Five visions for the historic College Avenue Campus

A DISCUSSION OF IDEAS: An aerial view of the historic College Avenue Campus, the inspiration for an international competition and lecture series that will challenge the way we think about campus planning. On September 26, the university unveiled five designs that will be on display at the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum through October 31.

On September 26, President Richard L. McCormick released sweeping design concepts crafted by five world-renowned architecture teams, part of a long-term initiative to redesign the university’s historic College Avenue Campus.

The renderings and models – featured in an exhibit at Rutgers’ Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum – kick off a universitywide discussion about the best way to incorporate the teams’ ideas to create an academic environment that will rival many of the nation’s finest universities, McCormick said.

“When we launched the College Avenue Campus initiative, we challenged the world’s most accomplished architects and designers to dazzle us. They have done that and more by pushing us – through their ideas – to imagine this campus in ways we could have never conceived on our own,” McCormick said. “They are challenging us to think even more boldly about what our campus can be and how we can best serve future generations of Rutgers students. These design concepts will serve as the catalyst for a thorough and enthusiastic discussion about the future of the College Avenue Campus.

“It is highly unlikely that we will build any of these plans in its entirety;” McCormick said. However, he added, “each proposal contains elements that deserve serious consideration.”

Common themes in the design teams’ concepts include:

• Making significant portions of the College Avenue Campus greener. Proposals include sloping green spaces above Route 18 and a serpentine greenway across the College Avenue Campus.
• Greater access to the Raritan River. Ideas for new facilities along the river range from a new park and an open-air amphitheater to a glass-walled dining hall and a cylindrical multistory academic building.
• Iconic structures that define the campus as a more attractive and inspiring academic environment and capture the essence of the university’s commitment to excellence.
• More public spaces, which will create a richer sense of community and greater opportunities for informal interaction among students, faculty, staff and campus visitors.
• A signature academic building that serves as a focal point for the campus.
• Improved pedestrian access. Additional pedestrian pathways will make the College Avenue Campus far more walkable.
• Better transportation connections to the university’s other campuses in New Brunswick and Piscataway.