Brody Learning Commons: Behind the Building, Part II

Because the Eisenhower Library is one of the most heavily used buildings on the Homewood campus, our users tend to have very strong opinions about the place.

Which means that student input in particular has been critical in helping to inform the conversation about the Brody Learning Commons project. In fall 2009, with support from the Friends of the Libraries, we launched the yrBLCspace group study room design contest.

Students were invited to design a space between 150 and 300 square feet, using any medium that could convey their vision of an ideal group study room (including information about specific technologies, furniture, etc.). The contest was open to all Johns Hopkins University students and included cash prizes and the chance for the winning entry to be incorporated into the design of an actual group study room in the new building.

A panel of judges — which included university administrators, a student, and a member of the architectural firm designing the building — reviewed the entries and evaluated them according to the design’s creativity, sustainability, effectiveness, and the flexibility of the space.

The winning entry came from Diane Hwang, a neuroscience major and member of the Krieger School’s class of 2012. She used Google SketchUp to create a three-dimensional model of her design, and you can can see the full version of her winning design here. You will, however, need to download Google SketchUp in order to view the file. See here to download SketchUp and for a quick step-by-step tutorial to get you up and running.

To read more about the contest and see the other winning entries, click here.