Penn State W1 receives a 2026 Chicago Athenaeum Award.
Suspended within Penn State’s College of Engineering West 1 Commons, the Hanging Classroom is an iconic element of the building.
This two-story, wood-clad structure houses two classrooms, each accommodating 80 students, while its sculptural underside creates a dynamic canopy above the Level 2 gathering space. It is sculpted into 63 unique acoustic/architectural coffers made from a bi-directional grid of orthogonal ribs.
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