Learning Resources

Abstract: Over the past several years Temple University’s Main Campus has undergone an impressive physical transformation, the result of completed multiple projects from two facilities master plans and a landscape master plan. The campus has redefined its identity from an assemblage of bland modernist-era buildings to a dynamic environment with signature contemporary architecture, an active and unifying landscape, and a preserved historic architectural core. This campus tour will explore how Temple University has improved the student and visitor experience through facility upgrades and the use of ’found’ outdoor and interstitial spaces to expand its footprint.

Abstract: Temple University’s new Charles Library is the social and academic heart for a large and diverse student body. Within a vibrant urban context the project reinterprets the traditional research library typology as a dynamic learning hub. Our tour guides will walk you through this international award-winning facility to share the thought process behind the design, project challenges and solutions, and provide an update on how the library has performed since its opening in Fall 2019.

Abstract: Historic separations that defined higher education are dissolving: research is more interdisciplinary, online and on-campus learning are converging, wet and dry labs are blending, teaching and research overlap, and academia forges relationships with corporate partners. Institutions, by improving how they connect what they offer, how they are organized, and how they operate, can build value and agility to better assist their people on campus. Real-world examples in this white paper from Knoll and brightspot strategy discuss how campus spaces support student success, including how to fully use the campus; creating spaces that sustain diverse and flexible ways of working; thinking phygitally; and creating environments where today’s purpose-driven and entrepreneurial students (Gen Z) will thrive as they prepare to enter the workforce.

Abstract: Escalation of university-community tension across the nation has generated widespread investigation and speculation by planners into the possible causes. Much of the speculation centered on "campus form" as a significant variable. Did the physical size and shape of the campus and its buildings influence tensions or the lack thereof? Was physical dispersal of the campus preferable to the fortress-like enclave of the traditional urban campus? In search of answers, Educational Facilities Laboratories commissioned a team of researchers at the University of Cincinnati--Robert Carroll, a sociologist, and planning professors Hayden B. May and Samuel V. Noe, Jr.--to undertake a study of the phenomenon. Their conclusions are available in a report available from Professor Noe, Department of Community Planning, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio 45221, and are summarized by the editor in the following article.