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Architects: Perkins&Will
- Area: 192000 ft²
- Year: 2024
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Photographs:Todd Mason, Lincoln Barbour
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Manufacturers: Autex, Avenere Cladding, Ardex
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Lead Architects: Carl Knutson, Renee Rodriguez, Tom Butcavage, Katie Janson
Text description provided by the architects. Bowie State University's Martin Luther King, Jr. Center equips Maryland's oldest HBCU with learning environments and courses of study that provide arts and humanities students with a technologically advanced learning experience. The design and programming of the Center is a testament to the power of voice, encouraging student self-expression and fostering a collaborative environment for learning and creativity, setting the stage upon which students are "empowered to speak" and "destined to soar."
Serving as both an academic hub and a campus gateway, the facility offers specialized learning environments across diverse fields of study, including history, language, literature, communications, performing arts, and media studies. Specialty learning environments include recording studios, professional radio and TV broadcast studios, video editing rooms, a GIS lab, a resource library, tech-equipped multi-media classrooms, a flexible auditorium and event space, an outdoor amphitheater, and more.
With a focus on visibility, connectivity, and storytelling, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center is an inclusive, welcoming space. An iconic vocal waveform façade on the auditorium, its design inspired by the sound wave pattern of Dr. King's Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech from 1964, is strategically placed as a gateway between the Bowie train station and the campus. Glass façades on the north and south faces of the building convey openness. The South entrance welcomes students and visitors, providing a reception space—or "Inflection"—to connect before and after events in the auditorium.
The Historical Legacy Corridor, a connecting hallway on the ground floor, features mixed-media artwork highlighting the skills essential to succeed in academic life: Exploring Culture, Thinking Critically, Organizing Change, Speaking Publicly, Reading to Connect, and Analyzing Mindfully. Each panel uniquely pairs an academic skill with notable events in African American and campus history to create a non-linear heritage timeline intended to spark new ways of thinking, depicted through photography, written word, color, and graphic elements.
In a poignant tribute to service and sacrifice, the north "Inflection" space of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center features a memorial to Lt. Richard Collins III, a Reserve Officer Training Corp (ROTC) candidate at BSU whose life was tragically cut short in a hate crime. Etched into felt panels, Lt. Collins' image stands as a lasting reminder of the importance of unity, resilience, and remembrance in the face of adversity. An inscription nearby encourages students to "Serve with honor. Live with purpose." An additional tribute wall in the South Entrance atrium honors the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, whose influence is felt throughout space.
