Interior Design: Human Connection Informs This Boston University Design
Excerpt from Interior Design Magazine | By: Rebecca Dalzell, Photo: Tom Arban | July 6, 2023
Computer science is about people. Much as it feels like machines are taking over the world, there are still programmers behind every innovation. Azer Bestavros, the associate provost for computing and data sciences at Boston University, has noted that, “Technology is not creative; people are creative.” So when KPMB Architects, a collaborative, interdisciplinary practice based in Canada that has delivered millions of square feet of projects in such sectors as education, healthcare, and hospitality and is committed to shaping a more equitable and sustainable future through design, won the competition for the university’s new Center for Computing & Data Sciences, Bestavros emphasized that the building should meet the needs of the students and staff members who would use it. KPMB met the challenge with a human-centered, Jenga-style tower that welcomes artists and engineers alike.
The project grew out of a surging interest in data science at BU. Enrollment in related courses soared between 2007 and 2017; as technology touches all of us, even humanities majors understand they need basic knowledge of the field. Further, the mathematics, statistics, and computer-science departments, which previously had separate buildings, needed to come together. A surface parking lot in the heart of campus was ripe for development.