![](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2021/03/yale-university-center-for-innovative-thinking-weiss-manfredi-architecture-usa-_dezeen_2364_hero-c-852x479.jpg)
Weiss/Manfredi wraps Yale University study centre in curved glass walls
The Yale University Center for Innovative Thinking by architecture studio Weiss/Manfredi is an elliptical glass pavilion for students on the New Haven campus.
New York City-based Weiss/Manfredi designed the two-storey pavilion to stand out from the brutalist and gothic-style buildings of the historic Yale University.
![The Yale University Center for Innovative Thinking on the New Haven Campus](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2021/03/yale-university-center-for-innovative-thinking-weiss-manfredi-architecture-usa-_dezeen_2364_col_11-852x1281.jpg)
The pavilion was built on top of an existing laboratory in a plaza surrounded by the Becton Center, Dunham Labs and the Sheffield Sterling Strathcona Building.
Set near the middle of the courtyard it has a concrete base and slim steel columns around the perimeter.
![Exterior of Yale University Center for Innovative Thinking](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2021/03/yale-university-center-for-innovative-thinking-weiss-manfredi-architecture-usa-_dezeen_2364_col_13-852x568.jpg)
It is enclosed by glazed exterior walls, which are 22-feet high (6.7 metres) and have a gentle rippling shape.
"The glass skin's reflective and transparent quality allows the pavilion to act as a chameleon, mirroring the surroundings and campus activity by day and creating a destination imbued with luminosity at night," said Weiss/Manfredi.
Set in a shady corner of the campus, the glass pavilion has an automated curtain that can unfurl around the perimeter when required.
![Glass walls of Yale University Center for Innovative Thinking](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2021/03/yale-university-center-for-innovative-thinking-weiss-manfredi-architecture-usa-_dezeen_2364_col_2-852x1278.jpg)
Open 24 hours a day, the pavilion was designed to be a "collective living room" for Yale students.
"The centre will bring together students from diverse disciplines to generate innovative solutions to real-world problems," explained the studio.
"The program, unique to the university, is based around team workshops and courses that allow students to bring their ideas to fruition."
![Interiors of student centre by Weiss/Manfredi](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2021/03/yale-university-center-for-innovative-thinking-weiss-manfredi-architecture-usa-_dezeen_2364_col_12-852x568.jpg)
Desks, chairs and whiteboards are all set on wheels so they can be rolled around the smooth tiled floor to create flexible workstations for collaborative work.
There are a couple of separate rooms for meetings and a conference room at one end of the building.
![Curtains shade glass walls of pavilion by Weiss/Manfredi](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2021/03/yale-university-center-for-innovative-thinking-weiss-manfredi-architecture-usa-_dezeen_2364_col_4-852x568.jpg)
A curving mezzanine that overlooks the lower floor is screened by more glass and contains comfy chairs so it can be used as a breakout space.
The pavilion has a green roof and the previously paved plaza surrounding it has been turned into a landscaped garden complete with storm retention tanks that collect runoff for watering the plants.
Weiss/Manfredi also renovated some of the laboratory spaces below the Yale University Center for Innovative Thinking as part of the project.
![Night time view of student centre by Weiss/Manfredi](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2021/03/yale-university-center-for-innovative-thinking-weiss-manfredi-architecture-usa-_dezeen_2364_col_8-852x995.jpg)
Also on the campus, Yale's student radio station has recently been revamped by architecture studio Forma, who used bright orange walls and floors to create an eye-popping studio.
Founded in 1989 by Marion Weiss and Michael Manfredi, Weiss/Manfredi's projects include a competition-winning plan to redevelop the La Brea Tar Pits and a brick and glass architecture school for Kent State University in Ohio.
Photography is Albert Vecerka.