Izmir University Of Economy_ University | Plasma Studio

The university is organized as series of bands that run alongside the steep hillside and connected by a central perpendicular spine that enables concise distribution and forms a public heart with libraries, refectories, information and study areas.

This configuration enables a clear hierarchy and orientation, as well as giving identity to the individual parts while fostering chance encounters and a vibrant communal life. Additional synergies derive from interspersing semi-public/ leisure activities within the academic environment, so as to create a common strata, to informally encourage social interaction, encounters and proliferation of knowledge across social and disciplinary confines.

The plinth/ or podium_ clustering, a grouping strategy to share the academic facilities, fostering crosspollination among various disciplines. This attempt is substantiated through social interaction by inserting semipublic/ leisure like activities within the academic environment. Transgressing the traditional isolation of the individual faculty, the project proposes a common strata, where the knowledge is distributed ‘horizontally’ through informal encounters among students. The proposal believes in enhancing the built up of novel knowledge, in encouraging the practice of trans-disciplinary research.