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Modernism’s simplistic and streamlined design concepts , coupled combined with the advent of new and cheaper building materials created an era of architecture in the 1950s and 60s that was both practical and economical. In relation to research and academic institutions, buildings /and campuses were being designed to fit the current needs of researchers scientists and workers, employees rather than serve as a lasting tangible tribute to an institution or idea. These architectural advancements, coupled with the directives of both the Kennedy and Johnson administrations , to both improve and expand federal Federal architecture in the nation’s capital and across the U.S., gave birth to a new era of largescale, planned campus facilities in Modern building and landscape design:
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The evolution of the modern research facility did not occur overnight, rather it was an evolution through trial and error. A key element to designing a successful research space was not only ensuring proper allocation of space , but also allowing for both expansion/conversion of working areas and easy collaboration among researchers. Architects and designers took cues from earlier projects of the late 1950s–1960s where buildings were often designed with floor plans that were considered too narrow by the inhabitants and with spacing between floors and utility corridors that was viewed as inherently insufficient. An excellent case study in this evolving design theory can be seen in the work of Louis Kahn. Louis Kahn’s 1962 Richards Medical Research Laboratories located at the University of Pennsylvania is known as a Landmark Modern building, however. Despite innovations in design, the facility’s design exhibits an inefficient use of space, which isolates floorplan used space inefficiently and isolated the researchers from each other. Kahn applied the lessons he learned from his design limitations at Richards and applied these lessons in his design University of Pennsylvania project to the design of the iconic Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California. Kahn worked with famed Polio researcher, Jonas Salk, to create test design concepts that are utilized by lab designers even today. At the Salk Institute, Kahn was charged “to create spacious, unobstructed laboratory spaces that could be adapted to the ever-changing needs of science” (Fiederer 2017). Kahn utilized large, well-lit spaces constructed out of lasting materials that could be easily cleaned and manipulated for the needs of researchers. In addition, Kahn incorporated landscaping elements to both enhance the design of the campus as well as serve a function.
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