The Power of Place
Reimagining the Langford Architecture Center
M.Arch Final Study Project by Chip Gordon
Exploring the role of architecture in the creation of Place, this proposal aims to transform the Langford Architecture Center into a healthy, sustainable flagship campus facility which unifies the Historic Core and Northside of Texas A&M University. In short, this study recommends demolition and replacement of buildings B and C in the Langford complex.
The study places special emphasis on the negative space—the “seam between space and event”—which acts as a social stimulus and facilitates the use of public space on campus. The non-programmed space, if treated with as much care as the explicitly programmed areas, distinguishes a simple building from an Architectural Place. The “in-between” spaces in a building are also one of the largest missed opportunities in design. Louis Kahn wrote that negative space in a building can “become a meeting connection and not merely a corridor,” but rather “a place of possibilities in self-learning” which manifests itself in informal gathering spaces and integral building and landscape elements.
Read more about the Power of Place here.
