The University of California, San Francisco has tapped Rafael Viñoly Architects to design a stem cell research center, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The 74,000-square-foot facility, to be built on the university’s hilltop Parnassus campus, will be “a silver, terraced structure that snakes uphill along the winding curves of Medical Center Way,” the article explains. Dr. Anrold Kriegstein, director of the university’s stem cell institute, told the Chronicle that the “unusual design” was selected for its ability to accommodate a restrictive building site and to facilitate collaboration among doctors and scientists. The $119 million project was formally announced Wednesday, after the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine awarded $34.9 million toward the facility’s construction. The project is being partly funded by $3 billion in taxpayer money earmarked for stem cell research in California. Renderings are available on the university’s Web site.

Photo © Benjamin Benschneider