope out there. It’s not easy to make these decisions, but it’s the right thing to do.”
Eddie Opler
EO: I’m excited about providing a pleasant place for people to work. We want to blend nature into the manufacturing facility so employees can have nature around them during break times and at lunch, and so they can have a comfortable space to unwind and work together. And we’re including an educational component for visitors that will connect with young people and adults, teaching them about the global supply chain and helping them understand what it takes to manufacture this product in the right way. We’ll showcase how we’re using energy and water, how we’re using modern technology like robotics and automation. I think it will be a very special thing to share, hopefully with millions of people.
JFM: Why did you decide it was important to pursue Living Building Challenge-level facilities? How does it benefit your business, as well as surrounding ecologies and communities?
RM: We’re creating a new model for the mining industry, one that I hope will help to improve the public’s perception of mining. It is all about creating an environmentally sensitive and sustainable operation that the community and the country can be proud of, a beautiful and generative oasis in the mountains rather than a scar.
EO: I’ve always been proud of the facility that my dad and grandfather built in Chicago. And now that our company has matured into a solid, strong, healthy business, sustainability needs to be top of mind as we think about what’s next for World’s Finest Chocolate.
JFM: What do you think the future holds for humankind’s relationship with the natural world?
RM: We need to protect the natural world. It’s a fragile ecosystem. We are working to find a balance between minimizing our impact on the environment and producing essential materials to support the modern world. We want to present a new model for the mining industry, one that can be admired and accepted by local communities, at the national level, and globally. To date, the response has been most encouraging. Both the mining industry and the general public have expressed surprise that mining could be done in such a different and improved way. Both groups want to see mining move quickly in this direction.
EO: It’s a scary time, but it’s energizing to think about regeneration and new technologies, and how to use this as a catalyst for revitalizing communities. And I don’t want to wait. I don’t want to look back and know that I built a new factory in the old way. Why not look at this much more holistically now? I want to hold a beacon of hope out there. It’s not easy to make these decisions, but it’s the right thing to do.•
Conceptual rendering of the worker’s camp at Los Azules mine
An international law firm brings the glory of nature inside
Workplace and hospitality join incredible views in Kirkland & Ellis’ Utah office.
Project: Kirkland & Ellis, Salt Lake City Office
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
Size: 98,300 ft² (9,132 m²)
Designed by: Perkins&Will
With the recent expansion of its practice to Salt Lake City, international law firm Kirkland & Ellis embraced the stunning natural beauty of the Great Basin setting. Inhabiting four stories of a downtown high-rise, the interior is brilliantly daylit and commands views of the nearby Utah State Capitol and Wasatch Mountains in the distance. The sustainable design combines wellness with five-star hospitality, supporting both professional and recreational needs. A café offers complimentary hot breakfasts and lunches, while a networking bar and multisport simulator offer places to unwind. A staircase connects the hospitality, working, and meeting spaces across all four levels. The material palette of wood paneling, anodized aluminum accents, and premium fabrics harmoniously reflects the elemental qualities of Northern Utah—evoking the essence of its pines, peaks, and expansive sky.
Facing: Placemaking is at the core of every Kirkland & Ellis office. For Salt Lake City, that meant embracing panoramic views of the Wasatch Mountains.
Photo: Steve Hall
Below: A café serves breakfast and lunch daily, providing a space for the whole office to break bread together and socialize.
Facing: A light-dark color scheme, combined with an art collection and views of the Utah State Capitol, creates a cohesive navigation experience throughout the office.
Photos: Steve Hall
Left: The sculptural back wall features undulating anodized aluminum tubes that complement the silhouette of the mountains outside. Stretching across all four floors, this installation required careful coordination between the architectural, structural, and electrical elements, with custom 3D-printed fittings designed and fabricated specifically for the space.
Above: The full-height central stair, wrapped in curved wood veneer and glass, unites the office’s public spaces and community hubs in one vertical experience.
“There
is one thing that is absolutely key, and that’s the place-setting that occurs in a Kirkland & Ellis office. You walk through those doors and you know exactly where you are in the world: You’re at one of the world’s leading professional service firms looking at the iconic view for that market.” •
3 must-see places in the U.S. give voice to Black history, culture, and civil rights.
A decade after the launch of the Black Lives Matter movement, more than 150 monuments to the Confederacy have been removed throughout the U.S., but hundreds remain. Meanwhile, according to a 2021 audit by the nonprofit public art, history, and design studio Monument Lab, of the nation’s more than 48,000 public monuments, only half a percent “represent enslaved peoples and abolition efforts.” One of the audit’s calls to action is to “move towards a monument landscape that acknowledges a fuller history of this country.” Clearly, there is work to be done. But three sites devoted to commemorating Black history and the ongoing struggle for social justice and equity are helping to show the way forward. Here’s why you should plan a visit to them soon.
Photo: Arsalan Abbasi Photography
Photo: Keith Isaacs Photography
Metaphorically, the voices emerge from beneath the red clay soil where they’ve been buried.
DON’T MISS:
In the evening, the 45-foot-tall Beacon of Freedom sculpture, which is made of perforated steel, is illuminated so it glows from within.
North Carolina Freedom Park
Located a block away from the State Capitol, Freedom Park showcases the words of influential Black North Carolinians whose civic contributions had long been unrecognized. Visitors are invited to engage with quotes engraved on walls that are the color of North Carolina’s red clay soil. Metaphorically, the walls represent the earth beneath which these voices have been hidden, but which they nonetheless enriched, contributing to the state’s prosperity.
“The monuments in this park are words and ideas,” says Dr. Reginald Hildebrand, former co-chair of the Freedom Park Board, the community group that advocated for the park for more than two decades. “History is often about who gets to speak and whose words are deemed worth remembering. We’ve decided that the people who can express the value of freedom with the greatest power and moral authority are the people who were denied it the most completely.”
Opened in the summer of 2023, the park distinguishes itself from the Neoclassical architecture and monuments of the past with a contemporary design that has an asymmetrical layout.
Among the 13 men and seven women whose voices are live in the park are George Floyd, who lost his life in May 2020 as a result of police brutality (“I can’t breathe”) and Lyda Moore Merrick, an advocate for the blind. Her words—“My father passed the torch to me, which I have never let go out”—are located next to the park’s central sculpture, representing a beacon of freedom.
Photo: Keith Isaacs Photography
DON’T MISS: The simulation of a 1960s lunch counter sit-in, where you hear sounds and feel vibrations similar to what you might have experienced as a nonviolent protestor.
National Center for Civil and Human Rights
A decade after it first opened its doors, the National Center for Civil and Human Rights is undergoing a significant expansion. The museum and cultural organization tells the story of the civil rights movement in the U.S. and connects it to the worldwide struggle for human rights. When the museum reopens in the fall of 2025, visitors will be able to engage with the archives of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. through new interactive features and explore an immersive gallery for children under 12 and their families.
A new exhibition space will examine the pivotal but lesser-known history of Reconstruction, including the museum’s collection of lynching photographs and artifacts from that time. The museum also has new space for temporary exhibits.
The organization’s broader goal is to inspire people to understand their role in protecting rights. “One of the most common questions that visitors ask is, ‘What can I do?’” says Don Byrd, chief operating officer of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights. “In our new Activation Lab, you’ll be able to access resources and plan out what you want to do after you’ve taken in all this knowledge and start your own journey as a changemaker in your community.” Notes Byrd: “We highlight ordinary people who did extraordinary things, like the students who made Freedom Rides to join the protest. You don’t have to be a Dr. King to make a change.”
The expansion also provides a new classroom for the Center’s educational programs, which includes civil rights training for law enforcement.
Photo: Mark Herboth
Photo: Mark Herboth
Sankofa Park at Destination Crenshaw
Destination Crenshaw, an outdoor arts and culture experience slated to host the country’s largest public collection of works by Black artists, opens its first segment this year: the 40,000-square-foot Sankofa Park.
Destination Crenshaw was initiated by community members responding to a new light-rail metro line running at grade along Crenshaw Boulevard, the city’s “Main Street” for Black businesses. Transforming 1.3 miles of the transit corridor, a series of pocket parks, outdoor sculptures, and eventually more than 50 murals will celebrate the artistic and cultural contributions of Black LA.
Among the permanent artworks in Sankofa Park is Charles Dickson’s monumental sculpture, Car Culture. Its main body is a trio of elongated figures resembling West African Senufo sculptures, linked by a crown fashioned from the fronts and ends of cars and a fanciful engine. Also of note is the six-foot-diameter pink orb, An Object of Curiosity, Radiating Love, by Maren Hassinger, which glows softly when visitors approach.
“Black artists have had a global impact, and many of the most popular artists are from LA,” says Jason Foster, the president and CEO of Destination Crenshaw. “We want to mark that importance and create a place where Angelenos and people globally can come and support our causes and celebrate with us.”•
DON’T MISS:
The vista from the viewing deck at Sankofa Park, where you can see a cityscape of palm trees, the Hollywood sign, and the 800-footlong Crenshaw Wall, which includes the famous Our Mighty Contribution mural, which is being updated with a mural called The Saga Continues.
The design of the park was inspired by the Sankofa bird symbol of Ghana, which depicts a bird flying forward with its head turned back, carrying an egg in its mouth. African American scholars interpret it to mean “to go back and retrieve,” and it is often used to signify the need to reflect on the past to build a better future. Similarly, the park’s platform rises toward the north before curving back to look south along Crenshaw Boulevard.
Community space and light revitalize a Brutalist library
Western University’s D.B. Weldon Library preserves the “bones” of its original design while carrying the institution into the future.
Designed by architect John Andrews in 1967, the D.B. Weldon Library in London, Ontario, has long been Western University’s central library and the heart of academic life on campus. But after more than half a century of use the building was showing its age.
In 2018, the institution set out to revitalize Weldon, updating its systems and making strategic interventions within the interior to better support interdisciplinary scholarship. The first phase of the renovation honors the building’s original architecture while introducing more light and carving out a variety of spaces for group collaboration, private study, and archival research. The wellness-informed transformation has also paved the way for future enhancements across the university’s library system.
The existing great hall was cleared of outmoded card catalogues, creating a double-height learning commons that incorporates a range of study and social spaces, new group study rooms, new exhibition and display space, and an updated info center. It connects to a previously closed mezzanine with a new wood-clad stair.
Photo: Scott Norsworthy
Above: The contemporary interventions echo and complement the existing structure, materials, and detailing, while muted, seasonally inspired color palettes refresh the interior.
lower level.
collaborative groups and individual study.
Facing Top: A high-density shelving system opens more space for community activities on the
Facing Bottom: The mezzanine provides a variety of spaces for
Photos: Scott Norsworthy
The redesign increased access to daylight and views by creatively re-thinking the space planning.
Photos: Scott Norsworthy
“It’s a very human building now—a place for people. What was once stark and a little dark has become a bright, inspiring, and modern space where the community comes to connect, learn, and create.” •
Catherine Steeves, Former Vice-Provost and Chief Librarian, Western University
What do artificial intelligence, upcycled attire, and specialty drinks have to do with electric vehicles?
According to the International Energy Agency, almost 14 million new electric vehicles (EVs) were registered globally in 2023, accounting for close to a fifth of total car sales. That number represented a 35% year-on-year increase from 2022. This growth trend is only expected to continue, setting up a highly competitive field as more players move into the EV business.
To glean insights into this burgeoning world, Chris Hardie, design director for the Shanghai studio of Schmidt Hammer Lassen and Perkins&Will, spoke to William Li, CEO of NIO, a global EV automaker that’s innovating in the market.
Chris Hardie: Hi, William. Thanks for taking the time to chat with us today. Many of our readers may not be familiar with you or your company, NIO. To give them a little background, tell us why you decided to start an electric vehicle company.
William Li: In 2012, the air pollution in China was becoming worse. Of course, it’s much better now. Yet back then, I was getting married and planning to have kids. I didn’t want them to grow up in a polluted environment. Before NIO, I founded an automotive website which promoted sales of ICE (internal combustion engine) cars. Because of that, I somehow felt responsible for the air pollution. I believed I should do something to let more people drive on clean energy. That’s when I had the idea of starting up an EV company. Back in the day, many smart technologies were coming into view, with fundamental changes in vehicle products and business models. An entrepreneur always sees opportunities in such changes. These two things led to my decision to start an EV company. Then I spent another two years to prepare the company, which was officially incorporated in 2015.
“ I didn’t want them to grow up in a polluted environment.”
Blue Sky Coming is how NIO expresses its philosophy of “a brighter, positive future, and a more sustainable tomorrow.”
CH: What would you say makes NIO different from other EV makers? How did you create space for your company in such a crowded field?
WL: NIO was born a global startup, with investors and teams from around the world. As early as 2015 when NIO was first founded, we set up the R&D and design teams in Munich, the advanced engineering team in Oxford, and the smart technology team in San Jose. Of course, our major teams are in Shanghai, Hefei, and Beijing. We hope to draw together the best talent worldwide to achieve a shared vision. Being a global startup has been one of our founding principles since the beginning. Secondly, NIO has always considered technology as its foundation. In the past few years, we have invested billions of U.S. dollars into R&D and technological innovation. Last year, our R&D investment amounted to nearly 2 billion U.S. dollars, roughly $500 million per quarter. All the established premium and luxury car brands are leading or were once
leading in technology. As we are lucky enough to participate in the smart EV transition, we believe that our unwavering investment into technology can give NIO an edge on the competition. Thirdly, a premium brand should provide above-average services. NIO has a handful of innovative technologies and practices in EV charging and battery swapping, as well as offline touchpoints. Our charging and swapping service is more convenient than gas refueling, which also differentiates NIO from other EV companies. All premium brands, or all great brands, have one ultimate vision for sure, that is how a company can contribute to society. NIO hopes to encourage the use of smart EVs through its continuous technological innovation, and ultimately make the vision of “Blue Sky Coming” a reality. This is what has been propelling us and our users.
Photos: Tian Fangfang
NIO Houses are user clubs, showrooms, and delivery centers all rolled into one. NIO House at NeoPark in Hefei, pictured here, also gives visitors the opportunity to tour one of the automaker’s manufacturing facilities.
CH: It is clear that NIO is more than a car company. You also have a lifestyle brand, NIO Life, and NIO Houses are like clubhouses for NIO owners. Tell us about NIO Life and the NIO Houses and why these are part of your business model.
WL: NIO Life is an original lifestyle brand of NIO. It brings together global design resources and collaborations with designers and top design schools in the UK, Italy, Nordic countries, and Asia. NIO Life aims to provide users with thoughtful and tasteful products including bags, lamps, and even clothing made from surplus fabrics from the car manufacturing process under its Blue Sky Lab label. NIO House is not a dealership store, but a lifestyle community starting with vehicles. At a NIO House, users can learn about NIO’s brand and products, relax with friends, and let their children play or attend our Little Engineer groups. Users can also host and attend an event, or even sample each NIO House’s unique special drink served in our cafés. As much as technology and products matter to a premium brand, services are equally important. But besides all those, I also hope that NIO can provide a different emotional experience, which is actually the reason why many people have chosen NIO. Emotional value is not a new thing in the automotive industry. Luxury brands like Ferrari also accentuate emotional experiences. NIO offers comparable experiences while leveraging mobile Internet or other more efficient approaches. For users, buying a NIO is more than having a means of transport. What they are introduced to is a joyful lifestyle, a group of likeminded people, or a range of meaningful events. I think it’s an aspiration shared by people worldwide.
“ I believe in 10 years’ time, about 70%—or more than two-thirds of the new cars—will be smart EVs. And 20 years from now, that number will go up to 95%.”
CH: NIO is now available in several European markets. Do you have similar plans to expand to the United States?
WL: As I mentioned earlier, NIO has been a global startup from the very beginning. As early as 2015, we set up offices in Silicon Valley, Munich, and Oxford with employees from over 50 countries and regions. As a public company listed on three stock exchanges, NIO has investors from all over the world. Despite being one of the largest auto markets in the world, the U.S. has a relatively low penetration of smart EVs (compared with China’s new car penetration at over 50%). The biggest issue here is a lack of competition. If the supply of products increases, consumers only stand to benefit. The same goes to the whole industry. We would like to enter the U.S. market at the right time and in the right way.
NIO House at NeoPark is the first NIO House designed to be carbonneutral with all of its power coming from renewable energy sources.
CH: What do you think is the future of EVs generally? What obstacles must be overcome for the industry to grow and increase its overall market share?
WL: The mass EV adoption worldwide is going to take awhile. With 80 million passenger vehicles sold globally every year, I believe about 70%—or more than two-thirds of the new cars—will be smart EVs in 10 years. And 20 years from now, that number will go up to 95%. Smart technology will drive EV penetration. If the development of smart phones is anything to go by, 10 years would be more than enough to make EVs widely adopted. Smart EVs, from a technology, manufacturing, and cost structure perspective, have already reached a stage of accelerated growth. The obstacle to broader EV adoption lies with infrastructure, especially charging and battery swapping infrastructure, which has been unevenly distributed. Not every market has such capital. In addition, countries should adopt a more open trade policy, leaving enough room for the market to take its course. Norway is a case in point. It doesn’t impose any
restrictions on foreign companies, and consumers can buy cars coming from all over the world. That’s why we chose it as our first stop in Europe. The penetration rate of new energy vehicles there has surpassed 80% and is closing in on 90%. I believe all countries should be more open-minded in this regard. An open market with open policies will bring in more products and services, which definitely benefits users and the industry as a whole.•
These struggling malls became new destinations for health, fun, and learning.
Second Acts
As online shopping gained popularity over past decades, the number of brick-and-mortar malls in the U.S. declined from around 25,000 in 1986 to approximately 1,150 today, with an average of 1,170 malls closing every year from 2017 to 2022. Although the retail landscape has changed, these properties’ desirable locations, ample parking, and sturdy structures often make them smart investments as adaptive reuse projects. Preserving the steel, concrete, and other materials makes sense from a sustainability perspective, too.
These four shopping mall conversions show how thoughtful development can save money, conserve resources, and rekindle the past prestige of old malls.
The former Highland Mall in Austin, Texas, is now a community college that offers vocational training in a variety of fields, as well as incubator spaces for entrepreneurs.
Bunker to Brilliance
A vibrant community has arisen on the site of the former Highland Mall in Austin, Texas. Austin Community College District (ACC) repurposed the mall’s 800,000-square-foot windowless shell into a learning hub, and developer RedLeaf Properties replaced 80 acres of parking lots with apartments, shops, parks, trails, office space, and restaurants. “Highland has become a place for people to live, work, play, and learn, and ACC is the heart and the brain of the whole deal,” says Dr. Molly Beth Malcolm, recently retired executive vice chancellor of operations and public affairs. “It’s a complete transformation.”
By dividing the shell and removing parts of the roof, designers created an open-air pathway or “paseo” that welcomes the community to venues like the theater, art gallery, and a culinary arts center. The paseo includes
a history wall that honors the site’s past as an African American Baptist orphanage and vocational school that operated from the early 1900s until 1942. “We felt like it was important to honor the history of this land and show how it’s been a special place for learning for a long time,” Malcolm says.
In keeping with that educational tradition, the college offers innovative training facilities centered on the needs of Austin’s workforce, including health science simulation centers, music recording studios, animation studios, and entrepreneurship labs with incubator spaces for bioscience, fashion, and advanced manufacturing.
Photo:
Dror Baldinger
Project: Austin Community College Highland Campus, Austin, Texas
A Cool Change
Creative design and engineering transformed a former Macy’s department store into WeStreet Ice Center, an ice-skating rink and entertainment center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. “We wanted to build hockey and have more fans and more players,” says Andy Scurto, owner of the Tulsa Oilers, a professional team in the East Coast Hockey League. “That effectively meant that we needed more ice.”
Expanding the only other existing ice rink in Tulsa was unfeasible, and the location of the Macy’s, its adjacent parking garage, and its multi-story shell presented an appealing opportunity. By replacing massive structural columns with long-span trusses, the design team created an interior that’s bright and open, with easy wayfinding and clear visibility between on-ice and off-ice areas. WeStreet now serves as the Oilers’ practice facility, and its rinks are accessible to the public when not in use by the team.
In addition to two ice rinks, the center has a 350-seat bar and grill, party rooms, an arcade, pro shop, locker rooms, and seating for more than 1,000 spectators. It offers lessons and league play for youth and adults in hockey, curling, and broom ball, as well as figure skating lessons and open rink time. “We’re seeing a lot more people interested in learning to skate and learning to play hockey,” Scurto says. “It’s a fun place to hang out.”
Photo: Adam Murphy
An old Macy’s in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is now an ice skating rink that is open to the public and used as a practice facility by a professional hockey team.
Project: WeStreet Ice Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Retail Giant to Healthcare Hub
A new clinic brings vital healthcare services to an underserved part of Dallas, Texas, thanks to the creative reuse of a defunct
UT Southwestern Medical Center at RedBird is an anchor tenant at The Shops at RedBird in southern Dallas, repurposing a former Sears department store as a haven for healing. A new courtyard cuts into the building’s boxy facade, bringing light and greenery into an outpatient primary care and specialty clinic that provides infusion therapy, advanced imaging, cardiology, neurology, and primary care.
It’s a welcome investment in an area that has been historically underserved. “In Dallas, the average lifespan is significantly lower south of I-30,” says Peter Brodsky, Dallasbased developer and visionary behind the RedBird project, referring to the interstate that divides the city’s wealthier north side from its less-prosperous south. “A big part of that is lack of access to diagnostics. UT Southwestern really focuses on diagnostics here, so illnesses can be detected and treated earlier.”
The clinic is good for the area’s economic health, too, bringing well-paying professional jobs. Other developers are taking notice of RedBird’s success, and area residents appreciate the attention. “When the community first came out to see the clinic, people were actually crying because they couldn’t believe something this beautiful had been placed here,” Brodsky says. “It’s definitely adding to the quality and quantity of life for people in southern Dallas.”
Sears.
Project: UT Southwestern Medical Center at RedBird, Dallas, Texas
Photos: Leonid Furmansky
Teaming Up for Wellness
As the Fair Oaks Mall in Columbus, Indiana, went into decline, city leaders worried it might be converted to a big-box store or other undesirable business venture. “We were concerned that it would become something we didn’t want,” says Mary Ferdon, mayor of Columbus. Given the mall’s structural solidity, plentiful parking, and proximity to an existing sportsplex, the city and the regional health system decided to purchase the building and renovate it as a health and recreation center.
“It started as a notion that we wanted to control what was happening in our community, and we found a lot of desire to promote wellness in different ways,” Ferdon says. The city’s portion of the retrofit includes an indoor fieldhouse; administrative, activity, and community spaces for the recreation department; and shopping and dining. Columbus Regional Health also built medical and wellness offices.
They called the project NexusPark and set up a community development corporation to manage it. The first health clinic opened in late 2023; the recreation center and new multipurpose fieldhouse both opened in early 2024; and a two-acre park with walking trails is in the works.•
The Fair Oaks Mall in Columbus, Indiana, is now NexusPark, a health clinic, community hub, and public green space with walking trails.
Project: NexusPark, Columbus, Indiana
Scrubs to Sketches
Medical professionals bring clinical expertise to the design process.
Designing healthcare environments requires a blend of compassion, technical acumen, and creativity. Beyond structural and safety concerns, project teams must prioritize patients’ comfort, providers’ workflows, and the efficient movement of equipment and supplies. Given the expertise required, former frontline healthcare workers are valued members of design teams, translating clinical insights into comforting spaces.
Here are four ways medical professionals are improving healthcare architecture:
Bridging operations and design
The disciplines of public health and mental health evolved separately in the U.S. and now have different protocols, record systems, and facilities. But mental and physical well-being are intertwined, and the Johnson County Health Services Building, which is still in design, will bring practitioners together under one roof to improve coordination and provide holistic care.
The concept seems simple in principle, but it’s challenging in practice. “We’re bringing two departments, with two completely separate operations, together into one building,” says Charlie Hunt, director of health and environment for Johnson County. “We’re designing a building, of course, but there’s also the functional piece. We needed experts who could help with both design and the operational side.”
As a former healthcare clinician, executive, and behavioral health specialist, Dr. Debbie Beck understood the needs and concerns of staff in both departments. Now a design consultant, she suggested ways to collaborate, guiding Johnson County’s team through creative exercises to determine optimal floor plans and processes.
“Debbie can translate clinical function to the designers, who then translate it into space,” says Lydia Travis, NCIDQ, Johnson County’s strategy and planning lead. “That role has become a bridge in what otherwise might be a gap.”
Project: Johnson County Health Services Building, Olathe, Kansas
Improving the patient experience
Marvina Williams, a registered nurse, former emergency department director, and clinical operations expert, helped hospital staff focus on the patient experience as they provided design insights for Miami-based Jackson Health System’s first built-to-suit campus.
Providing a tranquil patient experience was a primary design goal. Williams proposed calming design elements and workflow optimization strategies throughout. She also helped build consensus among hospital staff, says Jackson West Medical Center CEO Edward Borrego. “Preferences can change from individual to individual, so it was helpful to have a neutral person who could bring an outside perspective.
Marvina would ask, ‘Is this what you want, or is this what works best for the patient and the family members and the caregivers?’”
With soothing views of surrounding wetlands, along with support spaces like storerooms, equipment rooms, and medication rooms located closest to points of need, the hospital’s layout promotes serenity while expediting care delivery. The patient-centered focus has proved successful: The hospital won the Guardian of Excellence Award for patient experience in 2023.
Expanding and streamlining
Williams also helped guide hospital administrators and staff through the complex process of designing a renovation and expansion of Lancaster General Hospital’s Trauma and Emergency Department (ED). The design team was tasked with creating an 84,000-square-foot ED that would be built in two phases: an addition followed by a refurbishment of the existing space. The ED needed to remain operational throughout.
Amy Sechrist, emergency department director, says the LGH team worked closely with Williams and appreciated her background in designing other EDs. The new department is bright and efficient, with 96 exam rooms, generously proportioned team stations, and convenient and comfortable staff areas. The robust structure could accommodate a future bed tower, and some support spaces are designed to flex into ED exam rooms during a surge. The hospital can now treat up to 140,000 emergency cases annually.
Project: Jackson West Medical Center, Doral, Florida
Project: Lancaster General Hospital Trauma and Emergency Department, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Optimizing operations
Project: SAC Health, San Bernardino,
California
SAC Health, the largest specialty-based and teaching health center in the U.S., provides comprehensive healthcare services to underserved populations. Anthony Mistretta, a registered nurse and former hospital administrator, co-led a recent master planning effort for the clinic’s network, as well as the pre-design process for converting a 280,000-square-foot office building into Brier Campus, a multi-specialty ambulatory health center. The process allowed providers to consolidate services, optimize space, and collaborate on a bespoke fit-out that would complement the clinic network. Drawing on his operations experience, Mistretta guided staff and coordinated with the rest of the design team in considering all aspects of the renovation, from the minute details of each room’s layout to the overall patient experience from arrival through departure.
The health center is scheduled to open next year, and the five-year plan will streamline service provision throughout the system. “It was important for the medical staff to have confidence in the design consultants, and Anthony certainly inspired that confidence,” says Maryellen Westerberg, chief operations officer at SAC Health. “They knew their ideas would be taken seriously because he had experience that was relatable not only to the providers, but also to the executive leadership who were going to be making decisions. It was nice to have someone who understood our vision and helped it get better.”•
An Education to Remember
Today, Mani Ardalan Farhadi is the Facilities Senior Planner at the Stanford University School of Medicine. But during her formative years, the Iranian-American lived in Tehran, where she attended a remarkable school that celebrated international diversity until the Islamic Revolution shut it down. Here, for the first time, she tells her story.
As my homeland is falling to pieces, I’m reflecting on a time when I grew up under very different circumstances. It is all too poignant that Iran is living through the “Woman! Life! Freedom!” movement with youth fighting bravely against dictatorship, wanting freedom to express themselves, choose their clothing, have the right to sing and dance in public, and other civil liberties. Knowing that I once had those freedoms makes my experience at Iranzamin School even more meaningful and important to share.
Now, decades into my career, there’s a confluence of legacy and nostalgia in my mind and in my heart. I’m thinking about the reasons why I became a designer of educational spaces, and the impact of the school I attended. As others talk about concepts of inclusion and belonging, I already lived that experience within my educational setting.
01. The author at graduation in 1980
02. The Iranzamin School, 1976-78
03. In this drawing of the full master plan, which was never completed, the campus unfolds around a central square that serves as the school’s meeting place. Individual courtyards open from the four corners of the square, and continuous arcades provide covered access to all rooms.
The design team based this spatial approach on a centuries-old Persian tradition that emphasizes the creation of space rather than form.
04. Mary Ann and Dr. J. Richard Irvine, co-founders of Iranzamin
In the 1950s, we encounter the story of American Presbyterian missionaries Dr. J. Richard and Mary Ann Irvine. Graduating from Trenton State Teachers College, they joined a ministry and moved to Tehran. Many educators were planning the International Baccalaureate (IB) in the 1960s based on peacebuilding techniques. In 1967, the Irvines co-founded Iranzamin, also known as Tehran International School, the first of seven schools worldwide to launch the IB. Others were founded in Switzerland, Wales, New York, France, and Germany. Though Iranzamin means “Land of Iran,” the English-language co-ed school was based on learning about other cultures, while respecting the culture of one’s heritage.
Initially, the private school occupied a large residential compound in downtown Tehran. It hosted grades K-12, with 326 co-ed students and 40 teachers. The most iconic landmark was the grand exterior circular stairs, which became the spot “to see and be seen.” This is where upper-class students flaunted their seniority, young couples sat together, and students played guitar. It was filled with playful laughter.
In 1971, I began attending Iranzamin as a 4th grader. I watched the older students with awe and soaked in the atmosphere. The western vibe lasted into the mid-1970s, with students wearing the latest American and European fashions. We celebrated both Persian Nowruz (New Year) and Christmas festivities. Iranzamin created an environment where students could thrive with personalized attention, knowing each family, intentionally hiring international teachers, and accepting students from all backgrounds.
This is why I felt a strong sense of belonging at Iranzamin. Compared to other Iranians, my family was westernized. My maternal grandfather was from Iran. He married an American, my maternal grandmother, in New York, forever altering the trajectory of our family history. My mother, Laleh Bakhtiar, and Iranian father Nader Ardalan, were born in Tehran, raised in the U.S., and met in Pennsylvania during college. After marriage, they both went to graduate school, then moved to San Francisco, where I was born, followed by my sister Iran Davar.
Dad became an architect and mom a scholar before they moved back to Iran to discover their roots. There, my brother Karim was born. Our parents traveled with us throughout Iran’s countryside, documenting the architecture. In 1973, they co-wrote The Sense of Unity: The Sufi Tradition in Persian Architecture—a pivotal book which guided the design approach for Iranian architects at the time. At home, we spoke in English, watched American TV, listened to DJ Ted Anthony on the American radio station, and played American records, all while learning about Persian culture.
As Iranzamin grew, a group including developers and the Ministry of Education decided to build a new campus in West Tehran, an area being developed as part of a master plan to extend the city’s limits into Shahrak Gharb, or “City West” (a.k.a. Farahzad or “Queen’s City”). They hired Iranian architect Mozhan Khadem, who worked with a larger team at Perkins&Will in Chicago. The design this team created embodied Iran’s centuries-old tradition of unity for organizing community life, though, over time, the seamless fabric of the original master plan gave way to a modern interpretation.
The new school was a 3-story brick courtyard building with a covered arcade and balconies overlooking the fountain and trees. From every angle, you could see the school in its entirety, accommodating preschool, elementary, secondary, and college prep students. Each corner contained a gathering space: arrival/administration, cafeteria, library, and auditorium. Ground floor classrooms had private garden patios. Laboratories were provided for physics, biology, and chemistry. Lockers lined the hallways, visible to all. A row of flags along the top parapet reminded us of our diverse multinational community. The design enhanced the unity of the pedagogy.
Even though the fountain rarely had water and was eventually covered with a platform, it was the most popular gathering place on campus. The iconic circular stairs of the old school were replaced by this central meeting spot, where upperclass students and especially seniors expressed their authority, privileges, and shenanigans—on display for all to see. The school was designed inside out, from the perspective of the student experience in the space, versus from the outside view toward the building. The courtyard was where the school came to life, where stories were shared, books were read, relationships were formed, drama happened, skits were performed, protests occurred, confidence was built, and student autonomy was exhibited.
Iranzamin moved into the new campus in 1976, when I was in 9th grade. My classmates and I took courses in anthropology, creative and aesthetic studies, mathematics, laboratory sciences, and languages and literature, with required extracurricular activities. I thrived in school, loved to read, and especially enjoyed writing essays and participating in artistic projects. My favorite part, though, was how international the school was. At the height of Iranzamin, we had 1,450 students from over 50 countries, with 112 faculty from 16 countries. Students represented not only the Muslim majority, but also minority religions: Zoroastrian, Jewish, Christian, Orthodox (Armenian, Assyrian), Baha’i, Buddhist, and Hindu. Every October we celebrated United Nations Day, when students wore costumes from their country of origin. We held a school-wide parade, while raising flags from all the countries. In unison, we sang “The Song of Peace” from Finlandia, with music written by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius and lyrics by Lloyd Stone. This embodied the oneness of our school, bringing us together annually to acknowledge that, despite our many colorful nationalities, we were one community.
Exposed to such an environment from childhood, growing up together side-by-side, deterred prejudice and stereotypes from forming. Whether it was the design of the courtyard, which allowed us to see each other; or the diversity of the student body, staff, and teachers; or the deep friendships forged across borders; or the respectful behavior that was expected; there was a magical aspect to being in this setting. We were one, a concept called yeksan, or “oneness,” in Persian—unity within multiplicity—a lesson carried over from Cyrus the Great. The Persian Emperor Cyrus defined the first declaration of human rights in 538 B.C. Inscribed on a cuneiform cylinder, he said: “I declare freedom of religion!” This credo is a primordial essence of our heritage, and a tenet of my personal philosophy, and it was instilled in me at Iranzamin. This is why it was so painful to endure the subsequent chaos and collapse of our harmony.
We were one, a concept called yeksan, or “one-ness,” in Persian—
—unity within multiplicity.
01. Architect’s sketch of the central courtyard
02. United Nations Day, 1976 03. Students playing guitar, late 1970s
A Place of Refuge in Troubled Times
Given the supportive and sustaining environment Iranzamin nurtured, I was able to stay focused on my education despite both personal and political turmoil. When our parents got divorced, it changed our lives completely, and coming to school provided solace that everything was still the same. As our father remarried, moved to Boston, and my brother Ali was born, school provided comfort and camaraderie. School required us to have elective activities, and being a U.S. Girl Scout connected me with my American heritage. With my mother as our Troop Leader, it created an additional familial bond to carry me through.
In 1977, Iranzamin acknowledged its 10th anniversary with an enormous celebration that included a visit by Farah Pahlavi, then the Queen of Iran. She had studied architecture in Paris prior to marrying the king. The entire school gathered in unison to proudly show Iranzamin to the queen.
However, by my junior year in 1978, the tides had begun to turn against the monarchy. Protests led by college students demanded a more socialist and democratic ideal, wanting more political variety. Though the king—or The Shah as he was known—was popular, there were factions who wanted radical change. Exiled cleric and vocal critic Ruhollah Khomeini encouraged a new form of government. Riots erupted each day, creating an unstable environment. The school closed for many days for our security. Martial law was declared, public gatherings were prohibited, and electricity was controlled. We did our homework by candlelight and huddled together to sleep in one room with a kerosene lamp. Living near Tehran University, we could see student rioters running down our street as soldiers chased them with machine guns. Our mother’s strength and my school were the reasons I held it together while chaos reigned.
For their own safety, the pro-American king and queen decided to leave Iran in January 1979. Going to Iranzamin was the only thing that kept me and my fellow students sane, making us feel that everything was going to be okay. The Irvines did their part to calm everyone with their letters.
By March 1979, the Iranian army capitulated. Khomeini returned and took over the country. The new regime publicly executed former ministers and those who worked for the monarchy. Each week, without warning, classmates wouldn’t show up to school. Families with sons began to flee, fearing the mandatory draft. Our foreign teachers left, replaced with Iranian ones. Each night, we awaited news whether school would be open the next day. It was a turbulent time, and we didn’t know from one day to the next what would happen. By April 1979, a public referendum favored an Islamic Republic. That fall, my senior year, we were determined to keep up the precept of normalcy in spite of the revolution, so we held elections for class officers. I was voted senior class president. Iranzamin was assigned a warden, Mr. Tahbaz, sent by the government to ensure the segregation of boys and girls. He demanded we sit on different sides of the classrooms. In the courtyard, he asked us to separate. We were no longer allowed musicals or choir because singing was forbidden. Students devised pranks behind the warden’s back. In other ways, we showed our civil disobedience. We staged a student sit-in, for example, gathering in the courtyard and refusing to go to class. We were determined to fight these limitations. They weren’t going to break our spirits.
They weren’t going to break our spirits.
The clerics who took over the country spewed antiAmerican and anti-Western ideology, claiming it was sinful and immoral. Influenced by this rhetoric, in November 1979, university students stormed the U.S. Embassy and took 50 Americans hostage. Broadcast in the U.S. each day, this act shaped Americans’ opinions about Iranians. The hostages were kept for 444 days and released in January 1981. It was a painful time for those of us who loved our American community, and an especially challenging one for my family. One day graffiti was spray-painted on our school walls, saying: “We will make Iranzamin the cemetery of America.” It was unbelievably scary. We did not dare go outside except for school, where we could speak English safely and express our true identities. In all my years, the only time I felt truly comfortable in my skin as a hybrid Iranian-American was at Iranzamin.
01-04. Candid photos of the senior class from Iranzamin’s final yearbook, 1979-80
05. Senior class on graduation day, the last-ever day of Iranzamin, 1980
06. Iranzamin School exterior, 1979-80
07. Upperclass students hanging out in the courtyard (including the author and her sister), 1979-80
08. Seniors voted most artistic, 1980
It was sad for us seniors who had dreamed of the unique privileges that came with being the oldest students on campus. We held on to as many traditions as we could, such as Crazy Hair Day, Senior Ditch Day, and even a Secret Prom. We owned that central courtyard space! We continued with yearbook activities, and I took over as editor after my classmate who had been filling that role fled the country. My mother’s publishing firm was printing our yearbook and we had regular meetings in her office. It was of vital importance to follow in the footsteps of those before us and have a yearbook published as in prior years. Despite the turbulence, we held bake sales, art exhibitions, tournaments, and ski trips. We did anything we could to take and publish photos showing that everything was as it had been. I even included photos of my then boyfriend in the yearbook, though he had fled Iran halfway through the school year. The yearbook was our way of creating a stable space and documenting a less painful life that we wish we had instead of the actual mayhem we were living under.
Senior Ditch Day was held in the privacy of a student’s home. We all dunked into the pool, soaking and laughing. Even the assistant headmaster and teachers came! That’s how close we were as a community. Hijab had not become mandatory yet, so inside the walls of Iranzamin we could still feel normal. We applied to colleges, studied for our final exams, and prepared for our last days at school. Graduation was held in secret. We were told it was a rehearsal, but our parents showed up at the last minute! I was class valedictorian and gave a speech. There are very few pictures of this momentous day. We would have been 100 students, but with so many gone, only 16 attended the ceremony: 12 girls and 4 boys. I wept that day.
Honoring a Legacy of Intercultural Exchange
After I graduated, Iranzamin sadly closed its doors. It was not allowed to continue as a co-ed English-language school. The Irvines departed after decades of service to the community, taking with them their hopes and visions for an equitable Iran. The building was taken over by the government for other functions and our family relocated to the U.S., as many families did at the time. The Class of 1980 was Iranzamin’s last, a symbol of the harmony the school once embodied. As class president, valedictorian, and yearbook editor, it now falls on me to tell its story to the world. Bearing witness to the collapse, knowing the school can no longer speak for itself, I feel responsible. I have to be its voice.
Four decades after graduation, the Class of 1980 is still in constant communication. After all, we’ve been friends since elementary days. Even though we dispersed around the world, the advent of the Internet, social media, and cell phones helped us find each other again. There have been several reunions coordinated by alumni volunteers. I personally have not been back to Iran since I fled in 1980. Many classmates and their families have been forced into diaspora and exile. As such, we thrive on connecting and keeping up. While the Irvines were still alive, we included them in our reunions, which they gleefully joined, but now they have sadly passed away. We remember them fondly and are grateful for their vision and wisdom. Having gone through the trauma of a revolution together, we are forever bound in our tightknit friendships. The kinship is strong and unbreakable, as it was when the revolution tried to break us.
When deciding on which career to pursue, I thought back to Iranzamin. It is there that I loved to learn, and where learning protected me. This school kept us intact during the turmoil of my parents’ divorce and the country’s bloody revolution. Even though life around us was changing, school was our rock. It saw us through thick and thin, through laughter and tears, through joy and heartache. This experience inspired me to create that kind of a place for others. It’s why I chose to become a designer of educational spaces. May you all be inspired by your places of learning to build resilience, shape your identity, and find your voice, like I did.•
May you all be inspired by your
places of learning.
Below: Iranzamin’s last senior class, 1980
90 years of designing for life
Connections make life
Grow and sing, like gardening
Sunlight and flowers
Still Modern
85 years after opening, the Crow Island School remains a paragon of scholastic architecture.
In 1938, the Crow Island School in the bucolic Chicago suburb of Winnetka forever changed how people look at grade school design. The community built what is widely considered the country’s first modern school. Now, Crow Island—known for its innovative design and iconic L-shaped classrooms—is embarking on a renovation and expansion. Much has changed in our world in the intervening decades, but, as demonstrated by this project, two things have remained steady: the value of enduring relationships and powerful architecture that withstands the test of time.
The Crow Island School was the vision of superintendent Carleton Washburne, who aimed to champion forward-looking education through the design of a building. Washburne assembled a team of architects who spent a year working with educators, students, and families, as well as observing children in classrooms, to better understand how teaching and learning were linked to space. The design that emerged from their research rejected the rigid, conventional classroom. At a time
when people were accustomed to classical, symmetrical buildings, the team conceived the new school from the inside out, with a focus on the needs of the young children who would be living and learning there.
“Rounded corners in the halls, low sinks and light switches, copious natural light: The school is a flawless setting for a child to learn in,” says Jack Malone, a former student and current staff member. “It’s all tied together on the face of the school with an off-center clock as a reminder that absolute perfection is unnecessary.”
“Rounded corners in the halls, low sinks and light switches, copious natural light: The school is a flawless setting for a child to learn in. It’s all tied together on the face of the school with an off-center clock as a reminder that absolute perfection is unnecessary.”
Jack Malone, former Crow Island student and current staff member
Although it’s nearly 90 years old, the low-slung brick school building is still decidedly modern. It sits in a parklike setting and consists of four classroom wings arranged by grade (one of which was added in 1954) that extend from a central hub containing common spaces like the auditorium, library, gymnasium, and administration. Each of the L-shaped classrooms has a variety of learning spaces and is self-contained, with a sink, drinking fountain and, importantly, direct access to its own courtyard. "Crow Island felt like an extension of my home," says Melissa Brody, another former student and current staff member.
Daylight beams in through substantial windows that reach down toward the floor, enabling outdoor views for even the small-statured students. Blackboards and other fixtures were also originally installed with a child’s height in mind. This student-centered approach to design marked a critical turning point for education, and in 1971, the project was awarded the American Institute of Architects’ Twenty-five Year Award. In 1990, it was designated a National Historic Landmark. Over decades of serving generations of children and educators, the school has integrated itself into Winnetka’s fabric, becoming an important part of the local identity. So, when envisioning the building’s next chapter and selecting a team to lead the process, the school board and community gave the project special consideration. They decided to collaborate with the same firm that had envisioned the original design. “This is a community that deeply values its history and, as such, its relationships with partners,” says Dr. Kelly Tess, superintendent of the Winnetka Public Schools.
The design team understood they had to approach the project with exceptional sensitivity, performing the balancing act of respecting and honoring the existing building while meeting current needs. “While many aspects of education have changed, our commitment to delivering progressive educational experiences remains steadfast,” says Crow Island School’s principal Dr. Luke Livingston. “Play, outdoor time, and experiential learning are vital components of a well-rounded education, so our physical building plays a crucial role in supporting our work and, ultimately, benefiting our students.”
First, the growing school simply needed more space. In recent years, administrators brought in mobile classrooms to manage overflow. They also determined they needed dedicated rooms on the main level for music, language, and art; a new gymnasium; and spaces for students with diverse needs requiring specialized instruction in smaller settings. In the school’s early days, children used to go home for lunch, so the building had no cafeteria. As trends changed, the auditorium lobby served as an ad-hoc dining hall—far from ideal. The new scheme converts a small gymnasium into a multipurpose space that serves as a lunchroom. It also updates the library to meet contemporary technology needs and incorporate greater flexibility. Accessibility requirements are being addressed throughout and security and other systems updated. Retrofitting the existing building with air-conditioning is another big investment—by far what the community was most excited about, especially beneficial in the warmer months given the original expansive windows. “Gone will be the need to take popsicle breaks or rotate through the one or two spaces with cooler air,” Tess says.
Photo: James Steinkamp
The team designed the new addition to connect to the 1954 extension, instead of the original building, complementing its look and feel. Detailed discussions with the school, the state Historic Preservation Commission, and preservation architects led to critical decisions about brickwork patterns and colors, the selection of an aluminum window system, and casework details. Taken together, they contribute to a new wing that does not pretend it had always been there but, rather, harmonizes with its precedents.
Inside, the team took cues from strategies that worked well in the original building, like emphasizing access to the outdoors and replicating the open corridor workspaces, which support a collaborative environment and experiential learning opportunities. Most importantly, the school wanted to build on its powerful aura. “That has meant doing all we can to ensure our school feels warm, welcoming, and connected to its families,” Tess says. “Crow Island exudes that feeling and will continue to.” Ground broke on the project last summer. Students are expected to enter the re-imagined building in fall 2025.
Always ahead of its time, the Crow Island School has long recognized the importance of collaboration in all aspects of its mission: for the growth of its students and for its own growth as an institution. “The expansion and renovation work has required strong communication, data tracking, and problem solving,” Tess says. “It has meant balancing design with utility and the budget. I’m confident we’ll get to the finish line together.”
“When you are working on a project that involves a historic building like Crow Island, it is a strong advantage to have a team that considers the impact of aesthetic over utility, the value of the relationship that the community has with the building, and the symbolism that the building embodies for so many. There will always be an easier, faster, cheaper way to do it, and sometimes that's the route you have to go, but when you have a team willing to talk through all of the options, you can rest a little easier knowing you are doing right by the community in which the building is home.” •
Photo: Hedrich
Dr. Kelly Tess, Superintendent of the Winnetka Public Schools
How to House
This developer is confronting LA’s housing crisis with mixed-income communities and creative financing.
Los Angeles embodies, perhaps more than any other American city, the acute affordable housing crisis gripping many urban centers across the nation. Individuals and families continue to struggle in a market that has failed to provide them with a financially feasible means of living. The dream of securing an affordable home slips increasingly out of reach, pushing many Angelenos toward displacement and despair.
According to the County of Los Angeles, roughly half a million additional affordable housing units are needed to meet the demand of low-income renters within its borders.
“The surge in housing costs, decades of underdevelopment, and socioeconomic disparities, alongside insufficient affordable housing options, have led to more than 75,000 individuals experiencing homelessness in LA County,” says Audrey Peterson, director of real estate development at Holos
Communities, a nonprofit developer that is committed to providing housing for all people. “The city has various avenues to address this situation, not only in affordable housing but also in market-rate housing.”
Traditionally, programs for low-income residents make it difficult for beneficiaries to grow financially because they lose program benefits once they make more money, which thrusts them back into a housing market they can’t yet afford.
A more inclusive solution could enable low-income individuals to achieve economic mobility without risking their housing subsidies because of increased income. For individuals with a higher socioeconomic status, the same strategy could help them better navigate seasons of financial difficulty.
Corazón Del Valle
To address these issues, Holos takes a holistic approach to affordable housing and embraces sustainability, design excellence, and equity. A prime example of the developer’s work is Corazón Del Valle (CDV) in the LA neighborhood of Panorama City, which opened last year. Composed of three curving, mid-rise towers connected by an elevated courtyard, the development is the nonprofit’s largest project to date with 180 households. The podium also hosts a neighborhood clinic operated by the San Fernando Community Health Center (SFCHC), which will be open to both CDV tenants and the public.
Core to Holos’ ethos is limiting concentrations of poverty in single developments and creating environments indistinguishable from market-rate housing for individuals and families earning a range of incomes. Half of CDV’s households are studio and one-bedroom permanent supportive units, meaning they combine affordability with services for people with mental or physical health issues, or a history of homelessness or instability. The other half, mostly two- and three- bedroom units, is general affordable housing
for low-income families. Affordability in the context of housing means that it costs less than 30% of tenants’ annual income.
As of 2023, the threshold below which a family of four will be classified as low-income in LA is $100,900 per year.
In addition to affordability and community resilience, the project sets a high bar for environmental performance.
“CDV embodies the housing and equity aspect of our mission while also meeting the organization’s sustainability goals,” Peterson says. The curved towers facilitate airflow through the courtyards, where shade structures and plantings provide additional cooling effects and make for a pleasant environment. A 288-panel solar array is designed to produce 203,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year and a backup system will power critical services in the event of a grid outage. A greywater reclamation system irrigates the landscaping, recycling as much as 72,000 gallons of water per year. CDV is also one of the county’s many cooling centers— an air-conditioned space where vulnerable members of the community can shelter during heat waves.
Affordability in the context of housing means that rent or mortgage payments amount to less than 30% of a tenant’s annual income. As of 2023, to be classified as low-income in LA, a family of four has to make less than $109,000 per year.
The curved towers facilitate airflow through the courtyards, where shade structures and plantings provide additional cooling effects and make for a pleasant environment. A 288-panel solar array is designed to produce 203,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year.
By developing CDV as two projects rather than one, Holos was able to include more units and qualify for additional funding from state and county agencies.
Divide and Conquer
CDV emerged through a request for proposals by the County of Los Angeles in 2018. Originally planned with a relatively low density of 120 apartments, the community wound up calling for more. “We and our partners attended over 20 community outreach meetings and talked with over 200 people,” Peterson says. “The voice of the community was heard loud and clear. Neighbors wanted more units, something rarely heard, and we were able to increase the unit count by 30 percent.”
This presented Holos and the design team with a unique challenge and opportunity. Adding more units to the project complicated matters due to county and state regulations in place at the time that restricted funding to smaller developments. To deliver on the community’s request for more households, Holos decided to split CDV into two 90unit buildings: CDV I and CDV II.
This bifurcated approach presented some inconveniences. For example, the team had to separate all critical systems, contracts, and operational procedures to ensure they functioned independently. But it also allowed Holos to pursue separate financing rounds for each building, expediting the process and securing a greater influx of county and state dollars without requiring additional funding sources beyond tax credits. This was all behind the scenes, however. To tenants and the public, CDV appears and functions as a single haven of affordable living—just bigger and better than it might have been otherwise.
Mixed Economies and Equity
“Our vision to offer a diverse range of housing options that cater to households with varying socioeconomic backgrounds and sizes has really come to life here at Corazón del Valle,” Peterson says. “The project serves a range of tenants from single individuals on social security to those community members entering the workforce as an office manager, teacher’s assistant, or secretary.” The community clinic also makes the project a bringer of health and well-being to the neighborhood.
“Corazón del Valle is exactly what it says it is—the heart of the valley—not only because of its location within the San Fernando Valley but also because this project will change lives,” said California Assemblywoman Luz Rivas in a funding presentation for the SFCHC satellite clinic. “This center is one of a kind—a place where people can live and receive muchneeded healthcare.”
Looking ahead, Peterson is optimistic about the impact of CDV and its potential to inspire other developers. “We are hopeful that it will benefit the community and inspire other affordable housing developers to create projects that combat climate crisis, homelessness, and racial inequity.”•
“The voice of the community was heard loud and clear. Neighbors wanted more units, something rarely heard, and we were able to increase the unit count by 30 percent.”
Audrey Peterson, Director of Real Estate Development, Holos Communities
Datascapes for Better Cities
The conditions of downtown streets contribute to their vibrancy. Here’s a new way to set the right scene.
Visitors to Orlando, Florida’s, theme parks can soar on highspeed roller coasters, stroll through shady groves, and hop on trains to move between attractions. But for decades, the people who lived and worked in Orlando, and even tourists who wanted to explore the city center on foot, found more mediocrity than magic downtown. Narrow sidewalks, lack of shade, and poor connectivity to transit made for an unpleasant pedestrian experience.
“The city center has faced challenges over the years, but we’ve been working hard to turn things around,” says David Barilla, executive director of Orlando’s Downtown Development Board and Community Redevelopment Agency.
“Our goal is to improve walkability, safety, and overall livability by making the sidewalks more accessible day and night and introducing a variety of new offerings for everyone.”
To enliven the area and spur economic activity, a visioning process that began in 2014 is now taking shape with data-driven pedestrian and transit improvements, new residential and retail development, and placemaking initiatives. Downtown Orlando’s action plan, called DTO 2.0, was informed by public input and facilitated by StreetSeen, an urban design evaluation process and digital tool that helps create urban environments that make people feel safe, engaged, and connected to their community.
Urban researchers have identified physical conditions that contribute to the vibrancy and excitement of thriving downtowns. StreetSeen taps into their research and provides a framework for city planners and design teams to document shops, street trees, plazas, and walkways that make streets and other public spaces attractive destinations. It then provides performance metrics that evaluate the condition of the pavement as a walking surface, the architectural interest of the building facades, and the overall quality of the pedestrian experience. By combining the metrics with field observations and data from cloud-based mapping, StreetSeen provides a report on a downtown’s current conditions and ranks design options for improvements.
Downtown Orlando served as a test case for StreetSeen. Designers entered more than 25,000 data points gathered from the city center’s streetscapes. The report that came out of this process gave city leaders an accurate picture of their downtown’s walkability, connectivity, comfort, and activation at a block-by-block scale. It also allowed them to work with their design team to decide when and where to invest in projects like targeted redevelopment, facade improvement, ground floor reuse, sidewalk activation, and business attraction programs.
StreetSeen revealed that two downtown corridors, Magnolia Avenue and Church Street, were top priorities for streetscape improvements. The design team recommended installing wider sidewalks, more trees, more outdoor seating, and public art that enriches the pedestrian experience. The digital tool also gave city leaders the ability to measure and document the success of these changes over time.
“StreetSeen provides us with valuable facts,” Barilla says. “It offers data-driven insights that, combined with public input, help us implement our initiatives, and make downtown a place for our community to live, work, and play.”
Poor Walkability
Vibrant Shopping District
Ample Green Space
StreetSeen makes the intangible aspects of downtowns—vibrancy and visitors’ excitement—quantifiable through data. It measures the physical conditions that foster lively environments.
Data Mapping
Design Options
Scenario Building
StreetSeen helps designers assess every street in a project area, compare it to research-proven benchmarks in other cities, and identify the most effective interventions to make a city more walkable and enjoyable.
China’s dedication to the arts takes shape on the Grand Canal
A new complex redirects the flow of Beijing’s cultural life.
Project: Beijing Performing Arts Centre
Location: Tongzhou, Beijing, China
Size: 1,349,256 ft² (125,350 m2)
Designed by: Schmidt Hammer Lassen and Perkins&Will
Located in Tongzhou on the banks of the Grand Canal, a UNESCO World Heritage site, the Beijing Performing Arts Centre embodies its site’s storied history and its bright future in a subtle poetic expression. Designed to cultivate community while promoting health and well-being, the complex includes three world-class venues, an opera house, a performance theater, and a concert hall, as well as black box and outdoor stages.
The buildings recall Tongzhou’s importance as a commercial shipping and storage hub by referencing the rooflines of the storehouses that formerly lined the canal’s banks and the sails of traditional canal boats. The forms simultaneously evoke a theater curtain parting at the beginning of a performance. A broad plinth, accessed from all directions by splayed steps and ramps, unifies the complex. This elevated platform extends the buildings’ lobbies into the surrounding forested park, setting up the relationship between the interiors, the landscape, and the Grand Canal.
The pleated folds that wrap the buildings’ glass walls are made from solid and perforated metal panels. They do double duty, conveying the performing arts complex’s metaphorical content— canal boat sails and theater curtains—and shading the structure from the sun.
Photo: Zhu Yumeng
A raised plinth ties the complex’s three structures together and provides a platform from which visitors can enjoy sweeping views of Tongzhou and the Grand Canal. Terraced landscaping absorbs rainwater, reducing the risk of flooding.
Above: The facade’s pleated folds run through the opera house lobby, connecting inside and outside. Folded metal panels in a bronze tone wrap the performance space, establishing a pleasing contrast between cool and warm surfaces.
Right: The opera house seats 1,800 people and will feature Western operas and musicals. Acoustical considerations influenced the rippling shape of the walls and curving forms of the balconies.
Photos: Zhu Yumeng
Deep red and black surfaces create a dramatic scene within the performance theater lobby, where there is room for smaller, informal performances.
Photos: Zhu Yumeng
The 1,600-seat concert hall is tuned for both acoustic and electronic music. The seats are arranged so that every attendee has a perfect listening experience.
Manufactured in Austria, the pipe organ is designed in a Romantic French style and produces surround sound.
Above:
Left:
For centuries, Tongzhou was the eastern gateway from which people and goods flowed into Beijing. Now, in a regional reversal, the Performing Arts Centre is drawing visitors from the center of the city to the edge of the Grand Canal. •
Healthy Building
Specifying materials that are safe for people and the environment is the first step in designing for life. Here’s a guide to making good choices.
The nonprofit Habitable (formerly Healthy Building Network) has been investigating the impacts of construction products for decades. Habitable takes a comprehensive view by considering the impacts of materials during production, installation, use, and disposal. “In addition to occupant health, we’re looking at exposure to toxic chemicals for workers, the surrounding communities, and the environment because these chemicals have impacts throughout their entire lifecycle,” says Teresa McGrath, chief research officer at Habitable. “We want to help people make smarter, holistic choices while being mindful of price and performance requirements.”•
Here we present a condensed version of Habitable’s Informed™ Product Guidance, focusing on materials that lean green.
When choosing building materials for new construction or remodels, designers can use the red-to-green rankings for common product categories on InformedTM: making a healthier choice is as simple as avoiding the red side of the spectrum and picking from the green side.
To learn more, visit informed.habitablefuture.org
Cabinetry and Doors
Go for solid wood. A second-best choice is plywood, but make sure the binder used to make it does not contain formaldehyde. Select waterbased, factory-applied finishes for solid wood cabinetry and doors, and polyurethane foam tape for sealing perimeter joints around doors.
Insulation
Pick insulation made from natural materials, including cork, cellulose, wool, and recycled fabric. Fiberglass and mineral wool are also generally good choices, though it’s best to choose unfaced and formaldehyde-free options.
Foundation
Make use of bentonite sheet waterproofing. If bentonite does not work for your application, consider crystalline waterproofing or non-PVC thermoplastic sheet waterproofing.
Water Pipes
Specify copper pipe, which typically has the least impact, especially when it’s recycled copper. Avoid lead solders and don’t use copper if your water has a low pH; acidic water can corrode copper and ingesting high levels of copper has been linked to liver and kidney damage. In this case, use polypropylene (PP), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), or polyethylene of raised temperature (PE-RT).
Countertops
Choose countertops that don’t require sealing and minimize plastic, such as quartz, dense granite, ceramic tile, and porcelain slabs. Engineered stone has some drawbacks, for example it can release dangerous silica dust in the air when cut, but it’s still preferable to plastic laminate or sealed stone countertops.
Roofing
Opt for either Thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) or ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) membranes, which are made with fewer hazardous chemicals than other product types, including PVC. For fireproofing roof decks and other structural elements, use gypsum or Portland cement-based spray fire protection.
Walls
Select drywall made with natural gypsum (avoids mercury releases during manufacturing) and whenever possible avoid mold inhibitors. Paints made from lime and mineral silicate, two naturally occurring materials, are the best choices because they reduce or avoid plastic and hazardous additives found in standard acrylic paints. A good second choice is a water-based acrylic or latex paint with low-VOC content and low-VOC emissions. Non-combustible sodium silicate caulk is the best option among firestopping materials, which are used to slow the spread of fire within walls.
Flooring
Use plant- or mineralbased flooring options whenever possible such as natural linoleum, unfinished concrete, ceramic tile, wood, and cork.
Acoustic Ceilings
Prioritize natural materials like wool, fiberglass, mineral wool, and cementitious wood fiber. Ask your supplier to provide formaldehyde-free options.
As campuses face declining enrollment and funding challenges, this trailblazing leader envisions a smaller, stronger state university.
A spirit
A pencil sketch on Dr. Barbara Bichelmeyer’s office wall depicts a one-room log cabin in Kansas, with the stark line of a grasscovered hill, Mount Oread, defining the distant background. A few years after the sketch was made in the early 1860s, the University of Kansas’ (KU) flagship campus was founded on 40 acres atop Mount Oread. The university has grown ever since, with 125 buildings supporting about 40,000 students, faculty, and staff across more than 1,000 acres.
The cabin belonged to Bichelmeyer’s great-grandparents, and her father was born there. Bichelmeyer enrolled at KU as the youngest of 10 children and a firstgeneration college student, and she went on to earn four degrees, culminating in a doctorate in educational communications and technology. After working at other universities for two decades, she returned to her alma mater in 2020 to serve as provost and executive vice chancellor.
of stewardship
Bichelmeyer sees her journey from humble beginnings to the provost’s office at a major research institution as a testament to the promise of public universities, and she wants to preserve that promise for future generations. She displays the sketch not so much as a family memento, but more as a reminder that KU is a relatively recent, and potentially fleeting, presence on the hill. “This campus wasn’t here 160 years ago,” she says. “In another 160 years, we don’t want Mount Oread to go back to being empty. We need to serve as stewards. Our job is to keep the campus moving.”
Note that she didn’t say her job is to keep the campus growing. KU expanded for decades to meet a seemingly endless demand for more classrooms, office space, and research facilities. The university’s previous master plan, completed in 2014, called for 40 major building projects totaling more than $700 million. But soon after Bichelmeyer returned to campus, she and her teams discovered a $50 million structural deficit, a deferred maintenance burden totaling more than $750 million, and about 900,000 square feet of excess square footage. And like many U.S. universities,
KU is confronting a demographic cliff, financial challenges, hybrid learning, and the uncertainties of climate change. As she and other leaders began the master planning process for the next decade, they realized calling for continued growth would be irresponsible. “We were facing all these challenges and it became apparent that our job wasn’t to catch up to where other people were,” she says. “We had to leapfrog into the future.” That meant right-sizing, or responsibly shrinking KU’s footprint, which had never been attempted. Like her great-grandparents, Bichelmeyer and her colleagues would be trailblazers. They knew measures like mothballing, selling, or razing underused buildings would likely stir up strong emotions, so they prioritized gathering data to inform and support a logical plan. “We can’t make good decisions if we don’t know the facts, and we can only do that through data,” Bichelmeyer says. “What do we know? How do we prioritize based on that knowledge and our strategic plan? And how do we move to act on those priorities?”
Data-gathering efforts included quantitative analyses and qualitative information about users’ lived experience. The master plan was a Society for College and University Planning (SCUP) 2024 Honor Award winner for Excellence in Planning.
They engaged a team of architects and planners to collect and synthesize data and propose solutions. Following an 18-month process that involved compiling and analyzing existing facilities’ department data and gathering input from students, faculty, staff, and alumni, the design team created a three-part toolkit to help guide KU’s transition to a smaller, safer, more welcoming, and more cohesive campus environment.
The resulting master plan proposes only three new building projects over the next decade instead of the dozens called for in past plans. Rather than promoting growth, it provides a guide to identifying and divesting
from underperforming assets, which allows leaders to focus on mission-critical goals like accessibility, discovery, education, and technology. Perhaps most importantly, it builds on the university’s existing strengths, enhancing spaces that reinforce the emotional connections students, faculty, and staff feel for their campus.
Such a dramatic departure from tradition can be intimidating, Bichelmeyer says, but she’s proud that KU is embracing a more sustainable future. “I could not be more excited about it. I love that students and faculty and staff brought their voices to say, ‘This is what we want this place to be.’ It’s truly a spirit of stewardship.”•
Buildings identified for adaptive reuse
Opportunity for consolidation
Campus Map
Building Scorecard
Fast, Frequent, and Affordable
High-speed rail is coming to North America with the promise of reshaping communities for the better, if the variables are balanced just so.
When it comes to passenger rail, North America is moving at much slower speeds than most of the developed world. But that may soon change. Several groups across the continent are planning to connect cities tied together by region and economy with high-speed rail— specialized passenger trains that run on dedicated tracks at cruising speeds of up to 220 miles per hour.
To highlight just one, consider Cascadia Rail. The State of Washington, with support from Oregon, the Province of British Columbia, and a host of private companies located in the region, want to build a high-speed rail line linking the 345-mile Cascadia Innovation Corridor, which spans Vancouver, British Columbia; Seattle, Washington; and Portland, Oregon. Boosters say it could
swiftly and safely cycle 32,000 people an hour through its various stations. This would be a welcome pressure release on the traffic sure to accompany the 4 million people the Washington State Department of Transportation expects to move to the area in the next few decades. While high-speed rail doesn’t entirely reinvent passenger train travel, there are unique considerations that come along with developing these projects. “Cascadia follows along with the 35 or 40 years of work that have been going on in the region,” says Oregon Metro Council President Lynn Peterson, including existing light rail and high-density, mixed-use stations. “The difference is, the higher the speed, the longer the spacing between stations, and the more volume coming off. So, you’re trying to accommodate what you can do with the land use on a scale that’s, well, different.”
Precedents and Proposals
Stakeholders in the U.S. and Canada are looking globally for inspiration on how to navigate that difference. According to the nonprofit High Speed Rail Alliance, there are currently over 28,000 miles of high-speed rail line in over 20 countries, mostly in Europe and Asia.
It all got started in 1964 with the construction of Japan’s Shinkansen line, which connects Tokyo and Osaka via elegant expanses of prestressed concrete ties and mile-long sections of track that enable the train to achieve extraordinary speeds. In the UK, it’s possible to dash through the Chunnel to Paris via 2007’s Channel Tunnel Rail Link, then whisk around Europe via high-speed rails, even burrowing through the Alps at the Gotthard Base Tunnel in Switzerland. China, meanwhile, has spent the 21st Century connecting all its megacities with futuristic takes on Japan’s bullet train. And there are many more, each offering unique models of how to successfully develop a high-speed rail network.
According to the nonprofit High Speed Rail Alliance, there are currently over 28,000 miles of high-speed rail line in over 20 countries, mostly in Europe and Asia.
Investment in similar infrastructure in North America is just now starting to pick up steam. In 2023, the Biden Administration awarded the California High-Speed Rail Authority $3.07 billion for construction of the initial segment of a link-up between San Francisco and Los Angeles, due for completion in the 2030s. The private company Brightline has already completed a “higher-speed” rail system in Florida, connecting Orlando and Miami; and last April, after receiving a $3 billion investment from the federal government, they broke ground on a 200-mph rail system between Las Vegas and Southern California. Amtrak recently refueled the Texas Central Railway plan to introduce Shinkansen-style trains between Dallas and Houston. And even the existing Acela lines on the Northeast Corridor are on track to accelerate: the CONNECT NEC plan—a collaboration between state and federal governments, some nine commuter rail agencies, and Amtrak itself—aims to peel an hour off the Boston-to-Washington, D.C. trip by 2035, thanks to an extensive reinvestment plan.
Benefits and Challenges
Commuter needs are driving these projects. They offer ways for individuals and families to organize their worklife balance with a little more freedom. Cascadia Rail, for example, promises to reduce the commute time between downtown Seattle and Tacoma from 90 minutes by car to 15 minutes by train. Calculated over a year, that time savings would amount to 33 days sitting in traffic compared to six days riding in a train.
There are also environmental benefits. On average, when a high-speed rail line opens, it reduces cars on the road by 40% and air travel by 50%, replacing these emissions-intensive modes of transport with electric trains, which can be powered with sustainable energy sources. Cascadia estimates that its project would reduce yearly carbon emissions by 6 million tons.
While the benefits to ecology and human quality of life are undeniable, stations also have the potential to revitalize under-resourced communities and downtowns that haven’t bounced back from the pandemic. On the other hand, for safety, high-speed rail lines are typically lifted in viaducts, and, as with elevated highways, can create unused space beneath the tracks that divides communities.
On average, when a high-speed rail line opens, it reduces cars on the road by 40% and air travel by 50%.
The Big Questions
Peterson is advocating for scenario planning focused on understanding how such an investment could best complement land use, catalyze job creation, and create much needed housing in the Portland metro region. These efforts point to the big questions facing the ethical, successful siting of high-speed rail stations generally: Is it better to place them in areas where businesses are already flourishing? Or near educational complexes? Will more value be added by locations in rural areas that haven’t been developed, bustling suburban zones, or congested urban areas currently navigating both gentrification and exodus?
The one thing that Peterson is certain of now is that there should be no repeat of the mistakes and iniquities of 20th century urban highway planning. “We can’t just plow another interstate right through our Black community as prior generations did,” she says. “The consequences of that are still felt to this day. A lot of folks had to move out because of that. We’re not doing that again.”
As these concerns make clear, the least interesting thing about high-speed rail is the technology that fuels it, which, after all, is more than half a century old. The interesting thing is the potential this form of transportation has to reshape communities for the better, if the many variables are properly balanced. “It could be a transporter from Star Trek, and it still doesn’t matter,” Peterson says with a laugh. “You have to deal with volume, with access, with affordability. You’re focusing attention on this portion of your region, and the question is: What do you want to do?”•
Great Performances
Climate change, loss of biodiversity, and the limits of existing infrastructure are putting increased pressure on landscapes to provide greater functionality and resilience. Three case studies show the possibilities of performance landscape design at different scales.
Brandon Avenue Master Plan and Green Street Design
The Challenge
The redevelopment of an 8.5-acre district on the University of Virginia campus in Charlottesville had a mandate to manage and treat all stormwater on site. Located on higher ground than the surrounding area and on a campus edge, the new buildings and street design of the master plan were slated to add impervious surface area, thus exacerbating flooding problems downstream.
The Solution
“We have a history of innovation on campus, so creating a working landscape that performs in concert with the LEEDdesigned buildings is important to us,” says Julia Monteith, associate university planner at the University of Virginia. Rather than build an underground cistern or nondescript retention area filled with riprap, the university went with a plan that transforms the main circulation route, Brandon Avenue, into a “green street” that celebrates stormwater infrastructure. Built-in seating, a shaded promenade, and a bosque of cypress trees and adjacent park spaces surround the basins, allowing people to gather and enjoy nature in an urban setting. “If you have the space, it’s a great way to create a landscape that’s educational as well as functional,” Monteith says.
Redtail Ridge
The Challenge
The initial redevelopment plan for a 400-acre site in Colorado’s Boulder County received pushback from the community, whose concerns included traffic, sustainability, and public access. After purchasing the site, developer Sterling Bay decided to start from scratch and create a new master plan for a life-sciences campus. “We wanted it to be truly sustainable, with a lot of open space that would be an amenity for both the workers and the surrounding community,” says Ryan Amos, vice president of development services at Sterling Bay.
The Solution
The master plan for the site, which is open to the public, was designed to meet Fitwel standards, a third-party certification program for healthy communities. “Fitwel drove a lot of design decisions, and showed how we would hold ourselves accountable to the community—that we weren’t just ‘talk,’” Amos says. “The new plan blew the certification team away.” Along with outdoor work areas and staff locker rooms with showers, the plan includes 19 miles of trails with water fountains that the public can enjoy. The landscape will be transformed with native plantings that support pollinators, retention ponds for stormwater management, and a dog park. Wildlife, as well as people, can freely access the site: Instead of fences, posts with bird nesting boxes will demarcate the area that is under private management versus county management.
Greening America’s Communities: Oklahoma City Central Neighborhoods
The Challenge
Like many cities in the U.S., Oklahoma City has an aging stormwater system and existing flooding problems, including two historic floods in recent years. Anticipating many more days of extreme heat and increased flash flooding as a result of climate change, city staff applied for help from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Greening America’s Communities program. “We identified five project areas that suffer from routine flooding and are also located in or near lower-income neighborhoods,” says T.O. Bowman, program planner in the Oklahoma City planning department’s office of sustainability.
The Solution
The EPA commissioned a design toolkit, completed in 2017, that gave the city a jumpstart on thinking about infrastructure as green infrastructure. In addition to specific recommendations for each neighborhood, the toolkit is centered around “green roadways,” which prioritize stormwater management and walkability. “Instead of intersections with no curb cuts and large storm drains that could eat small dogs, we can have bump-outs with vegetated bioswales that also shorten the crossing distance for pedestrians,” Bowman says. “It helped the community see the vision for what could be. As we get funding lined up for projects, we have this integrated approach already in place, so it’s not just about new asphalt.” The recently completed $4 million streetscape upgrade in the historic Paseo District, which improved sidewalks and added rain gardens, is among the first to showcase this strategy.•
Credits Acknowledgments
Editorial Director:
Rachel Rose
Creative Director:
Mimi Hines
Managing Editor:
Aaron Seward
Production Manager:
Angela Miller
Editors:
Spencer Allan
Lori Compas
Kaila Haindl
Designers:
Austin Drake
Annalie Norlander
Anna Wissler
Editorial Advisors:
Gina Berndt
Nick Cameron
Carolyn Cooney
Phil Harrison
Zena Howard
Casey Jones
Anna Marich
Jason McLennan
Geeti Silwal
Leigh Stringer
Stephanie Wolfgang
Jo Wright
Rufina Wu
With special thanks to:
Beth Broome
Jesse Dorris
Lydia Lee
Matt Shaw
The sharing of knowledge and insights in this issue of Current was made possible through the generous participation of the following contributors:
Ryan Amos, Vice President of Development Services, Sterling Bay
David Barilla, Executive Director, Orlando Downtown Development Board/Community Redevelopment Agency
Brenda Bell, Director of Operations, Western University
Barbara Bichelmeyer, Provost, University of Kansas
Edward Borrego, CEO, Jackson West Medical Center
T.O. Bowman, Program Planner, Oklahoma City Office of Sustainability
James Richards, Director of Communications, National Center for Civil and Human Rights
Andy Scurto, Owner, WeStreet Ice Center
Amy Sechrist, Emergency Department Director, Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health
Kate Slaasted, Firmwide Director of Communications and PR, Kirkland & Ellis
Catherine Steeves, Vice-Provost and Chief Librarian, Western University
Kelly Tess, Superintendent of Schools, The Winnetka Public Schools
Penny Tonks, Associate Director of Real Estate Strategy and Asset Management, Cognizant
Lydia Travis, Strategy and Planning Lead, Johnson County Facilities Management
Edmund Velasco, Senior Portfolio Manager, Kirkland & Ellis
Maryellen Westerberg, Chief Operations Officer, SAC Health
Helen Wilson, Senior Landscape Architect, University of Virginia
With additional thanks to the following contributors from Perkins&Will and its family of partner firms:
Debbie Beck
Sapna Bhat
Cassie Branum
Sybille Buhl Karottki
Gabrielle Bullock
Alyssa Carata
Jennifer Carzoli
Chao Chen
Dustin Columbatto
Joe Connell
Laura Crawford
Enrico Dagostini
Malcom Davis
Yanel de Angel
Mary Dickinson
Jeff Doble
Rachael Dumas
Aimee Eckmann
Andrew Frontini
Sarah Gallagher
Chris Hardie
Paige Hawthorn
Zhigang Huang
Cara Jia
Adana Johns
Anne Johnson
Ralph Johnson
Jerry Johnson
Mark Jolicoeur
Sean Joyner
Yan Krymsky
Kalpana Kuttaiah
Lara Leskaj
Micah Lipscomb
Jon Loewen
Nathan Mattson
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Cassandra Rice
Brad Rogers
Brent Ross
Kimberly Seigel
Chika Sekiguchi
Ellie Sharpe
David Sheldon
Jessie Sheng
John Slack
Natalie Smith
Jenny Stephens
Zan Stewart
Adam Strudwick
Perkins&Will, an interdisciplinary, research-based architecture and design firm, was founded in 1935 on the belief that design has the power to transform lives. Guided by a philosophy called Living Design, the firm is committed to creating a holistically healthy, more sustainable world. Architizer named Perkins&Will the world’s Best Sustainable Firm in 2023, and Metropolis named it Firm of the Year in 2022 for its industry leadership in advancing climate action and social justice. Fast Company named Perkins&Will one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies in Architecture three times, and in 2021, it added the firm to its list of Brands That Matter—making Perkins&Will the first architecture practice in the world to earn the distinction. With an international team of more than 2,500 professionals, the firm has 32 studios worldwide, providing integrated services in architecture, interior design, branded environments, urban design, and landscape architecture. Industry rankings consistently place the firm among the world’s top design practices.
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An industry leader in holistic transportation planning, Nelson\Nygaard is committed to accessibility and sustainability for all. The firm helps its clients achieve broader community goals of mobility, equity, economic development, and healthy living. It joined Perkins&Will in May 2016.
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McLennan Design is a regenerative architecture, planning, design, and product design practice focused on deep green sustainability. The firm was founded in 2013 by global sustainability leader Jason F. McLennan to design socially just, culturally rich, and ecologically restorative solutions to today’s most vexing design challenges. It joined Perkins&Will in July 2022.
