Wisconsin Union Initiative
Planning Principles
1. The buildings are people magnets.
The Union is the heart and soul of our great University: our reason for existing is to help make the people of this campus and their ideas available to each other. Here they can nurture interpersonal connections that will enhance the clarity with which they see other people, their studies, their work and the difference they need to make in our world. Together we come to see ourselves as the “we” who enact The Wisconsin Idea. Our programs and buildings must be strong tools for drawing together the broadest spectrum of people, and allowing them to nurture more, deeper and broader friendships. Our role is to provide the common ground to which all are invited, the shared home in which we can each leave our status at the door and enjoy each other as human beings.
2. The buildings advance programming.
The Wisconsin Union’s storied tradition of hosting a wide and innovative array of programming activities has been absolutely central to our success as a “people magnet.” By programming everything from classical music to Malaysian stilt-walkers; from fire-breathing dancers to stained glass making classes; from gallery exhibitions of visiting artists’ work to rotating displays of works from our own permanent collection throughout our facilities; and from bluegrass bands to spoken word performances, students continually breathe life into the soul that is the Union.
Our student-run programming not only draws people to the Union, it is indispensable for creating a vital, alive ambiance within the Union. The fact that students are making the decisions keeps our offerings relevant and fresh, while giving the students unparalleled planning experience. Because our students have many competing demands on their time, our formal, informal, back-of-house, and outdoor spaces as well as way-finding strategies should ease program planning and presentation for students as much as possible. Audience management, event promotion, and program implementation issues should all be taken into account as spaces are designed, finished and furnished.
Programming is what makes the Wisconsin Union distinct from every other “community center” on campus. These facilities, in addition to providing for the daily life of users including students, faculty, staff and union members, must continue to provide an unparalleled variety of social, cultural, recreational, and educational programs for their members.
3. The architecture is timeless and enduring.
The architecture of the new building should feel significant, conveying a sense of civic gravitas while at the same time offering a warm, welcoming atmosphere. Both buildings should exude style and presence while avoiding fashion and trendiness. “Lasting” and “high quality” should describe the visual image. The new building should feel more monumental than its neighbors, as it is a civic space which symbolizes our unity and which exists to draw us all together.
4. The building process and materials are “Green” and the future operations are sustainable.
This project seeks a LEED rating, as defined by the U.S. Green Building Council. A “Silver” rating is our minimum standard, but a “Gold” or even “Platinum” rating is within the realm of possibility. Everything about the design, materials and operations should push our thinking past anything we currently do.
The building design and operation will emphasize local materials. Whenever building materials (whether new or salvaged) or operational supplies are from Wisconsin, we will strive to highlight the fact. The building design will also serve to keep us and our public aware of our efforts at sustainability. Public interfaces with our sustainability efforts will be dynamic, allowing our efforts to grow over time as technology and strategies for sustainability mature. Both buildings will model best practices in sustainability and provide an interactive place for building users to learn ways to make their own lives more sustainable.
We will use sustainable materials and techniques that have a proven track record, and we will ensure that our facilities will be adaptable over the long term by accommodating future technological changes. We strive to be on the “leading edge, not the bleeding edge” of innovation for sustainability. While based on this solid foundation, our efforts should always be pushing us and our public further in the direction of sustainability. The new south campus union building is ideally situated amongst disciplines that can help us push this envelope over time, so the facility should accommodate such collaborations in the future. There should be a sense that this is an “out of class lab” for sustainable living.
5. The facilities are student focused, but welcoming of all.
By ensuring that students are always front and center in our governance structure, and in our decisions, the Wisconsin Union remains relevant to the needs and wants of current students, year after year. Relevance to students is what makes the Wisconsin Union a draw, and a powerful engine for building community on our campus.
Since our Union was formed, students have always welcomed the rest of the campus community, including faculty and staff into this shared home or clubhouse. Our longstanding status as a membership organization speaks to the importance we place on welcoming in the broader community, to both partake of and add to the vitality of our interactions.
Though our primary focus should be on delighting students, the delight should ripple out, affecting anyone who enters the premises, from children to the elderly, from people born on Wisconsin dairy farms to those from urban centers in the US and around the world.
6. Each building builds community for the entire campus, while reflecting the interests and serving the needs of its local area.
The complementary nature of the new building will ensure that people from all around campus will be drawn to it, to socialize and reinforce our sense of “we” as a campus. At the same time, each facility should reflect and highlight the talents and daily concerns of the users in its immediate neighborhood. Our goal is to include elements that will engage these neighbors while also drawing in and interesting a broader public.
7. The buildings are complementary to each other, without being supplementary.
The new south campus union is intended to serve the same mission as Memorial Union; it is neither a satellite, nor a mere service branch. The new building should provide things that are not available in Memorial, and vice versa. While there will inevitably be some redundancy (like coffee houses), there should be an even distribution of the most significant “draws.” In order to free up more space at Memorial, some functions may be fully transferred to the new building. Significant creative effort should be made to portray both facilities as two equal parts of the same whole.
8. The buildings tell our story.
The Wisconsin Union’s reputation for setting trends as well as standards among college unions, world-wide, is no accident. Aside from being one of the first unions to be established on a college campus in the United States, the Wisconsin Union emerged out of the same context and at the same time as The Wisconsin Idea. The history of the Union is braided together with the history of the University and the history of the State of Wisconsin. The building and grounds will include ways to tell this shared story, and help people know how they fit into it. The design process itself should help tell the story of this rich legacy as well.
Preserving the Past, Building the Future
Memorial Union 800 Langdon St., Madison, WI 53706, 608-262-0234
Union South 227 N. Randall Ave., Madison, WI 53709, 608-262-0234
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