Location: La Jolla, California
Client: Jonas SalkProject Year: 1959-1965Photographs: Depending on the photgraph: Liao Yusheng, or on Flickr: Creative Commons: dreamschung, chipm2008, Steven W. Moore, or drawings onGreatBuildings.com References: Courtesy of Salk
Institute for Biological Studies and Design Museum
Perched above the roiling surf in La Jolla,
California, a San Diego resort community, theSalk Institute for Biological
Studies occupies
its rocky cliff like a modern-day citadel. Completed in 1965 by the innovative
American architect Louis I. Kahn, the nonprofit research center (specializing in genetics, neuroscience, and molecular and plant biology) interweaves private and public spaces with a strikingly formal, inward-looking plan that echoes the format of a medieval cloister. Composed of strong-willed yet sensuous materials—travertine
and reinforced concrete—it possesses a hushed dignity that encourages
contemplation.
Two
six-story laboratory buildings form the north and south boundaries of the
complex. Each shelters an inner row of angular semidetached office structures
that face each other across a travertine courtyard. Bisecting it all is a
channel of water that seems to pour into the Pacific below. The buildings,
fashioned of concrete accented with teak, focus one’s gaze on the horizon so
“you are one with the ocean,” observes admirer Jim Olson, a partner in the
Seattle firm Olson
Kundig Architects.
According
to lore, when Jonas Salk, the physician who developed the polio vaccine,
visited Kahn in 1959 merely to solicit his advice on hiring an architect, he
was so impressed by their conversation about fusing art and science that he
looked no further. Together the men would create a modern monument with a
subtle handmade quality, evidenced by traces of graining left by the plywood
forms that shaped the concrete, a textural leitmotif of Kahn’s radical but
elegant oeuvre, from the Yale University Art Gallery (1953) to the Phillips
Exeter Academy Library (1972) to the Kimbell Art Museum (1972).
Critic
Vincent Scully once praised the “primitive” force of Kahn’s architecture, and
at the Salk Institute that characteristic is matched by a blend of rigor and
serenity ideally suited to scientific research. Tod
Williams, who designed the nearby Neurosciences Institute with his partner
and wife, Billie Tsien, calls the La Jolla landmark “timeless,” adding, “it’s a
powerful and gracious place of discourse, reflection, and discovery.”
Progressing from the
International Style, Louis Kahn believed buildings should be
monumental and spiritually inspiring.
In his design for the Salk Institute, he
was successful in creating the formal perfection and emotional expressions that
he so vigourously tried to achieve. Kahn was commissioned to design the Salk
Institute in 1959 by Dr. Jonas Salk, inventor of the polio vaccine. Salk’s
vision included a facility with an inspiring environment for scientific
research, and Kahn’s design decisions created a
functional institutional building that also became an architectural
masterpiece.
Before designing,
Kahn referenced and studied monasteries in order to build his concept
of an “intellectual retreat.” With a prime location in La Jolla, California and bordering the Pacific Ocean, Kahn took
advantage of the site’s tranquil surroundings and abundant natural light. His
scheme became a symmetrical plan, two structures mirroring each other separated
by an open plaza.
The buildings each have
six stories, with the first three floors containing laboratories and the
last three with utilities. These spaces are connected to protruding towers
that contain spaces for individual studies linked with bridges. The
towers at the east end of the buildings contain heating, ventilating, and other
support systems while at the west end the towers are six floors of offices
that all face the Pacific ocean, providing a warm tranquil setting for
concentration. The separation of the laboratories and the individual study
spaces was intended by Kahn, establishing the different activities. Due to
zoning codes, the first two stories had to be underground, sinking the
laboratories in the courtyard.
In order for these spaces to receive ample
sunlight, Kahn designed a series of lightwells on both sides of each
building that were 40 feet long and 25 feet wide. The laboratories above
ground are also well-lit spaces with large glass panes for their exterior
walls. The materials that make up the Salk Institute consist of concrete, teak, lead, glass, and steel.
The concrete was poured using a technique studied in Roman
architecture. Once theconcrete was set, he allowed no further finishing
touches in order to attain a warm glow in the concrete. Mechanical spaces are hidden within the building, separating the
“served” and “servant” spaces, as Kahn refered to them. The open plaza is made
of travertine marble, and a single narrow strip of water runs down
the center, linking the buildings to the vast Pacific Ocean.
A person’s
view is then directed towards nature, reminding people of their scale
compared to that of the ocean. The strip of water also enhances the
symmetry intended in the plan and creates a sense of monumentality in the
otherwise bare open plaza that is meant to be in the words of Luis Barragan “a
facade to the sky.” Complete with this dignified water element, the Salk
Institute is simply put in Kahn’s words, “the thoughtful making of
space” revealed through such simplicity and elegance that it
has since its completion in 1965 been regarded as of the most
inspirational works of architecture in the world.
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