The Rubenstein Forum will be situated next to the Harris School of Public Policy’s future Keller Center and diagonally across the Midway Plaisance from Rockefeller Memorial Chapel.
Courtesy of Diller Scofidio + Renfro

The University of Chicago has updated the architectural design for the David M. Rubenstein Forum by New York-based firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

The building, which will be a center of intellectual exchange, scholarly collaboration and special events, will provide the University with much needed meeting spaces for workshops, symposia and lectures, among other activities. The building’s location, at the southeast corner of Woodlawn Avenue and 60th Street, affords views of the campus and the Midway Plaisance, the city skyline and Lake Michigan.

Rubenstein Forum 2
Southwest view of the Rubenstein Forum. The grounds to the south of the building will include a lighted bosque of trees and event space outdoors.
Courtesy of Diller Scofidio + Renfro

As before, the building is composed of a two-story base and an eight-story tower. The exterior has evolved over the last year to become a more uniform composition of zinc and glass, expressing the separate meeting “neighborhoods” that compose the tower. Those “neighborhoods” pair meeting rooms with informal shared spaces, and they can be configured according to users’ needs. The ground floor includes the main lobby and a restaurant, with stairs leading to the building’s largest multipurpose event space, capable of accommodating groups up to 600. Immediately above the base is a 285-seat auditorium. The top floor of the tower features a flat-floor multipurpose space, which can accommodate meetings of 75 and other events.

The Rubenstein Forum is named in honor of University Trustee and alumnus David M. Rubenstein, JD’73, co-founder and co-CEO of the Carlyle Group, in recognition of his ongoing generosity to the University.