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Northwestern University

Interior View: Economics in the Global Hub

exterior shot of the global hub in the evening

By Rebecca Lindell

For years, the Department of Economics shared the Donald P. Jacobs Center with the Kellogg School of Management — a proximity that was intentional. The collaboration between leading economists and top management scholars has driven groundbreaking research and helped to fuel the rise of both groups to prominence. So when the Kellogg School announced plans to build a gleaming new “global hub” on the Northwestern campus, it was only natural for the economics department to move there as well.

Since it opened in March, the new building has won critical praise for its revolutionary design. The sun-filled structure features not one but two atriums, one built atop the other; a grand “Collaboration Plaza” reminiscent of Rome’s Spanish Steps; and innumerable nooks for study and conversation. “Before, we were in a very linear building,” observes Professor of Instruction Ian Savage, a departmental liaison with the design team. “Now, you are constantly running into the people you want to meet. And you can see the lake throughout the day. It feels like a very happy, very collaborative sort of place.”

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