Studio Description

This studio project extends the university's mission on diversity, equity and inclusion with proposals for a New Learning Commons on UNL's City Campus in Lincoln, Nebraska.

In designing a new building to supplement the existing Adele Learning Commons, the studio challenged conventional ideas on how students, faculty and the larger community learn together, exploring the question: what is architecture's role in actively promoting diverse and inclusive learning environments?

To inform their design decisions on a range of aspects, from program curation and site selection to the design of the building itself, students drew from current research, such as Ellen Lupton and Andrea Lipps' work on designing for the senses, Joel Sanders of Mix Design's work on gender-neutral spaces, and Julie Park's research on debunking myths about diversity on college campuses. They also researched the unique characteristics of the UNL community – its programs, stakeholders and activities – and incorporated feedback from University Libraries faculty, Lorna Dawes and Toni Anaya, Interim Director of User Experience.

One key outcome of the studio was the idea that a library should evolve to encompass a variety of learning styles and activities. Informed, in part, by their own educational experiences, each student-team proposed a unique program that extended beyond the provision of study spaces, classrooms and tech support. They inter-mixed them with other activities to give minority groups ownership of place and render equity and inclusion visible to the larger community.

Student Project Descriptions

Bahrun Baranuri and Chris Bean:

Located at the heart of UNL's City Campus, next to the Love Library and the Student Union, Bahrun Baranuri and Chris Bean's proposal for a New Learning Commons sub-divides one large open space into several open spaces, and takes advantage of 14th street, which extends south into downtown Lincoln and north to recreational buildings, university residences and Salt Creek Roadway. The Learning Commons maintains a strong E-W axis at ground level, while 14th street along the N-S axis runs underneath to create a sunken garden area, similar to the one next to the Sheldon Museum, where musicians can often be seen practicing outdoors.  The building has multiple entrances into/through a large common study area that connects all sides.

Deep finger-like indentations bring daylight and the outdoors into the interior; a large stair and ADA ramp punctuate the space vertically; and a variety of smaller rooms, with curtains to allow for privacy and different floor textures to facilitate way-finding, accommodate a range of programmatic elements, including a performance area, a multi-purpose room, and a multi-faith space, in addition to classrooms, offices and study rooms. There is a hand-washing station next to the multi-faith space, as well as gender-neutral restrooms, and outdoor ADA stramps for sitting, meeting and relaxing. A two-way concrete slab structure affords an informal arrangement of columns to structurally support rounded shapes that are intended to enhance a sense of interior continuity, flow and connection.

Adam English and David Huisman:

Adam English and David Huisman's proposal for a new Learning Commons is located in the heart of the City Campus, along Vine Street and adjacent to the College of Engineering (Othmar Hall), the College of Business, and the College of Education and Human Sciences. The old Student Health Center had previously occupied the site. The design of the new building takes the form of a three-dimensional grid, housing two different scales of user-spaces: a large, double-height maker space on the ground floor, and classrooms and study rooms on upper floors. The maker space on the west side opens on to an exterior garden and major pedestrian path, and on the east side are rooms for Pop-up stores. The ground floor therefore houses programs that accommodate state-of-the art STEAM programs and related entrepreneurial activities. The Pop-up stores are student-run, and are overseen by the library, rather than by the university administration. Meeting rooms and study spaces on the upper floors are organized around open gardens that punctuate the grid structure, bringing the sky, daylight and nature to the interior and lower floors. Gender-neutral restrooms separate toilets from washing and grooming areas, following the ideas of Joel Sanders and Mix Design. A wooden mesh wraps the exterior to provide shading and sun-screening all around.