Click on images at left for larger color views. [Google Earth link] The recently completed Juliana Curran Terian Design Center on the campus of Pratt Institute serves a role much greater than its 9,000 s.f. size would indicate. Fitted between the existing Pratt Studios and Stueben Hall, the new entrance pavilion by hanrahanMeyers Architects knits the two into a single 200,000 s.f. complex for nearly all of the school's design disciplines. According to partner Thomas Hanrahan, who is also dean of Pratt's School of Architecture, the new structure "announces itself to the academic community as an energetic new form, participating visually with the campus sculpture park and complementing the brick and metal industrial-era buildings that form the core of the Institute." It does this overtly through a projecting gallery clad in stainless steel that opens up the entry pavilion to the quadrangle visually, especially at night, like a large, deep-set window. Entry to the Design Center is underneath the projecting volume. One immediately becomes aware upon entry of the pavilion's situation, as what was exterior is now interior. Although the brick exterior walls are kept exposed, strip lights illuminate a gap between the new entry and the two buildings, making it clear that the space is new. Through a large opening is a new steel stair that provides access up to the gallery and the rest of the complex's spaces. The narrow three-story sliver of a building creates a courtyard to the south opposite its north face overlooking the quad. The south face - visible in the image at left and in this section - helps to bring light to the interior as well as allowing for air to flow through the pavilion. Also visible in the section is indication that the double-height gallery space allows for films to be projected onto the window overlooking the quad. This helps to extend the impact of the pavilion not only beyond its small footprint but also beyond the footprint of the Design Center and into the center of the Pratt campus.   Juliana Curran Terian Design Center in Brooklyn, New York by hanrahanMeyers Architects 2006.10.23     Click on images below for larger views.