Human Connection Informs This Boston University Design

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.

KPMB Architects Designs a Jenga-Style Tower for Boston University

KPMB won the competition in 2013, but the 345,000-square-foot, 19-story building didn’t break ground until 2019. “The initial brief was a hub for interdisciplinary computing fields, with classrooms, labs, and research institutes,” KPMB partner Paulo Rocha begins. The university was also looking to “create an iconic building to situate BU on the skyline and in the world.” Later, the client added sustainability requirements to help meet its goal of being carbon neutral by 2040. KPMB conceived a transparent five-story podium with a café and collaboration spaces around an atrium; department offices, collaboration zones, and meeting rooms occupy the floors above. Two computer labs and 12 classrooms are spread across the building, which is open to everyone on campus.

BU’s Center for Computing & Data Sciences Invites the Community In

Located on Commonwealth Avenue near the Charles River, the center sits in a largely low-rise neighborhood. At first glance, the glass-and-steel tower might seem out of place, yet it relates to its context in subtle ways. Alternating between sections of glass and aluminum are reddish-brown louvers, the color referencing the local brick row houses, and the podium aligns with surrounding roofs. The latter also engages with the street, allowing pedestrians to see students moving through the atrium. “Academic buildings are often introverted,” Rocha says. “Our building is porous and open, with an inside-out, outside-in feel that connects to the city.”

KPMB broke down the structure’s 305-foot height with cantilevered square volumes that rotate around the core. Every two or three floors, the volumes shift 23 feet clockwise, opening up the roof on the one below to form a terrace. “It’s a vertical campus,” Rocha explains, “that helps form an identity for the different departments and gives them access to outdoors.” A communicating stair runs through the tower, and people are never more than a couple of flights from one of the eight terraces. Walkable floor plates determined the scale of the volumes, so it’s easy for colleagues to meet and gather. There are no corner offices; colorful collaboration areas get the city and river views instead.

The KPMB team had to balance the need for an energy-efficient envelope with the desire for openness. A passive house design wouldn’t fly. “Do you want clients to look through a small window or be enveloped in the city?” Rocha asks. “Sustainability is not just about numbers. It also has to be about how occupants feel.

A space that immerses you in the city has a positive effect.” His firm’s work asserts that even in our data-driven world, people should come first.

Inside BU’s New Center for Computing & Data Sciences

kpmb architects: bruce kuwabara; marianne mckenna; luigi larocca; lucy timbers; david smythe; kael opie; tyler loewen; melissa ng; matt krivosudsky; tyler hall; amin monsefi; victor garzon; samantha hart; nicholas wong; olivia di filice; jason chang; fotini pitoglou; carolyn lee; kayley mullings; arminé tadevosyan

Dot Dash: lighting design

entuitive + lemessurier consultants: structural engineer

br+a consulting engineers: mep

nitsch engineering: civil engineer

suffolk construction: general contractor

normann copenhagen: stools (ground floor)

stylex: sofas (atrium lounge, yellow collaboration

la palma: side tables (atrium lounge, green collaboration)

Hay: swivel chairs (atrium lounge), stools (purple collabor­ation), chairs (green collaboration)

Andreu World: coffee tables (atrium lounge), work tables (collaborations)

artemide: light fixture (elevator bank)

howe: tables (event space)

arper: chairs

millworks custom man­ufacturing: paneling

norvanivel: custom ottomans

findeisen nadelvlies: rugs

armstrong ceiling: felt ceiling systems

sherwin-williams company: paint

Inside Look: Dune CEO’s Southampton Home by Sawyer|Berson

Over the past few decades, the New York architecture firm Sawyer|Berson has designed a bevy of houses in the Hamptons. Admired for their stylistic versatility, founding partners Brian Sawyer and John Berson have masterminded everything from stately Colonial Revival residences to bold, contemporary compounds. But never before had the studio worked on a home quite like the one proposed by Richard Shemtov for a wooded single-acre property in Southampton.

Shemtov, the CEO and founder of furniture company Dune, was looking to build a weekend retreat to share with his wife, Dominique, and their three daughters, who range in age from 14 to 26. He envisioned something modestly scaled, modeled after traditional gable-roof barns but in a rigorously pared-down style. Key inspirations were Herzog & de Meuron’s Parrish Art Museum in nearby Water Mill and the Baron House in Sweden by John Pawson.

“It wasn’t our typical commission,” says Sawyer, who has known and worked with Shemtov for years. “It was an exercise in discipline, really, a fun puzzle to work out. We could fit a certain amount of program in the box.” Adds Berson, “As it turned out, that was a deceptively simple idea, to coordinate the plan and section and make the entire composition sing.”

A Southampton Home Three Years in the Making

To create a crisp silhouette, Sawyer and Berson sunk one of the structure’s two main levels entirely below-grade and devised the standing-seam roof, a weathered-gray zinc, so that it is flush with the perimeter edges and has hidden gutters. Expanses of 10-foot-high, black-painted aluminum–framed glass—most of which slide open—line much of the front and rear facades, while the rest of the exterior is clad in a distinctive recycled-glass brick.

The house’s ground floor encompasses an open living/dining area, the kitchen, and four bedrooms. The loftlike basement level—housing several entertaining areas, Shemtov’s home office, a laundry room, a gym, and a kitchenette—is completely column-free, which added significantly to the engineering complexity of the project. The house also expanded a bit as plans developed: A custom-fabricated carport was tacked on and room was carved out below the eaves to create a half level, a cozy attic den that can double as a guest bedroom. “It’s the house we wanted,” Shemtov says. “But we went way over budget and it took nearly three years to build.”

Interiors are by Homeowner Richard Shemtov

A big chunk of that time was devoted to fitting out the 8,000-square-foot interiors. It’s not uncommon for Sawyer|Berson to handle every aspect of a project—architecture, interiors, landscape—as can be seen in the duo’s forthcoming monograph, to be published by Rizzoli this fall in advance of the firm’s 25th anniversary. But in this case Shemtov oversaw the interiors himself, his first time designing a project of this scale. “Every inch of the house was considered and thought out, almost to the point where it was obsessive,” he admits.

A Courtyard Garden by Sawyer|Berson Brightens the Lower Level

The art is mostly things the homeowners have collected over years, works by friends or that have a personal resonance. One new acquisition is the Bernardo Siciliano painting of a restaurant interior that hangs in the dining area. The scene felt distinctly familiar to Shemtov, who learned after he bought it that the artist had based it on Lincoln, a restaurant in Lincoln Center where Dune created a custom banquette.

To bring light down into the lower level, Sawyer|Berson, which oversaw landscaping, created a courtyard garden with a series of amphitheater-style concrete terraces that are arrayed with a profusion of potted plants. “I originally saw it as a kind of hanging garden with things tumbling down,” says Sawyer. “Richard came up with the idea of lining it with pots, which I think is fun and punchy.”

The focal point of the rear grounds is a minimalist swimming pool, surrounded by porcelain-tile coping and a sweep of precisely graded lawn. There’s an outdoor kitchen and a poolside dining pergola, as well as a covered terrace that’s become one of the family’s favorite hangout spots. Shemtov imagines spending weekends and summers here with the girls—and, eventually, their families—for many years to come. “Labor of love is a commonly used term,” he says, “but with this house, it resonates a lot.”

Inside a Southampton Home by Sawyer|Berson 

sawyer|berson: alex taylor wilk

blue sky design: structural engineer

bk kuck construction: general contractor

toulemonde bochart: rug (lounge)

normann copenhagen: small side table

romo: chair fabric (lounge), drapery sheers (living area, dining area), banquette fabric (mudroom), bench fabric, window-treatment fabric (guest bedroom), settee fabric (main bedroom)

anna karlin: pendant fixture (dining area)

élitis: chair fabric

crosby street studios: rugs (dining area, guest bedroom)

schmitt design: chandelier (living area)

pollack: sectional fabric

kerry joyce: chair fabric

through jeff lincoln art & design: cocktail table, side tables

Ortal: fireplace

foro marble: fireplace stone

stone source: floor tile (mudroom)

renson: custom carport, custom pergola (exterior)

damien hirst: wallpaper (bedroom)

art + loom: rug

Knoll Textiles: wall fabric

robert allen: headboard fabric

brinklicht: pendant fix­tures (kitchen)

corian: countertops

piet boon: stools

wolf: oven

California Faucets: sink fittings

through lee jofa: drapery fabric (main bedroom)

c & c milano: bed fabric

céline wright: pendant fixture

beadlight: sconces

jab: chair fabric, ottoman fabric (main bedroom), chair fabric (game area)

mgs milano: outdoor shower (guest bedroom)

pelican pools: pool (terrace)

ceramiche refin: pavers

lindsay cowles: wallpaper (bedroom)

paul smith: lamp

loro piana: chair fabric

verzelloni: bench

jane churchill: bench fabric

modernica: screens (game area)

Moooi: pendant fixture

salvatori: wall tile (bathroom)

concrete collaborative: countertop stone

ann sacks: floor tile

brizo: sink fittings

&tradition: lamp (den)

fleetwood windows & doors: windows, exterior doors

rheinzink: roof

harbour outdoor: outdoor furniture

Stonhard: resin floor coating

benjamin moore & co.: paint

Danube Views and Ancient Architecture Meet in Budapest Flat

Ramy Fischler Studio prides itself on the diversity of its work. Recent projects include a smart fridge, an Hermès perfume store in New York, a line of self-produced furniture, and Twitter’s office in Paris, where the French firm is based and in the process of implementing a new master plan to harmonize the café and restaurant terraces on the Champs-Elysées. From time to time, the studio accepts the odd residential commission. But as principal Ramy Fischler emphasizes, “If we take one on, it has to allow us a certain amount of creativity to develop something unique.”

Recently, an entrepreneur with interests in Hungary approached Fischler with what was certainly a singular assignment. He had bought five apartments in a new luxury development with sweeping views of Budapest—one for his own use, the others for guests—that he wanted decorated in more or less identical style. Fischler took the bait. “We spent a year on his unit, defining exactly what he wanted,” the designer says of the 3,750-square-foot, three-bedroom floor-through, which has an additional 1,100 square feet of outdoor space. “It wouldn’t have made sense to do something different in the others. The décor fits him like a glove and duplicating it means he can give people the same experience as staying with him, only they have their own space.”

The Apartment Design Reflects Vastu Shastra Principles

The client had another very distinct demand: The design should adhere strictly to the principles of Vastu Shastra, the traditional Indian system of architecture. “It’s used to determine the layout of everything from religious to domestic spaces,” Fischler says, noting that the ethos is “simple and frugal.” One of its precepts is that the center of a home should be an empty space free from obstructions like columns or staircases (a requirement satisfied by the apartment’s mid-floor entry hall). And each area in the house is related to one of the four elements—fire, water, earth, and air—to which distinct design rules and color palettes are attached.

Fischler admits that applying such edicts was not always easy, even given the apartment’s generous proportions. “The ideal locations according to Vastu Shastra for faucets, drainage, the kitchen, and so on were often in total contradiction to what was in place in the rest of the building,” he reports. Among the changes he had to make to his original plans was the position of the beds. “Normally I like to have them facing a window so there’s an equal amount of light on both sides,” he explains. “But that was impossible here because they needed to be turned toward the north.” Since the living area is in an “earth zone,” which requires furniture to be low and grounded, none of the seating could have legs or feet. Hence the custom sofas comprising large cushions perched on travertine-slab bases. And in an adjacent sitting nook with a somewhat Japanese aesthetic, two chairs have bronze arms and upholstered backs but no seats, the idea being that, supported by the frame, you sit directly on the floor.

Natural Materials Create a Tranquil Environment

Fischler’s overall aim was to create not only a tranquil environment decibel-wise but also a visually soothing one. “There’s a sort of sobriety and calm to the whole space,” he says. No doubt the principles of Vastu Shastra contribute to that, but he believes the rigor of the architectural detailing also plays its part. “For me, the framework has to be perfect. When each line is precise, it brings a sense of composure,” he asserts. “That’s always the goal I set myself.”

Inside the Budapest Flat Designed by Ramy Fischler Studio 

ramy fischler studio: frédéric alzeari; florence vlemelinx; xiao ye zhang; estelle tran

light is more: lighting consultant

safa: custom furniture workshop

au gré du verre: custom cocktail tables (living area)

maami home: side table

normann copenhagen: ottomans

rubelli: sofa fabric (LIVING AREA), PANEL FABRIC (SECOND GUEST BEDROOM)

epoca: custom sofas (living area), custom chairs (nook)

lasvit; manooi: custom ceiling fixture (living-dining area)

Gubi: lounge chairs (living area), armchairs (entry, guest bedroom)

Roll & Hill: chandelier (study)

ferm living: glasses, bowl (study), teapot (kitchen)

ligne roset: chairs (study, dining area)

Gaggenau: appli­ances (kitchen)

élitis: panel fabric (main bedroom)

d’argentat: custom nightstands

knoll: desk chair

oluce: table lamp

brossier saderne: custom sconces

Dedar: bed fabric (bedrooms)

holland & sherry: panel fabric (FIRST guest bedroom)

edel carpets: carpet (guest bedrooms)

ramy fischler collection: nightstands

manooi: custom sconces (GUEST bedrooms), custom candelabra (bathroom)

makro: tub (bathroom)

alape: sinks

Dornbracht: tub fittings, sink fittings

j.d. staron: custom rugs

tabu: wood veneer

through zsdrál art pop-up galéria: ceramics