Sheltered within the quadrangles of Neo-Gothic buildings for which Yale University is famous is a collection of lushly appointed garden courtyards, from the grand to the intimate, that also have put their indelible stamp on the school’s legacy. But, until recently, one ugly stepchild on the New Haven, Connecticut, campus lurked in the shadows, largely ignored: a windswept, concrete-paved crevice. Now this space has been transformed, with the arrival of a diminutive elliptical innovation hub designed by New York–based Weiss/Manfredi Architecture/Landscape/Urbanism that invigorates its dreary surroundings with its rippling glass facade and a spirit of optimism.