Diller Scofidio + Renfro Collaborate With Brininstool + Lynch on a LEED Gold-Certified Addition to the University of Chicago

2021 Best of Year winner for Education and Higher Learning

With its 97,000 square feet of spaces for symposia and workshops, this building is a significant addition to the University of Chicago. The forum required a home as thoughtful as its users, which is just what Diller Scofidio + Renfro conceived with associate architects Brininstool + Lynch. The LEED Gold–certified structure comprises an eight-story tower atop a two-story base. Connecting the ground-floor lobby with the 600-seat university room above is the “Paperclip,” a massive ribbon of blackened steel that twists through the double-height volume: “We took the functional elements—a reception desk, grand stair, and fireplace—and developed a single sculptural piece,” says DSR associate principal and director of sustainable design Sean Gallagher, who served as project director. The tower is organized as a stack of neighborhoods offering diverse environments, including a tiered boardroom and the formal city view room, which overlooks Lake Michigan. But the best vantage point might be from the Zen garden on the fourth-floor terrace. “It cantilevers 40 feet toward the Midway Plaisance, a mile-long greenway built for the 1893 World’s Fair,” Gallagher notes. “Our desire was to expand its natural environment onto the tower. It defies the logic of a large cantilevered roof and provokes people to question their environment, as well as what might be possible in the future.”

Diller Scofidio + Renfro: Charles Renfro; Elizabeth Diller; Benjamin Gilmartin; Ricardo Scofidio; Sean Gallagher; Giannantonio Bongiorno; Kevin Rice; Charles Curran; Charles Blanchard; Eduardo Ponce; Seongbeom Mo; Jing Xu; Dino Kiratzidis; Ema Hana Kacar; Alessandro Scognamiglio; Andrés Macera; Shiwoo Yu; Kimball Kaiser