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Sou Fujimoto unveils designs for Swiss university centre made of stacked cubes
Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto has designed a learning centre for the University of St Gallen in Switzerland, which will comprise a stack of glass cubes held within white frames.
The Tokyo and Paris-based studio led by Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto won a contest to design the HSG Learning Center at the University of St Gallen with its proposal called Open Grid – Choices of Tomorrow.
![HSG by Sou Fujimoto](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2018/03/hsg-learning-center-switzerland-sou-fujimoto-architecture-news_dezeen_2364_col_7-852x525.jpg)
The cubes will vary in height from 3.5 metres to 18.5 metres, a design intended to help the centre stand out on the campus without it looking too out of place for the residential area it is located in.
![HSG by Sou Fujimoto](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2018/03/hsg-learning-center-switzerland-sou-fujimoto-architecture-news_dezeen_2364_col_6-852x852.jpg)
The stacked-block formation of the design prompted comments about the similarity to BIG's recently completed headquarters for Lego when Fujimoto posted the images on Instagram.
![HSG by Sou Fujimoto](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2018/03/hsg-learning-center-switzerland-sou-fujimoto-architecture-news_dezeen_2364_col_4-852x1136.jpg)
Some of the lower rooftops are to be planted with trees and greenery to provide outdoor terraces and green roofs. Renders show the cubes will be formed from a framework of white metal beams that is signature of Sou Fujimoto's style.
The architect also used a grid of white steel poles for the Serpentine Pavilion he was commissioned to design in 2013.
![HSG by Sou Fujimoto](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2018/03/hsg-learning-center-switzerland-sou-fujimoto-architecture-news_dezeen_2364_col_13-852x533.jpg)
For another university facility project, this time in Paris, Fujimoto's competition-winning design featured trees growing in and around a structure of white beams and glazing.
![HSG by Sou Fujimoto](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2018/03/hsg-learning-center-switzerland-sou-fujimoto-architecture-news_dezeen_2364_col_1-852x473.jpg)
Both the facade and interior walls of the Open Grid will be made almost entirely of floor-to-ceiling glass.
The internal glass dividers can be rearranged, to allow the room sizes, shapes and layouts to shift to accommodate the changing needs of the students and teachers.
![HSG by Sou Fujimoto](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2018/03/hsg-learning-center-switzerland-sou-fujimoto-architecture-news_dezeen_2364_col_3-852x473.jpg)
The university has commissioned the learning centre to provide a space to facilitate learning resources that will help students "face the challenges of digitalisation".
According to university, the 16-member jury chose the Open Grid proposal for its "highly developed didactic concept [and] architectural ambition", as well its affordability.
![HSG by Sou Fujimoto](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2018/03/hsg-learning-center-switzerland-sou-fujimoto-architecture-news_dezeen_2364_col_2-852x473.jpg)
Prestigious donors have already pledged 40 million Swiss francs (£30.8 million) for its realisation. The projected costs are estimated to be up to 50 million francs (£38.5 million), plus another 10 million francs will be needed to run the learning centre once it's completed.
Construction is scheduled to begin in 2019, with a goal completion date for the "urgently needed" building set before the start of the 2022 spring semester.
Sou Fujiomto is one of the architects involved in the design of the €275 million Joia Meìridia development in Nice, France. His design for a residential tower was ringed with undulated canopies and planted balconies. For a new residential project in Brussels he has designed a tower complex with a swooping facade covered in tree-lined balconies.