World Architecture Community has released its eighteenth exclusive documentary exploring the design story behind the design of the masterplan of the Cincinnati University campus in Ohio, United States as part of WAC's exclusive Life & Architecture series which was announced on April 23, 2020.

In 1984, President Joseph A. Steger shared his dissatisfaction for the character of the campus, as reported in the University's Campus Heritage Plan. He thought that creating an architectural dialogue with a holistic approach for the campus could change the school’s direction, image and identity. 

With a support of the administration, Steger launched a search for a visionary planner to design the masterplan of the campus. Former Dean Jayanta (Jay) Chatterjee played an important role for the development of the new masterplan by inviting "star architects" to design the buildings of the campus, as he believed that the selection of "signature" architects would contribute to the image and visual character of the university campus. 

Following the approval of the new masterplan in 1991 by the Board of Trustees, in between 1991 and 2000, a selected group of world-renowned architects designed the key building of the campus, including Michael Graves (a UC DAAP graduate), Peter Eisenman, Henry Cobb, Frank O. Gehry, Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects, Moore Ruble Yudell, Thom Mayne, Bernard Tschumi, STUDIOS Architecture. 

The design the university's masterplan turned into "an architecture exhibition" with its urban design, sculptures, buildings, landscape and remarkable statues and made the campus. The Cincinnati University is one of the must-see universities for people visiting Ohio. 

WAC has launched Life & Architecture documentary series to give a detailed and in-depth look at many key buildings of contemporary architecture. The exclusive documentaries, captured from the 1990s, present an outstanding virtual journey throughout the buildings. 

Each documentary or episode features the buildings' distinctive features and the design stories of such important commissions narrated with exclusive interviews with architects, commissioners of the projects and project leaders. 

As the documentaries had been recorded for a Turkish television in 1990s, all the videos are presented in Turkish language but featuring English subtitles. However, the series are not outdated, on the contrary, these documentaries have a very high archive value to recapture the essence of the buildings. 

This program explains how an American university became a design exhibition ground for not only Cincinnati but also nationally and internationally by means of the work of cutting-edge architects and urban planners.

A 20-minute documentary includes exclusive interviews with Peter Eisenman, Jay Chatterjee, Former UC Dean and the late Thomas Winter, assistant professor of American history.

"The campus environment should contribute both to academical and social aspects of university life," said Jay Chatterjee.

The episode explores the four buildings in the campus with Jay Chatterjee: Peter Eisenman's Aronoff Center, Henry Cobb's Corbet Center for Performing Arts, Michael Graves' Engineering Research Center and Frank Gehry's Vontz Center for Molecular Studies building.

WAC will be releasing a new documentary each week on Fridays. WAC's new documentary will be posted on Friday, June 26, 2020 on the website and on WAC's Vimeo page.

WAC's eighteenth documentary: University of Cincinnati, Ohio

WAC Life & Architecture credits:
Presenter: Özlem Gürses, Editor
Technical Director: Andreas Treske

Stay tuned for a new documentary!

Image © WAC