INTERDISCIPLINARY LIFE SCIENCES BUILDING
BALLINGER
28 SPRING 2020 | context | AIA Philadelphia
COMMONS BUILDING PHYSICS BUILDING COMMONS PLAZA
QUAD
ILSB
TENNIS COURTS
COMMONS GARAGE
RENDERING: BALLINGER
The Interdisciplinary Life Sciences Building (ILSB) at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) employs art and architecture to inspire a spirit of inquiry. The new 131,000 SF campus building is a center for research, active learning, innovation, and inspiration, supporting UMBC’s mission of student success and research discoveries. Beyond regular design team based collaboration between architects, engineers, landscape architects and interior designers, this project was conceived to highlight a public art installation that was based in a collaborative design process between the artist, client, and design team. Oregon-based artist Volkan Alkanoglu was selected from a call for proposals that started with almost 300 responses. His digital design process was based on user input about ongoing research at UMBC. His work “In Flight” is a dramatic piece that establishes a memorable identity for the central student commons. n