The first building of a new $2 billion technology campus for Cornell University on Roosevelt Island won one of 12 international prizes at the 64th Progressive Architecture Awards, by Architect Magazine.

“It’s a complex structure that is really rich in space and light,” said prize juror Enrique Norten, principal with TEN Arquitectos. It is also rich in connections to the city around it. A central lobby aligns with 57th Street in Manhattan, across the East River from campus. A monumental staircase is oriented towards Queens, in the opposite direction.

Slated to open later this year, the Bloomberg Center is part of former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s 2011 initiative to make the city a global hub for technology development.

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