Cube 3 at the University of Aachen
Competition design for a laboratory building consisting of three cubes in a green campus landscape
The ensemble of the three cubes had already been determined by a preliminary building inquiry. The location and orientation of the third building block were thus predetermined. The existing outdoor space concept of the volumes in the green can be continued in this way. This strengthens and completes the idea of a campus in the countryside. The underground laboratories are surrounded by greenery in the north-west and thus form part of the campus landscape. The cubic character of the design in interaction with the existing building is retained and its formal language is reduced and unambiguous. The development of the new building is also logically organized via the existing and very concise formation of Kopernikusstraße. In this way, the campus as a whole is given an address with a clear orientation.
An overall picture is created without copying the architecture on the campus. Quite the opposite: the new building plays with its neighborhood and creates new interpretations through the deliberate reflection and the resulting distortion of the façade. The result is a dynamic building that conveys the breadth and diversity of electrical engineering both during the day and at night.
The inviting foyer forms the interface between the forecourt and public functions, which are arranged like a mill in the two-storey space.
Visualizations: ImagineWeCreate
Competition: 2018
Aachen