The University of Applied Arts addition designed by Asymptote melds the rich architectural history of the school's urban surroundings with the dynamic and diverse program of a contemporary European art and design school. The design strategy for expanding and updating the school's U-shaped complex of buildings consists of placing a new slab-like building in the existing central open space that the school now utilizes as a public realm. This insertion thereby creates not only much needed studio space and the like, it also performs as a new façade and presence for the east wing of the building.