Arizona State University

Media & Immersive eXperience Center

Arizona State University

Media & Immersive eXperience Center

The ASU MIX Center is the anchor to a budding Innovation District in Downtown Mesa. The three-story, 118,000 square-foot mixed-use academic and community building houses programs in media arts, film production, and entrepreneurial development.

More than a university building, it is a timely project exemplifying the power of public education to spark economic vitality and human connection through the celebration of storytelling. Since opening, it’s one of Mesa’s most populated public places - throughout the year, day and night.

Overview

Within an existing mid-century campus, the building nestles in to create shaded walkways, with reflective, insulating terracotta panels - housing spaces of contrast: light/dark, solid/void, quiet/loud, with flexible, socially inclusive spaces connected to open-air paths for public use. The theater volume greets visitors from the west, revealing the ‘presenting’ program; the long, porous volume to the east contains the ‘making’ program with studios and workshops; while the public-facing ‘celebrating’ program provides a high density display facing the park for free sharing of cinematographic work created within; while sourcing renewable energy, retention through bioswales, shade trees and a new city park.
Site

Previously an asphalt parking lot, The MIX Center is a prime example of how sustainable transformations can elevate our experience of the built environment. Exposure to heat and sunlight are by far the most impactful elements of the Arizona climate. Large shade trees, native plantings, a new flexible shade structure, generous overhangs at the building entrance, and the accessible open-air lobby ensure travel through the site without exposure to harsh elements for too long. Native vegetation has been restored after decades as a heat island with new pathways forged to take visitors through and above naturally filtering bioswales, retention zones and landscaping, offering unique experiences of the environment from every point arrival to the site. Over the course of the building's life and as future developments at the complex take place, the MIX Center and Plaza will remain as the precedent for eco-friendly site design in the downtown core.
Program

Fine arts and technical programs utilize augmented reality, virtual reality and 3D modeling and visualization to teach and develop technology and design tools with the potential to impact industries as diverse as healthcare, aerospace, manufacturing, and entertainment. The building contains 51,000 SF of fabrication labs, ideation spaces, art studios, film studios, immersive environments & maker spaces balanced with highly technical environments focused on human-centric collaboration, featuring indoor-outdoor gathering spaces and two state of the art screening theatres.
Impact

The project sets a precedent for future Intergovernmental Agreements between public institutions, where multiple priorities are harmonized to create sustainable and transformative mixed-use developments. After just two years of operation, ASU, the City of Mesa, + private developers are poised to build upon the MIX Center’s success, with new projects under review, and a previously cautious populace ready to continue the momentum and keep moving the vision forward.
Location
Mesa, Arizona
Project Owner
City of Mesa
Building Tenant / User Group
Arizona State University
Construction Budget
$63.5m
Project Size
118,000 square feet
Completion
April 2022
Co-Design Architect
Bohlin Cywinski Jackson
Landscape Architecture
Colwell Shelor
Construction Manager at Risk
DPR Construction
Civil Engineer
Dibble Engineering
AV / IT / Acoustics
NV5 Technology & Design
M.E.P. + Structural Engineering
Arup
Photography
Matthew Millman + Grey Shed Studio
AIA Arizona
Distinguished Architecture Award 2024

Goodwin Collaboration Award 2024
Arizona Public Works Association
Project of the Year 2023
Engineering News Record Southwest
Best Project Award 2022