Building an Inspiring Environment
As a center of knowledge, education and research devoted to the pursuit of excellence, Sorbonne University is also a place of personal and collective fulfilment for its students and professors. Top students are drawn to our educational offer, and we are devoted to modernizing our establishment thanks to investments that constantly favor educational innovation. We are the renewal.
Renovation of the Institute of Hispanic Studies
The Institute of Hispanic Studies (IEH), located at 31 rue Gay Lussac, is one of the 16 historic Ile-de-France buildings of the Sorbonne. Built in 1929 and later built even higher in the early 1960s, the IEH has an area of 1,760 square meters over six floors. Today it is an aging building that requires renovation to become truly a “landmark,” for excellence in learning and teaching. The architectural project will rethink the functional and technical aspects of the site, but also, and above all, bring out the historic value of the institute and make it a place of prestige and a genuine communication tool (permanent exhibitions, lectures, international events …).
To support the renovation of the Institute of Hispanic Studies and to find out more, follow the dedicated blog
The Great Learning Library, at the heart of the Pierre & Marie Curie Campus
By fostering the sharing of ideas and practices, the University Library is organized according to a wide variety of potential uses. Built on the “learning center” model, wholly integrated with the academic programs as well as interdisciplinary, this site symbolizes the implementation of a new pedagogy. In its 3,500 square meters, it disposes of 700 seats in the reading room, 26 individual rooms, 26 group rooms (2-6 people), 150 desktop and laptop computers, an innovative classroom equipped with movable furniture and interactive multimedia tools, a pedagogical space dedicated to work meetings, classes, or student-teacher meetings. Through its transversal nature, it offers all Sorbonne University’s students a modern, convivial place to work in a variety of ways.
The perspective of Anne-Catherine Fritzinger, Sorbonne University’s Director of Libraries
A veritable beacon on the Sorbonne University campus, the University Library constitutes a remarkable illustration of how a tool that is well-planned and supported by donors can contribute to the success of those who make use of it. As Anne-Catherine Fritzinger emphasizes, “Since the library’s conception, we’ve been guided by the ambition of offering a vast number of services, and work spaces in tune with the diverse needs of students and professors.” Its creation has been supported particularly by a donation from a Sorbonne University alumni that emphasizes the inter-generational dimension at the heart of the library’s mission. Extensive and stimulating, designed for studying, documentary research, and individual or group work, the space overcomes the problems of traditional libraries linked to a conflict between the various uses. Here they are side by side, respecting and complementing one another in a space enhanced by undeniable architectural qualities in terms of aesthetics, light, and acoustics. “The new connected, interactive methods of working are at the heart of this project,” underlines Fritzinger, for whom the importance of the library stretches far beyond Sorbonne University: “In order to continue to stand out, it must continue to integrate new services, tools, spaces, furnishings, restauration projects, exhibitions … for which donations are essential.”
