Architecture for physics

 

In the last year I have seen four physics institutes that are located in new, or at least very recent, buildings.

·         The Center for Theoretical Physics at MIT, Cambridge

·         The Perimeter Institute in Waterloo, Ontario

·         The George and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy at Texas A&M

·         My own institute, SISSA, in Trieste

 

 

The CTP at MIT

 

elings

The CTP at MIT is a venerable institution that I know quite well because I spent a year there in 1985 and visited several times thereafter. It was located the two upper floors of building 6, one wing of the historical main building of MIT. In order to expand it, the court between building 6 and building 4 has been enclosed in glass and several floors of offices have been built therein.

 

In the picture on the left (taken from the CTP web site), the old building 6 is on the left, the new building (6c) on the right. There is a large gap in the middle, and the two parts are joined by bridges. The whole roof and one side of 6c, and most of the outer walls of the lecture rooms are made of glass, so there is a lot of natural light.

 

The old part of the institute has also been refurbished. This is the entrance, covered in slate and featuring the pictures of faculty, postdocs and students.

 

DSC01168

 

An interior staircase, shown in the picture below, now joins the two floors in building 6, so one can move between floors without having to go out in the main corridor:

 

DSC01173

 

 

For those who have been there in the past, rest assured that old decor is still in place, like this picture

and this row of Ansel Adams prints

 

DSC01170

DSC01171

 

 

There are several sitting areas with blackboards in the corridors and common areas.

 

DSC01169

DSC01174

 

 

 

The Perimeter Institute in Waterloo, Ontario

 

This is the newest institute of the four, having been established in 2000 on a fund donated by

Mike Lazaridis of RIM (the makers of Blackberry). It was originally located in the old Waterloo post office

and moved into the new, purpose-built building in 2004.

 

The ideas behind the design of the building are explained in this web page.

 

It is a great place to work in. Basically, it has a central court with a glass ceiling

 

DSC02542

 

surrounded by an outer layer of offices. The two sides of the building are quite different:

the side overlooking the lake is all glass, whereas the southwest facing one is black on

the outside, with smaller windows.

 

DSC00923

DSC00924

 Inside, there are lots of meeting places like these in the common areas

 

DSC02545

DSC02541

 

DSC02549

DSC02547

 

As you see some even have fireplaces that are lit during cold days.

 

A new wing, called the “Steven Hawking center” is currently under construction,

more or less doubling the available space.

Work on the new wing went on during the winter. After months of work on the

foundations, suddenly these beams went up in a couple of days

 

DSC01239

 

And this is the state of the building in june 2010:

 

DSC02533

 

 

Mitchell Institute, Texas A&M

 

This building hosts the department of physics and astronomy of the university and

was inaugurated in 2009. Its design is the most elegant of the four.

 

DSC01287

 

The building has an oval plan with wedge-shaped offices on the outside.

The colors are typical for Texas. The windows have T-shaped structures to provide shade.

(I had seen the same type of shade on the windows of the university of Milano Bicocca.)

The interior of the building is hollow

 

DSC01301

 

The floor of the central court is decorated with a Penrose tiling and there is a Foucault

pendulum hanging in the middle.

 

DSC01289

 

See a movie here

 

 

SISSA

 

This is the newest building of the four, having been inaugurated in july 2010.

Unlike the other three it was not purpose-built, but instead has been obtained

by reconverting an old hospital, originally built in 1958.

 

 

It has by far the most striking position, overlooking the gulf of Trieste.

In front of the building, hiding a two-floor underground parking, is an Italian-style garden,

surrounded by a large park.

 

 

The main theatre is still being built

 

 

The main building has eight floors, the office floors being characterized

by a 110m long corridor, with almost all offices on one side.

The corridors and the marble staircases retain a bit of the original

character of the building

 

 

Common areas exist but are mostly not furnished yet.

 

August 2010