An open design to encourage collaboration and creativity anchors state-of-the-art plans for the Donald P. Bellisario Media Center, set to open in the heart of Penn State’s University Park campus in 2020.

A glimpse into the center’s combination of studios, labs and creative spaces was unveiled to alumni and students at an event for the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications on Sunday.

The media center is part of the transformational gift to Penn State by Distinguished Alumnus Bellisario and his wife, Vivienne, in 2017. The center, to be housed in Willard Building, will be home to classes and college media operations starting in the 2020-21 academic year.

“This center will allow us to prepare the next great generation of digital storytellers, creative thinkers and strategic communicators,” said Dean Marie Hardin. “We expect it to be a magnet for students and faculty in a high-energy environment.”

The University Board of Trustees approved Studios Architecture of Washington, D.C., as architect for the project in September 2017. Studios, along with Bellisario College and Penn State administrators, faculty and staff are involved in the design of forward-looking spaces for learning, research and innovation. The completed media center will occupy three floors of the building, which was constructed in 1949.

Many Bellisario College students have already benefited from the Bellisarios’ gift in the form of scholarships, and the Bellisario College announced its first faculty appointment as a result of their gift last week.

Hardin provided an update about the project and shared the “fly-through video” during the Bellisario College’s annual Recognition Dinner at the Nittany Lion Inn.