Columbia College Chicago Officially Opens Media Production Center,
Its First Newly Constructed Building in 120-Year History
Designed for form, function and sustainability, the 35,500-square-foot South Loop facility
provides students with state-of-the-art professional production studios
Columbia College Chicago’s first newly constructed building in its 120-year history – the $21 million Media Production Center (MPC) at the southwest corner of 16th and State Streets – will provide film and media arts students with invaluable hands-on experience in a state-of-the-art professional production studio while creating a next-generation collaborative learning environment.
The 35,500-square-foot facility, designed by Chicago architect Jeanne Gang & Studio Gang Architects, officially marks its opening today (Feb. 5) with a ribbon cutting ceremony hosted by Columbia College Chicago President Warrick L. Carter, Ph.D. and Board Chairman Allen M. Turner with Mayor Richard M. Daley. The building opened to students for the start of spring semester classes on Monday, Jan. 25.
“This hands-on facility will allow Columbia College to completely change how filmmaking and other communications arts are taught,” said Dr. Carter. “Our faculty collaborated closely with the amazing team at Studio Gang to design the Media Production Center. From the outset, the goal was to provide a 21st century professional experience for our 4,200 School of Media Arts students to replicate the environment they’ll encounter in the working world.”
The MPC experience also provides for enhanced collaboration among media arts students and faculty in a variety of disciplines, with many production classes now under one roof.
“We didn’t just build a soundstage, we built an integrated curriculum encouraging interaction and collaboration between students across disciplines and departments, including Film & Video, Interactive Arts and Media, and Television,” said Doreen Bartoni, dean, School of Media Arts. “In this new age of film, video and television, segments of the industry are increasingly sharing skills and crossing boundaries - consider films like Avatar, combining both computer animation and live action footage.”
“This is our first building developed from the ground up, and we’re certainly pleased to have it come in under budget and on time – less than 12 months from our groundbreaking,” added Turner. “I’m also proud of how we were able to deliver our vision of this building as a breathtaking yet practical experience for faculty, staff and students that cannot be equaled by any other teaching facility in the world.”
The MPC was constructed for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification with a number of key sustainable design elements. They include a 50-percent green roof, radiant heating and cooling in the two soundstages, extensive use of windows for natural lighting throughout the building, and sets of lobby/mezzanine lighting fixtures that can progressively illuminate the lobby area as outdoor light decreases.
The 40,000-square-foot site, a vacant lot, was a “brown field” when it was sold to the college in 2008 by the City of Chicago specifically to build the MPC and help enhance the emerging neighborhood.
“I’ve witnessed the transformation of this formerly contaminated plot of land into an architecturally significant, environmentally sustainable building that is a welcome addition to the revitalization of this area. Already, activity generated with classes in this building is increasing patronage to local businesses,” said Third Ward Alderman Pat Dowell.
“It has been truly remarkable watching the MPC come into fruition. The quality and style of films and media we create are now limited solely by our dreams,” said senior film student Michael Lencioni, Columbia Student Government Association executive officer and student representative to the Board of Trustees.
Highlights of the Media Production Center (MPC) include:
• Two professional soundstages (7,300 square feet and 2,200 square feet) will allow for Film & Video students to experience the culture of high-end studio film production both by observation from soundstage bleachers and eventually by hands-on participation
• A 2,000-square-foot Motion Capture Studio for the creation of 2D and 3D film and gaming will allow students to better understand and visualize human movement using sophisticated 12-camera motion capture technology at professional industry standards. The Motion Capture Studio was designed to integrate state-of-the-art learning technologies with the study of 3D computer animation, digital filmmaking and game arts.
• An animation lab, a high-tech set of classrooms, provides students with industry-leading technology for development of computer-aided design and animation
• Four “wired” classrooms with fiber optic technology to link the soundstages and Motion Capture Studio to classes, including the camera-eye-view, so that students can learn from the processes being conducted elsewhere in the facility in real time
• A fully equipped, 2,000-square-foot Production Shop with loading dock for the design, construction and delivery of set pieces
• A docking area for the college’s two-year-old High Definition Media Production Truck that connects to internal cabling to enable live feeds from the facility with professional and student operators
• An 11-by-13-foot LED screen, suspended in the lobby, comprises seven adjustable 9-foot-high LED panels that can operate seamlessly as one screen or independently and can rotate 180 degrees for film and video viewing
• The 25-foot–tall terra cotta Lasky Arch, an artifact from the now-demolished, nearby office of the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, the parent company of Paramount Pictures formed in 1916 by Adolph Zukor. It uniquely honors Chicago’s important role in early film industry
Columbia College Chicago is an urban institution that provides innovative degree programs in the visual, performing, media and communication arts to more than 12,000 students in over 120 undergraduate and graduate programs. A college with a “hands-on minds-on” approach to arts and media education, Columbia College Chicago’s programs include film & video, art & design, arts management, television, radio, music, interactive multimedia – all within a liberal arts context. Under the current leadership of President Warrick L. Carter, Ph.D., Columbia is dedicated to opportunity and excellence in higher education. For further information visit www.colum.edu.
Contacts:
Steve Kauffman
Columbia College Chicago
312.369.7383
skauffman@colum.edu
Beth Silverman
The Silverman Group, Inc.
312.932.9950
beth@silvermangroupchicago.com