Social Studies/ASU

In the development of a site-specific public art program for a new building on the ASU campus, Krivanek+Breaux considered the social dynamics of a multi-use classroom building within the campus and its relationship to the outside community.

The outer perimeter of the glass tower will primarily house faculty offices facing outward toward the campus and city. The apparent visual transparency of the façade suggests a collective act of seeing. This reflects interpretations back toward the community, as any glass surface will. This concept is made more explicit through the inscription of glass modules with fragments of languages, suggesting that language is a raw material that will be given form and disseminated as an ongoing process.

To engage natural phenomena and to reference the social dynamics between the University and the outside community, a typographic structure extends outward from the upper edge of the west façade. In the course of the day, once the sun skims the façade, the word “Explore,” legible in English or Spanish, will cast a shadow upon the ground.

Design Team

BJ Krivanek (Principal in Charge), Joel Breaux

Design Firm

Krivanek+Breaux/Art+Design

Consultants

Gensler, Los Angeles (architects); Jones Studio

Fabricators

Sundt Construction