Dillard University International Center for Economic Freedom

In 2002 Dillard University, a historically black university with an important history of providing educational opportunities to disadvantaged students, commissioned Davis Brody Bond to design the International Center for Economic Freedom. In response to unprecedented growth, the University identified the need for a new academic building to accommodate its increase in faculty and course offerings, as well as provide a significant amount of support in the area of information technology. Complementing the scale of the older buildings on the campus, the project creates interior spaces that foster community and interaction, especially the kind of informal learning activity that characterizes student life. Special attention was given to lounge, waiting and open meeting spaces that also double as places to study and learn.