Author: OPENACT Architecture Team: Zuhal Kol, Carlos Zarco Sanz, Ozan Önder Özener, Barış Can Cüce, Caglar Yilmaz, Erenalp Buyuktopcu, Alp Esassolak , Irem Sezer. Type: National Architectural Competition Client: ITU Istanbul Technical University Location: Istanbul, Turkey Status: Proposal Period: November 2019 Developed for Istanbul Technical University Faculty of Business and Economics, the project goes beyond conventional engineering education paradigms and builds its conceptual framework through a pedagogical model parallel to the social and technological developments of the 21st century. In this context, the project considers the new building as a spatial counterpart and catalyst for the innovative education approach to be put forward; and reinterprets the given program in terms of spatial framework. The subjects such as engineering, economics, management, ergonomics and optimization in the educational content of the departments of the faculty support the formation of this context with their technical aspects as well as their social dimensions. The formation of the new Faculty of Business and Economics building develops in the focus of interdisciplinarity and multi-faceted thinking. This approach aims to take learning out of the “class / amphitheater” boundaries and prioritizes the continuity of access to information. Through contemporary understanding of this pedagogical model, the project focuses on the possibility of training professionals who can develop innovative suggestions instead of conventional solutions to different and complex engineering problems through social interaction and intellectual encounters as well as analytical development. Collective learning and sharing of information constitute the fundamentals of the spatial configuration of the project. Aiming to synthesize the learner oriented formal and informal education spaces, the project aims to explore the availabilities and the potential redefinition of 21st century university. The new faculty building becomes the architectural extension of the urban spine created in the campus scale proposal. The main building rises as a rational, refined and linear mass referring to the basic concepts of the project, and balances the perception of openness created on the urban scale. The elevation of the faculty visualizes an innovative educational institution within the visual memory of the city and Istanbul’s skyline as an accentuated landmark rising from the campus documenting the daily technological and social progress of its educational processes.