When the University of Oregon commissioned Portland-based Office 52 Architecture to design a modern new academic center for its campus in Eugene, firm principals Michelle LaFoe and Isaac Campbell recommended integrating an ancient material into its facade: terracotta. It was their strategy for providing a historically sympathetic design that also features a contemporary aesthetic.

“We walked around the campus and saw a lot of brick facades with terracotta embellishments. So there was already a rich history of using terracotta here,” LaFoe says.