The Rochester Institute of Technology Dubai’s futuristic innovation centre has been named among the 10 quirkiest college campus designs in the world by US magazine Newsweek.
The innovation lab was designed to resemble the core of a quantum microchip.
Built with an overarching theme of interactive learning, the RIT's Dubai Silicon Oasis campus was conceptualised as a bitboard, with the innovation centre representing the glass piece that makes the whole grid operational.
It is intended to act as a magnet to attract and connect the different functions of the university in a central space.
The building, which is the centrepiece of the university’s new campus in Dubai Silicon Oasis, has been recognised alongside campuses around the globe for its creative design.
The innovation centre can accommodate about 200 people and has a project development, analysis and testing space.
The centre acts as the base for the university’s research initiatives involving robotics and autonomous vehicles. It also hosts local technology companies.
The president of RIT Dubai, Dr Yousef Al Assaf, said: “The campus is built on four pillars ― innovation, smartness, sustainability and connectivity ― and we needed a signature building with a unique design to help connect these principles.
"The Innovation Centre has been positioned at the heart of the campus such that all our activities rotate around innovation and this is demonstrated to visitors through the unique building design.
“No matter where they are on campus, all students, faculty, and industry partners are constantly rotating around the Innovation Centre, making it the focal point for all of our operations, underpinned by sustainability, which is embedded in our fabric as RIT.”
Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, opened the Innovation Centre in November 2021.
