Fall 2007 Vol. VI, No. 1

Architecture Matters

A Modern Marvel on the Green Oval

In February 2006, Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) presented the winning proposal to design and build the future home of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs (IFI) at AUB. Hadid, a former AUB student, was the first woman in 2004 to win the prestigious Pritzker Prize for architecture. And although the undulating, modern structure she designed is unlike any other building on campus, it very precisely complements and preserves the green campus and historic buildings that surround it on the Green Oval.

The Issam Fares Institute will be located on the site currently occupied by the University Health Services Gulbenkian Infirmary on the Green Oval; Nicely Hall is just to the East. One defining aspect of this location is the number and size of the ficus and cyprus trees, which range in age from 100 to 180 years. Many of the trees are preserved and incorporated within the design proposal, although a few of the palms and cyprus may be displaced to other locations on campus. Preserving as many of the trees as possible in the existing landscape was instrumental in designing the building’s 17 meter high canteliver and system of slightly sloped ramps.

Landscaping materials vary from “soft landscape”— like grass, crushed stones, resin bonded pebbles, and wood, to “hard landscape” including concrete and grey granite paving. These are intended to blend with the overall materials proposed for the interior of the structure.

One of the many site challenges was the need to introduce a structure that would not undermine the existing “viewing tunnels” from the Green Oval towards the middle campus and the Mediteranean Sea. As it turns out, the proposal actually reduces the current building footprint and introduces a generous canteliver.

The building’s conceptual approach is to fold and define a series of platforms and zones where the character of the interior space will easily define specific academic and research areas. The new building is accessible through a main exterior stairway connecting first and second floor. The first floor incorporates the conference/workshop space as well as one breakout room. A separate feature stairs connects the first floor with the basement where the auditorium is located. The IFI directors’ office, utilities and the IFI lounge are located on the second floor. The third floor houses five researchers’ offices. Binding the building together is a vertical, partly glazed light shaft drawing natural light into the interior spaces and contributing to its natural ventilation. The fourth floor houses two spacious seminar rooms that can each accommodate 35 people as well as five research offices, a breakout room, and a large internal office generously lit by a west-facing bay window. The reading room and the roof terrace are both on the fifth floor to allow for a quieter environment. The roof terrace is located on the northern side to maximize the views of the Mediterranean and the middle and lower campus.

Founded in 2004, the mission of IFI is to inform and enrich debates on public policy and international affairs among academics, officials, and civil society activists in the Middle East and abroad. In fall 2007 alone, the IFI launched an AUB-Arab world climate change forum, a three-year project to study the public policy implications of Palestinian refugee camps in the Arab world; and a peacemakers’ lecture series that will bring 10 prominent international mediators to the University. In addition to international conferences, scholarly workshops and seminars, lecture series and forums, IFI will house a resource database for faculty, intenational fellows, students, and visitors and will organize outreach programs with other institutions.

Learn more about IFI programs in future issues of MainGate and at http://wwwlb.aub.edu.lb/~webifi/