Metropolis
Ennead Architects Designs a New Science Campus for the University of Oregon
The University of Oregon’s Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact encourages innovation through teamwork and transparency.
Courtesy Bruce Damonte
Looking across busy Franklin Boulevard from the University of Oregon’s historic campus in Eugene to its striking new Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact, two architectural features immediately stand out, both functional yet offering unmistakable symbolism. A double-skin facade with triangular shading panels made of fritted glass, bringing light into a well-sealed envelope, acts as a kind of contemporary quilt: a unified whole from many pieces. A sky-bridge also connects this 160,000-square-foot facility the main campus, its column-free span seeming to defy gravity.