London Metropolitan University, Graduate Centre

"The building consists of three intersecting volumes that outwardly emphasize the operational relationships inside: the first creates a connection between the public, the new building, and the university in the background, the second mass links the university with the city, and the last mass integrates the building into the context of Holloway Road. A small square emphasizes and draws attention to the entrance area.
The entire construction is clad in relief stainless steel panels creating bright and constantly changing surfaces. The windows are conceived as large geometric cutouts providing enhanced daylight to the café, corridors, and seminar rooms. The interior spaces are simple, expressive, and provide versatile use for various events."




The graduate center on the grounds of London Metropolitan University (formerly the University of North London) is the first permanent building by Daniel Libeskind in London. Before that, he constructed a summer pavilion for the Serpentine Gallery in Kensington Gardens for a few months. However, both of these small buildings are merely a prelude to the project for the expansion of the Victoria & Albert Museum, which won the competition in 1996. The bold structure of the V&A Museum was overseen by Cecil Balmond, so the only issue is financial.
Libeskind's extension of the university campus is located on a busy road in the northwest part of London. It is not a particularly prestigious school, but it is also trying to fill its campus with quality architecture. A brutalist tower from 1966 was softened five years ago by an extension from Rick Mather, and a new section for postgraduate students by Daniel Libeskind opened in March of last year. Like few other architects, Libeskind creates icons and landmarks for the surrounding area with his unusual buildings and the stories behind them. The project for LMU also comes with a story that the author called Orion: the three intersecting main volumes are arranged into the shape of the constellation Orion, which is "the cosmic sign of the northern sky" (at that time, the school was called the University of North London). Time will tell if Libeskind's language (windows and doors of irregular shapes, crumbling walls) suits the typology of schools.