The new building for RMIT's Faculty of Art, Design and Communication explores the expressive characteristics of student's academic activities and the industrial processes of the printing industry. The two ends of the building (the north and south elevations) are stated as cut ends with all of the characteristics of the interior revealed as if sliced to a required length. Structure, building fabric, mechanical and electrical elements, furniture and clear space are all expressed in cross section profile to form patterns that characterize these elevations. Frameless curtain walls cap these ends to provide a transparency unencumbered by framing structure to create a free association between the static and live elements of the interior and the space beyond. The two longitudinal elevations are in contrast

with repeated structure and fabric set as a sheer constant extruded surface expressive of the industrial artefact. Along the west elevation massive concrete columns are set within an uninterrupted low level glazed curtain wall exposing to view the systems and printing machinery of the training workshops. Repeated concrete precast panels suspended over provide a reference to the exacting requirements of image registration in many of the printing processes and relate this to the architectural relationship between alignment of building fabric over a structural grid. The jointing that is repeated between each precast panel provides an interlocking shape suggestive of a finely detailed mortice. To the East a sheer two storey wall of inclined glazing provides complete vision of student activity within.