“Humble” seems an unlikely word to associate with an architect who, at 36, has already built three inventive apartment complexes on his home turf of Copenhagen, has a high-profile commission for another in New York City, and is the darling of the design blogosphere.
A study in urban planning, the Novartis campus manifests a logic and order that facilitates its day-to-day operations. Yet the grounds are neither sterile nor overtly homogeneous. Entering onto Fabrikstrasse, the main boulevard, one is immediately struck by the numerous environments for employees — landscaped piazzette, informal indoor and outdoor seating and dining areas, day care centers, even a supermarket, pharmacy, and health club — all integrated in and around the new and renovated buildings. Art is everywhere. Moreover, while the various architects are given similar briefs and physical parameters, their solutions are, of course, unique. Two blocks east of
Breaking the bounds of of Vittorio Magnago Lampugnani's master plan, Fabrikstrasse 15 by Frank Gehry stands in a surprising juxtaposition to the serene array of rectilinear buildings that dominate the Novartis campus. It is located at the geographic heart of the campus, in full view of the company's renovated 1939 Forum 1 International Headquarters building, and across the street from a refined stretch of porticoed offices and labs by Adolf Krischanitz, Rafael Moneo, Lampugnani, and Yoshio Taniguchi. The highly visible, independent site gave the architect freedom to exploit his expansive, free-spirited style. Relieved from many of the constraints binding the
At first glance the Novartis headquarters appears to be an average, though impeccable, corporate facility. Situated on the east bank of the Rhine near the borders of France and Germany in the St. Johann district of Basel, Switzerland, the 50-acre campus is sheltered by trees, old buildings, busy thoroughfares, and the river. But that impression shifts as one approaches the ethereal reception pavilion, designed by Swiss architect Marco Serra, and glimpses the diversity of building forms beyond it. A work in progress, the Novartis campus is the brainchild of Chairman of the Board Daniel Vasella, who began a collaboration with
In a sunlit lab filled with genotyping equipment, Dr. Christof von Kalle and colleagues at the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) plumb the secrets of cellular mechanisms that create cancers.
Owner: Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund Completion Date: June 2010 Program: A two-story, 72,000-square-foot facility for traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients at Bethesda's National Naval Medical Center. The project includes clinics; imaging facilities; spaces for physical therapy, outdoor rehabilitation, and virtual-reality-assisted rehab; offices; an auditorium; a patient lounge and coffee bar; and a skylit multipurpose space that can host activities ranging from group exercises to theater performances. Design concept and solution:The architects needed to accommodate a wide variety of programs under one roof, while creating flexible spaces that can adapt to the center's evolving needs as new findings about TBI emerge.
Owner: University of California, San Francisco Completion Date: December 2010 Program: A five-story, 56,604-square-foot medical office building on the UCSF Mount Zion hospital campus, with doctors' offices, exam rooms, staff lounges, yoga studios, spaces for education and research, and an accessible green roof with a Japanese healing garden. The building is divided between two tenants. The UCSF Medical Center, which provides outpatient services for the hospital, occupies levels 1 and 2. The Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, whose offerings include acupuncture and Ayurvedic medicine, is on floors 4 and 5, and the two offices split level 3. Design concept and
A 10-story, 467,000-square-foot outpatient cancer center with spaces for radiation and medical oncology, a laboratory, a pharmacy, a restaurant, a coffee shop, a gift shop, and physician offices.
Owner: Chickasaw Nation Health System Completion Date: July 2010 Program: A three-story, 370,425-square-foot medical center combining a hospital, outpatient clinics, and an emergency department. Located on a 230-acre plot outside of Ada, the project replaces the Chickasaw Nation's former hospital there, which the community had outgrown. The new center includes a surgical suite with four operating rooms; a diagnostic imaging department; outpatient clinics for pediatrics, behavioral health, cardiology, and other specialties; a pharmacy; and a chapel. Design concept and solution: In designing the largest public facility supported by the Chickasaw government, the architects were charged with treating the hospital as
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