Comments on: Building Blunders of Brandeis, Part IV: Disposable Architecture http://innermostparts.org/2009/12/20/building-blunders-of-brandeis-part-iv-disposable-architecture/ A blog about Brandeis University, progressive politics, and the spirit of Justice Louis Dembitz Brandeis on the campus today. Tue, 08 May 2012 11:40:24 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: staffmember http://innermostparts.org/2009/12/20/building-blunders-of-brandeis-part-iv-disposable-architecture/comment-page-1/#comment-4877 staffmember Wed, 06 Jan 2010 20:37:22 +0000 http://innermostparts.org/?p=2829#comment-4877 oh, by the way -- Friedland is now just a pile of rubble. It was very impressive watching it be demolished. oh, by the way — Friedland is now just a pile of rubble. It was very impressive watching it be demolished.

]]> By: staffmember http://innermostparts.org/2009/12/20/building-blunders-of-brandeis-part-iv-disposable-architecture/comment-page-1/#comment-4737 staffmember Mon, 21 Dec 2009 20:43:13 +0000 http://innermostparts.org/?p=2829#comment-4737 I have been told that the annual utility bills to keep Friedland and Kalman running were prohibitively high. Both buildings would have required massive infrastructural improvements to be used as science labs. There would also have been substantial clean-up and renovation costs to use them as anything else (one hears that there were asbestos and mercury issues in Friedland; a consultant came by to take a chip of my office floor from under the rug before I moved out of my Kalma office). For similar issues with a considerably newer building, look up "Newton North High School", which is being rebuilt for a second time. Science buildings are not the best choice for architecture to preserve. I have been told that the annual utility bills to keep Friedland and Kalman running were prohibitively high. Both buildings would have required massive infrastructural improvements to be used as science labs. There would also have been substantial clean-up and renovation costs to use them as anything else (one hears that there were asbestos and mercury issues in Friedland; a consultant came by to take a chip of my office floor from under the rug before I moved out of my Kalma office).

For similar issues with a considerably newer building, look up “Newton North High School”, which is being rebuilt for a second time.

Science buildings are not the best choice for architecture to preserve.

]]> By: Phil http://innermostparts.org/2009/12/20/building-blunders-of-brandeis-part-iv-disposable-architecture/comment-page-1/#comment-4736 Phil Mon, 21 Dec 2009 20:06:38 +0000 http://innermostparts.org/?p=2829#comment-4736 Wow Andrea, how did you find that? It's remarkably similar. Too bad we don't have the original. Still, East looks cooler. If only the university would restore it... Wow Andrea, how did you find that? It’s remarkably similar. Too bad we don’t have the original. Still, East looks cooler. If only the university would restore it…

]]> By: Andrea http://innermostparts.org/2009/12/20/building-blunders-of-brandeis-part-iv-disposable-architecture/comment-page-1/#comment-4734 Andrea Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:14:07 +0000 http://innermostparts.org/?p=2829#comment-4734 Since you mentioned East, I thought you might be interested in this Marcel Breuer version of basically the same building as East, at what was then an NYU campus but is now Bronx Community College (it was built in 1964 or 65, before East opened). It might be sort of hard to see from this photo, but the building is curved like East, even: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/73/280220319_a1f68a171a.jpg Also there is this wack lecture hall there, also by MB: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3646/3465916067_260c8d8a9b.jpg http://farm1.static.flickr.com/70/219692922_16491f102c.jpg Since you mentioned East, I thought you might be interested in this Marcel Breuer version of basically the same building as East, at what was then an NYU campus but is now Bronx Community College (it was built in 1964 or 65, before East opened). It might be sort of hard to see from this photo, but the building is curved like East, even:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/73/280220319_a1f68a171a.jpg

Also there is this wack lecture hall there, also by MB:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3646/3465916067_260c8d8a9b.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/70/219692922_16491f102c.jpg

]]> By: Sahar http://innermostparts.org/2009/12/20/building-blunders-of-brandeis-part-iv-disposable-architecture/comment-page-1/#comment-4724 Sahar Mon, 21 Dec 2009 03:36:38 +0000 http://innermostparts.org/?p=2829#comment-4724 I think Phil's point is that we should be spending the money to preserve our buildings, not spending money on knocking them down and building new ones. Phil, I'd like to submit into evidence the fact that Brandeis consciously spends millions less than it should on building upkeep (they call it deferred maintenance) to cut costs. I'd like to submit into speculation (I.E. "I'm pretty sure that:") Brandeis has done this for years. I think Phil’s point is that we should be spending the money to preserve our buildings, not spending money on knocking them down and building new ones.

Phil, I’d like to submit into evidence the fact that Brandeis consciously spends millions less than it should on building upkeep (they call it deferred maintenance) to cut costs.

I’d like to submit into speculation (I.E. “I’m pretty sure that:”) Brandeis has done this for years.

]]> By: Phil http://innermostparts.org/2009/12/20/building-blunders-of-brandeis-part-iv-disposable-architecture/comment-page-1/#comment-4721 Phil Sun, 20 Dec 2009 23:37:21 +0000 http://innermostparts.org/?p=2829#comment-4721 Here's some more about laboratory design and adaptive reuse from R&D Magazine: http://www.rdmag.com/tags/Design/Renovation-and-Adaptive-Reuse Here’s some more about laboratory design and adaptive reuse from R&D Magazine:
http://www.rdmag.com/tags/Design/Renovation-and-Adaptive-Reuse

]]> By: Phil http://innermostparts.org/2009/12/20/building-blunders-of-brandeis-part-iv-disposable-architecture/comment-page-1/#comment-4720 Phil Sun, 20 Dec 2009 23:35:12 +0000 http://innermostparts.org/?p=2829#comment-4720 Nat, You would be correct in saying that I have not done research science at Brandeis, but I have been in both buildings. I said so in the post. I will not claim any knowledge about science research facilities, but I do believe strongly in the theory of adaptive reuse. Even if they're recycling >90% of the materials like they did with the admissions center, it's an awful waste of society's resources to treat buildings as expendable, disposable objects. That's the point I was trying to get at. Even if with renovations it would still be unfit for research, then it could be used for non-lab classrooms, offices, etc. I did a little Googling and came up with this slideshow, "New Labs and Old Buildings" from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory: http://labs21.lbl.gov/DPM/Assets/j2_rothschild.pdf. Every site and every building is different, but there's a model out there. Nat,
You would be correct in saying that I have not done research science at Brandeis, but I have been in both buildings. I said so in the post. I will not claim any knowledge about science research facilities, but I do believe strongly in the theory of adaptive reuse. Even if they’re recycling >90% of the materials like they did with the admissions center, it’s an awful waste of society’s resources to treat buildings as expendable, disposable objects. That’s the point I was trying to get at. Even if with renovations it would still be unfit for research, then it could be used for non-lab classrooms, offices, etc. I did a little Googling and came up with this slideshow, “New Labs and Old Buildings” from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory: http://labs21.lbl.gov/DPM/Assets/j2_rothschild.pdf. Every site and every building is different, but there’s a model out there.

]]> By: Nat http://innermostparts.org/2009/12/20/building-blunders-of-brandeis-part-iv-disposable-architecture/comment-page-1/#comment-4719 Nat Sun, 20 Dec 2009 23:18:56 +0000 http://innermostparts.org/?p=2829#comment-4719 Phil, It's pretty clear that you haven't ever done research science on this campus, and from your article, I'm also pretty sure you'd never been inside either Friedland or Kalman, the two buildings which are getting demolished. Both buildings were woefully unsuitable for pursuing modern science research, and I don't say that lightly. The facilities both limited what our researchers can do and endangered their safety when they tried to do what they could. The teaching labs in Kalman had too few fume hoods, and given the expected increases in admitted students, I'm sure that had they not been replaced by the ones in the new science center, we'd be turning students away from lab classes. The two buildings were completely inadequate from a functional perspective and regardless of what you think of them from an aesthetic perspective, they absolutely had to go. Phil,

It’s pretty clear that you haven’t ever done research science on this campus, and from your article, I’m also pretty sure you’d never been inside either Friedland or Kalman, the two buildings which are getting demolished.
Both buildings were woefully unsuitable for pursuing modern science research, and I don’t say that lightly. The facilities both limited what our researchers can do and endangered their safety when they tried to do what they could. The teaching labs in Kalman had too few fume hoods, and given the expected increases in admitted students, I’m sure that had they not been replaced by the ones in the new science center, we’d be turning students away from lab classes.
The two buildings were completely inadequate from a functional perspective and regardless of what you think of them from an aesthetic perspective, they absolutely had to go.

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