Frank Gehry’s “paper bag” building opens at the University of Technology, Sydney

The road has been bumpy for <a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/227794/Frank-O-Gehry">Frank Gehry’s</a> Dr. Chau Chak Wing on the Business School campus of the University of Technology, Sydney. Or should we say crumply? Sydney’s newest architectural landmark—Gehry’s Australian debut which opens for classes on February 23, 2015—has been compared to everything from a crinkled paper bag to a termite’s nest. But if the goal of the Los Angeles-based starchitect was to engage Sydneysiders, the “paper bag” is doing its job. Check out a cool time-lapse video of the building's construction after the break.

Gehry’s concept for the 11-story structure, named after a UTS benefactor, was in fact a treehouse—“a growing, learning organism with many branches of thought.”

Most of the social and learning spaces are in the building's “trunk.”

Several staircases, like the polished-steel focal point, were designed to encourage the movement of people and ideas.

The building’s dramatic exterior has a split personality.

The east-facing wall of wavy brickwork is a nod to Sydney’s sandstone heritage.

The western façade consists of angular glass shards that mirror Chau Chak’s contemporary neighbors. A double-glazed <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtain_wall_%28architecture%29">curtain wall</a> is great at both repelling and retaining heat from the sun.

Achieving the fluid appearance of the undulated side involved designing five custom bricks (320,000 in all) and laying them by hand in a stair-step fashion.

The result is both primitive and cutting-edge.

Three hundred windows pop out at varying degrees, bathing classrooms and student lounges in light and helping the building achieve five-star <a href="https://www.gbca.org.au/green-star/green-star-overview/">Green Star certification</a>.

The Student Commons feature two glass work pods—one semi-circular and the other oval-shaped. The curvaceous ply-wood seating was built from sustainable timber sources.

Two oval classrooms were constructed from roughly 150 laminated radiata pine beams from New Zealand. The room's layout encourages 360-degree engagement.

Other sustainability measures include a 20,000-liter rainwater catchment tank on the roof that waters toilets and upstairs gardens; 160 bicycle parking spaces in the basement; and a water refilling station on every floor.

The building will sit alongside the under-construction <a href="https://inhabitat.com/the-goods-line-sydney-begins-work-on-its-own-high-line-style-urban-park/">Goods Line</a>, an elevated city park a la New York's <a href="https://inhabitat.com/nycs-high-line-park-so-popular-that-creators-plan-a-high-speed-tram-to-quickly-move-pedestrians/"> High Line</a>. UTS is the southern terminus to what planners are calling Sydney’s “cultural ribbon” that extends north to the Opera House.