The British company that designed what it calls the "largest single building on the planet," the Beijing Capital International Airport, now wants to create a new building for midtown Baltimore.
So does the French architect of the world's largest library.
And the American-based designer of two of the world's tallest buildings.
They are among more than a dozen teams that have expressed interest in designing the $107 million John and Frances Angelos Law Center that the University of Baltimore plans to build at the northeast corner of Charles Street and Mount Royal Avenue.
University officials have said they want a "signature" building to house the law center, for which Orioles majority owner and UB School of Law alumnus Peter G. Angelos has pledged $5 million, the largest private gift in the university's history.
The Abell Foundation offered to provide $150,000 so the university can launch an international design competition to select an architect.
In response, more than a dozen teams have shown interest in participating, including some of the world's leading practitioners.
These aren't designers known for producing safe, traditional buildings. They are the stars of their profession, who work with bold forms, elegant materials and cutting-edge technology to create glassy, light-filled structures that grace the covers of architectural magazines and set examples for others around the world.
Representatives for the teams say they responded to the university's offering because the law center represents the sort of design challenge they like to tackle. They note that it is a sizable building with an intriguing mix of spaces, that it will occupy a highly visible site marking a gateway to the city, that it has a fairly substantial budget (more than $400 per square foot), and that it has a client that wants world-class architecture.
"The facility's purpose, scope and location call for the creation of an iconic, forward-looking building, one that will come to define the University and mid-town Baltimore," university President Robert Bogomolny wrote in a message to prospective designers.
"Free of any limiting or defining architectural context, and on a location that will be viewed from all sides, the building's impact cannot be maximized by traditional approaches."
