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The main pedestrian corridor of the Community College of Aurora is within the riverbed of the former highline canal. In response to this unique site, Civitas Landscape Architecture developed a planting plan that utilizes native plantings along the center spine and a formal organization at the edges of campus. Our project was part of the construction of a new student center located midway between the informal core and the formal edge. Students access this new center from both sides. We developed two entry monuments, one of steel and aluminum to echo the architecture and the manufactured order of the edge of campus, and a second monument of native sandstone located off the converted canal pathway. |
An important feature of the project was to create a graphic identity for the campus. Our site research allowed us to indentify three defining elements: people, nature and information, all of which flow through this site. The cottonwood tree is the primary image with abstracted human forms, and circuitry as supporting images. These themes are expressed through pierced metal, light, shade and shadow on the kinetic piece at the edge of campus and are sandblasted into the stone monument. The College has a substantial nighttime student body and the stone monument takes on a special presence at night. Six illuminated leaves highlight the etchings on the stone and decipher the border of the top glyph. This imagery has been adopted by the Campus, and is used as part of their publications. |
