The ASU Media & Immersive eXperience [MIX] Center is the anchor to a new Innovation District in Downtown Mesa, Arizona. The three-story, 118,000 square-foot mixed-use academic and community building houses programs in media arts, film production, and entrepreneurial development.
The choreography of light, sound, and movement inform the building’s compact appearance. A terracotta skin wraps sensitive theaters, sound stages, and recording suites in a protective, acoustically and thermally insulated shell, turning inward where darkness and quiet are required. In contrast, the building opens broadly to its civic context at the main entry breezeway to reveal light-filled public spaces that invite every day use.
More than a university building, this project exemplifies the power of public education to spark economic vitality and human connection through the power of storytelling. Since opening, it is Mesa’s most populated public place throughout the year, day and night.
Fostering Innovation in Downtown Mesa
The MIX Center establishes a world-class hub at the leading edge of media technologies and practices, bringing together students, faculty, community, and industry to explore and design transformative, imaginative futures.
A catalyst for revitalization and growth in downtown Mesa, the project strengthens connections between civic destinations and the downtown business district, cultivating an urban core alive with creativity, artistic exchange, and public programming.
1. Convention Center
2. Public Library
3. Municipal Building
4. Mesa City Council Chambers
5. The Studios at Mesa City Center
6. Shared Back Lot
7. MIX Center
8. The Plaza @ Mesa City Center
9. Municipal Building
10. Planned ASU Development
11. Downtown Mesa Business District
12. Valley Metro Light Rail Station
13. Contemporary Arts Museum 14. Planned ASU Development
15. Mesa Arts Center
Project Team
Co-Design Architects
Holly Street Studio
Bohlin Cywinski Jackson
Construction Manager
Landscape Architect
M.E.P. & Structure
AV/IT/Acoustics
Lighting Designer
DPR Construction
Colwell Shelor
ARUP
NV5
Apeiro Design