Photo © James Ewing
Designed by architect Roger Duffy, a principal at Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, the University Center is a high-design take on an urban student union—an airy, glass-and-steel structure dominated by huge windows and a wide central staircase. On a recent weekday afternoon at the building, cadres of artfully disheveled young students were passing the time together, talking trade and admiring the Manhattan views.