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The building\u2019s precast concrete fa\u00e7ade with shades of green glass is metaphoric for the transparent view Penn is hoping to give the world into its culture of innovation, and its use of sustainable materials is angling for LEED Silver.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a lot for Wharton alumni and future students to celebrate. For starters, the cutting-edge facilities \u2013 slated for completion in 2020 \u2013 include incubator and maker spaces, a test kitchen\u00a0for food-centric startups and a virtual reality environment. Beyond consolidating the university\u2019s entrepreneurship programs and activities, the 68,000-square foot space will house programs across a range of fields, as well as the Venture Lab<\/a><\/u>,\u00a0where students from across Penn\u2019s 12 schools collaborate on developing sustainable startups.<\/p>\n From my vantage as Wharton\u2019s former acting head of MBA Admissions, Tangen Hall offers further evidence of the exciting ways the business school continues to evolve beyond its roots in finance to also drive entrepreneurial innovation. For many years, Wharton was known as \u201cthe finance school\u201d where students who were eager to go (or return) to Wall Street received their bona fides and entered investment banking, hedge funds and private equity shops. While there\u2019s certainly no shortage of students with those aspirations (nearly 37 percent of grads entered finance last year), Wharton has been positioning itself as a hub of entrepreneurship determined to dedicate both academic and support services to student-driven ventures.<\/p>\n Wharton\u2019s success in incubating industry disruptors prompted\u00a0Inc. magazine to dub the school\u00a0<\/a>\u201cthe spiritual center of the DTC [direct to consumer] startup movement.\u201d Writes Inc., \u201cWharton is by no means the only place such companies originate, but it is the most fertile ground \u2013 a fact that’s not lost on venture capitalists.\u201d Some 34 of last year\u2019s 814 grads started their own business (or were self-employed), hoping to follow in the footsteps of legendary Wharton-grad-led ventures including Warby Parker (most recently valued at $1.75 billion), MeUndies (9 million pairs and counting) and Burrow (boasting $3 million in sales in its first year).<\/p>\n \u201cTangen Hall is a real game changer for Penn,\u201d said Penn\u2019s President Amy Gutmann. \u201cWith it we are creating a signature space, which manifests the innovation at the heart of a Penn education and the exploration that touches on every aspect of the Penn experience.\u201d<\/p>\n Last year, Kellogg Northwestern\u00a0<\/strong>unveiled \u201cThe Global Hub,\u201d a striking, 415,000-square foot flagship building that achieved LEED Platinum certification. Its debut was heralded as \u201ca new era\u201d for the school, realized by its $330 million \u201cTransforming Together\u201d fundraising effort that typified Kellogg\u2019s self-described \u201clegacy as a pioneer.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhen buildings and their interiors are thoughtfully constructed, they reflect a community\u2019s values and beliefs,\u201d wrote Kellogg\u2019s Sally Blount on why physical architecture still matters<\/a>. \u201cAt a fundamental level, we believe that certain kinds of human knowledge creation will always happen best within co-located, mission-focused communities.\u201d<\/p>\n Blount\u2019s words echo the sentiments of Stanford University President John Hennessy when he commemorated the debut of Stanford GSB<\/strong>\u2019s Knight Management Center, an eight-building, 360,000-square-foot complex that also achieved LEED platinum for is sustainable design. \u201cIt’s a virtual world, but it is face-to-face interactions \u2013 often that happen in serendipitous fashion \u2013that are still critical to the way much of great innovation takes place,\u201d said Hennessy. \u201cWe can’t predict the most interesting new ideas that will be born at the Graduate School of Business, but they will be created there.\u201d On its website, the GSB describes the $345 million facility as \u201ca central element in the school\u2019s forward vision for management education in the 21st century.\u201d<\/p>\n Yale SOM<\/strong>\u2019s futuristic edition, a 240,000 square foot glass and steel marvel with undulating curves, that was featured in Architect magazine<\/a>and lauded as symbolic of the school\u2019s integrated global identity.<\/p>\n Columbia\u2019s\u00a0<\/strong>highly anticipated new complex \u2013 more than 15 years in the making \u2013 is projected to open for classes in 2022. When it does, it promises to be a game-changer for CBS, occupying some 492,000 square feet across two buildings situated between a 40,000-square-foot open area to be known as The Square.<\/p>\n The bar is high for any top b-school following suit, as any landmark campus creation has the potential to represent the highest expression of a school\u2019s identity, while passing muster with LEED certification and architectural distinction.<\/p>\n When Wharton unveils its building in 2020, it will make a bold statement about how it sees itself in today\u2019s MBA education. While it is certain that students with Wall Street aspirations will continue to apply in droves \u2013 as they have since Wharton\u2019s founding \u2013 campus wide, collaborative entrepreneurship is reshaping the firmament of academic and professional opportunities.<\/p>\nThis notion of creating a \u201csignature space\u201d that embodies an institution\u2019s defining attributes and aspirations is also emblematic of a top business school trend towards landmark campus buildings.<\/h3>\n