BACKGROUNDER
The Bernard & Anne Spitzer School of Architecture Building
The Bernard & Anne Spitzer School of Architecture is housed in a 118,000 square foot facility, designed by architect Rafael Viñoly, located at the northeast corner of W. 135th Street and Convent Avenue, across from Aaron Davis Hall on CCNY’s South Campus.
To create the Spitzer School’s new home, architect Viñoly had an existing building stripped to its structural framework. Originally constructed during the 1950s to house the College’s Morris Rafael Cohen Library, and later used as classroom and administrative office space, the building was totally rebuilt for its new purpose. Construction began in late 2005.
Designed to accommodate 300 – 400 students, the structure is sheathed in white, pre-cast concrete panels and glass. The interior design of the building is functional, with open working spaces and high windows that allow natural light to pour in.
A key feature is a central atrium that is spanned by open stairways and sky bridges that meet in the middle to create an “X” pattern. These facilitate movement between the building’s sides and different floors and provide a dramatic setting for looking down on the exhibit space on the first floor.
The building provides several amenities for faculty and students that the School’s prior home, in Shepard Hall, did not have. For example, faculty will now have individual offices, which will be located on mezzanine levels overlooking studio spaces.
The studios, each of which provides close to 1,000 square feet of space, were designed for that purpose rather than retrofitted from classrooms. Their walls are lined with sanded Homasote fiberboard, which provides a surface for students to pin up their work for reviews and critiques. Low walls between the studios will encourage communication and collaboration among students.
The building’s first floor contains three classrooms, an exhibit area, administrative offices and the library, which has twice as much space as the previous location. It contains two levels of book shelves, reading areas and a computer lab. Additional computer labs are located on the first floor.
The ground level holds a security office, the model shop and offices and studios for the City College Architecture Center (CCAC), which provides consulting services to community-based organizations. The CCAC’s location, in close proximity to the street, will give it a retail presence that makes it readily accessible to its constituents.
The Spitzer School is the first academic building to open as part of the redevelopment of CCNY’s South Campus. Two science research buildings, which will house laboratories and offices for City College and CUNY’s top scientists, are currently under construction and scheduled for completion in 2012. The Towers at City College, a residence hall with space for 600 students that was the first residence hall built on a CUNY campus, opened in 2006.
In addition to Mr. Viñoly, the design and engineering team includes: Weidlinger & Associates, structural engineering; Stanislav Slutsky, P. E., mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems, and Lee Weintraub, landscape architecture.
