Ten years after
the completion of this building on London's
Holloway Road, the architect returned to the
university to give a public lecture in the
Graduate Centre. On that occasion Dean
of Architecture and Spatial Design, Prof.
Robert Mull, shared a joke about an incident
during the building works when a member of
public called the police to report a “building
collapsing on Holloway Road. It took
a little explaining to convince them that
it was just the design which represents
the constellation of Orion”, he
said. Today the university regards
Libeskind's creation as, "... very much
a jewel in London Met's crown and without
a doubt the most iconic landmark on
Holloway Road."
Libeskind's website explains that the
building is, "... Composed of three
intersecting volumes, .....
.... clad with
embossed stainless steel panels for a
shining and ever-changing surface, ....
... the Graduate Center houses a
lecture theater, seminar rooms, staff
offices and a café for the university’s
graduate students. The interiors are
filled with natural light by way of
large windows of geometrical cuts and
slashes. The Centre serves not only as a
facility to enhance the staff and
student experience, but acts as a major
gateway to the University on Holloway
Road."
In February of 2004 Jonathan Glancey,
writing in the Guardian, said of the
building that, “At £3m all in, this
is not an expensive building. What it
has that distinguishes it from what a
client might ordinarily expect for that
money is great presence… When you visit
the area, you immediately realise that
Libeskind’s explosive building acts not
only as a junction box for the
university but as a landmark for the
entire street."
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