Architect Ralph Johnsons new Tinkham Veale University Center at CWRU will bring 21st-century flair to University Circle

Posted October 11, 2011 in Articles

Author: Steven Litt, Plain Dealer Reporter

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Case Western Reserve University has long been something of a Tin Man among American universities — a place in search of a heart. Born out of the union of Western Reserve University and the Case Institute of Technology in 1967, CWRU has grown over the decades without a strong campus center to unify its two halves. That’s about to change. The university plans to break ground next spring on the $50 million Tinkham Veale University Center, a centrally located building intended to give CWRU a 24/7 student hangout, a home for student organizations, a jumping-off point for campus tours and a big community gathering space. The design for the 82,000-square-foot building, released to The Plain Dealer by the university, has a decidedly 21st-century look, with thrusting, wedge-like shapes and sloping green roofs rising two stories out of the ground. Given its location northeast of Severance Hall between Bellflower Road, Euclid Avenue and East Boulevard, the center will be a highly visible new landmark in University Circle, Cleveland’s cultural, educational and medical hub. It will also be unlike anything else on campus, except Frank Gehry’s shiny, stainless-steel Peter B. Lewis Building for the Weatherhead School of Management, finished nearby in 2002 at the corner of Bellflower Road and Ford Drive.

Original Article: http://blog.cleveland.com/architecture/2011/10/architect_ralph_johnsons_new_t.html