Rubenstein Commons at the Institute for Advanced Study has received the 2023 International Architecture Award by The Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Center for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies. Established in 2004, the International Architecture Awards recognize the best new architectural designs worldwide.
Founded in 1930, IAS is where Albert Einstein spent his last thinking years and where countless scholars at the forefront of physics, mathematics, and the humanities conduct curiosity-driven research. Rubenstein Commons provides flexible meeting spaces supporting community and academic life at IAS.
“Rubenstein Commons creates a space between—not just between walls, but between life and architecture. Like a hadron collider, the building smashes atoms (or, to paraphrase David Rubenstein, collides great brains together), in order to expand the horizon of our knowledge and collective human consciousness. It is not simply about giving form to life but rather allowing life to unfold in its most unpredictable form.” – Anna Bokov
Photos © Paul Warchol