The Westgate Building, formerly known as the Information Sciences and Technology Building (commonly known as the ''IST Building'') is a classroom building at

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

. Construction was completed in January 2004. With at least 13 doors, and no main entrance, it has only recently been assigned a street address, 288 N. Burrowes Rd., University Park, PA 16802.

History and architectural features

This building was designed by the acclaimed architect

Rafael Vinoly Rafael may refer to: * Rafael (given name) or Raphael, a name of Hebrew origin * Rafael, California Fiction * ''Rafael'' (TV series), a Mexican telenovela * ''Rafaël'' (film), a 2018 Dutch film People * Rafael (footballer, born 1978) ( ...

. According to the Penn State IST website, the design of the building "began as an inkpen sketch on a paper dinner napkin." He characterizes the building as "a labor of love . . . my own personal obsession for years", stating that, in the beginning, it seemed "crazy and extreme" to construct an S-shaped building over North Atherton Street. According to the Penn State IST Website, "His firm, Rafael Vinoly Architects,

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, partnered with Perfido Weiskopf Architects,

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, for the design inspired by the

Ponte Vecchio The Ponte Vecchio (; "Old Bridge") is a medieval stone closed-spandrel segmental arch bridge over the Arno, in Florence, Italy. The only bridge in Florence spared from destruction during World War II, it is noted for the shops built along it; ...

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." Despite its name, this building currently is the home of both the Pennsylvania State University

Computer Science and Engineering Computer science and engineering (CSE) is an academic subject comprising approaches of computer science and computer engineering. There is no clear division in computing between science and engineering, just like in the field of materials science ...

Department, in addition to the College of IST. In order to "better represent the building’s many uses", the building was renamed the Westgate Building in 2017.

References

Penn State Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Engineering DepartmentPenn State College of Information Sciences and Technology
;Notes {{coord, 40.79370, -77.86836, type:landmark, display=title Pennsylvania State University