Campus of the California Institute of Technology

Aerial view of Caltech in Pasadena, California
The Millikan Library, the tallest building on campus
The exterior of Ricketts House, typical of the architecture of the 1931 Mediterranean-style South Houses.

Campus history

Caltech's 124-acre (50 ha) primary campus is located in Pasadena, California, approximately 11 miles (18 km) northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is within walking distance of Old Town Pasadena and the Pasadena Playhouse District and therefore the two locations are frequent getaways for Caltech students.

In 1917 Hale hired architect Bertram Goodhue to produce a master plan for the 22 acres (8.9 ha) campus. Goodhue conceived the overall layout of the campus and designed the physics building, Dabney Hall, and several other structures, in which he sought to be consistent with the local climate, the character of the school, and Hale's educational philosophy. Goodhue's designs for Caltech were also influenced by the traditional Spanish mission architecture of Southern California.

During the 1960s, Caltech underwent considerable expansion, in part due to the philanthropy of alumnus Arnold O. Beckman. In 1953, Beckman was asked to join the Caltech Board of Trustees.[1]:282 In 1964, he became its chairman.[1]:275 Over the next few years, as Caltech's president emeritus David Baltimore describes it, Arnold Beckman and his wife Mabel "shaped the destiny of Caltech".[1]:288

The Beckmans made a major gift to Caltech in 1962, when they funded the construction of the Beckman Auditorium, a concert hall designed by architect Edward Durrell Stone. When the circular white stone hall opened with a gala concert on February 25, 1964, it was praised for its acoustics.[1]:289–291[2]

The auditorium was the first of several expansions at Caltech that the Beckmans supported. In 1974, the Beckman Laboratory of Behavioral Biology (BBB) was dedicated.[1]:291 The building was seen as a significant step towards the establishment of a new program focusing on neurobiology and a multi-leveled understanding of brain and its mechanisms at the chemical, cellular, and systems levels.[3]:153–154 On April 25, 1986, the Beckman Laboratory of Chemical Synthesis was dedicated. The Beckmans' gift supported not only the building, but also the installation of state-of-the-art scientific instrumentation in six customized laboratories.[4] Finally, the Beckmans funded the Beckman Institute, a multi-disciplinary center for research in the chemical and biological sciences. In 1986, Beckman agreed to donate $50 million towards the institute and its endowment. Designed by architect Albert C. Martin, Jr. in a Spanish style, the Beckman Institute was dedicated on October 26, 1989, and opened in 1990.[1]:275–290

In 1971 a magnitude-6.6 earthquake in San Fernando caused some damage to the Caltech campus. Engineers who evaluated the damage found that two historic buildings dating from the early days of the Institute—Throop Hall and the Goodhue-designed Culbertson Auditorium—had cracked. These were some of the first reinforced concrete buildings, and their plans did not contain enough details (such as how much reinforcing bar had been embedded in the concrete) to be sure they were safe, so the engineers recommended demolition. However, demolishing these historic structures required considerably more effort than would have been necessary had they been in real danger of collapse. A large wrecking ball was used to demolish Throop Hall, and smashing the concrete revealed massive amounts of rebar, far in excess of safety requirements. The rebar had to be cut up before the pieces could be hauled away, and the process took much longer than expected.

New additions to the campus include the Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics and the Walter and Leonore Annenberg Center for Information Science and Technology, which opened in 2009,[5][6] and the Warren and Katherine Schlinger Laboratory for Chemistry and Chemical Engineering followed in March 2010.[7] The Institute also concluded an upgrading of the south houses in 2006. In late 2010, Caltech completed a 1.3 MW solar array projected to produce approximately 1.6 GWh in 2011.[8]

Notable buildings

Athenaeum

List of buildings

This list includes buildings and facilities of California Institute of Technology.[9] The listing does not include off-campus/co-owned properties.

Photo Name Date competed Notes
Gates and Crellin Laboratories of Chemistry 1917, 1927, 1937 The oldest existing building on campus. The 1917 portion of Gates was damaged in the 1971 San Fernando earthquake, and was rebuilt in 1983 as the Parsons-Gates Hall of Administration. Named for C. W. Gates, P. G. Gates, Mr. and Mrs. E. W. Crellin, and Ralph M. Parsons.
Norman Bridge Laboratory of Physics 1922, 1924, 1925 Named for Norman Bridge
Alfred P. Sloan Laboratory of Mathematics and Physics 1925 Originally the High Voltage Research Laboratory, which was retired and rebuilt in 1960 into its 1960-2017 configuration. The interior was again stripped entirely and remains under renovation as of 2018. Named for Alfred P. Sloan.
Dabney Hall 1928 Named for Joseph B. Dabney
William G. Kerckhoff Laboratories of the Biological Sciences 1928, 1939, 1948 Named for William G. Kerckhoff
Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory 1929 Funded by Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics
Athenaeum 1930 The faculty club
South Houses 1931 Undergraduate houses, including Blacker House, Dabney House, Fleming House, and Ricketts House. Partially renovated in 2006. The Houses are named after Robert R. Blacker, Joseph B. Dabney, Arthur H. Fleming, and L. D. Ricketts.
W. K. Kellogg Radiation Laboratory 1932 Named for Will Keith Kellogg
Linde + Robinson Laboratory for Global Environmental Science 1932 Formerly Henry M. Robinson Laboratory of Astrophysics, transformed into its current configuration in 2011. Named for Henry M. Robinson and Ronald K. Linde
Charles Arms Laboratory of the Geological Sciences 1938 Named for Charles Arms, father of Mrs. Henry Robinson
Seeley W. Mudd Laboratory of the Geological Sciences 1938 Also known as North Mudd. Named for Seeley W. Mudd.
Gates–Thomas Laboratory of Engineering 1945, 1950 Named for Franklin Thomas and Charles Gates Jr.
Alumni Swimming Pool 1954
Scott Brown Gymnasium 1954
Norman W. Church Laboratory for Chemical Biology 1955
Eudora Hull Spalding Laboratory of Engineering 1957
Archibald Young Health Center 1957
Physical Plant Building and Shops 1959
Gordon A. Alles Laboratory for Molecular Biology 1960 Named for Gordon Alles
North Houses 1960 Undergraduate houses, including. Lloyd House, Page House, and Ruddock House
Harry Chandler Dining Hall 1960 Named for Harry Chandler
W. M. Keck Engineering Laboratories 1960 Funded by W. M. Keck Foundation
Graduate Houses 1961 Originally included Braun House, Keck House, Marks House, and Mosher-Jorgensen House. Keck and Mosher-Jorgensen were converted into the Center for Student Services in 2000 and 2002 respectively. Braun and Marks are currently used to house undergraduates.
Kármán Laboratory of Fluid Mechanics and Jet Propulsion 1961 Named for Theodore von Kármán
Firestone Flight Sciences Laboratory 1962 Named for Firestone Tire and Rubber Company
Winnett Student Center 1962 demolished 2017
Beckman Auditorium 1964 Named for Arnold Orville Beckman
Harry G. Steele Laboratory of Electrical Sciences 1965
Central Engineering Services Building 1966
Robert A. Millikan Memorial Library 1967 Named for Robert Andrews Millikan
Arthur Amos Noyes Laboratory of Chemical Physics 1967 Named for Arthur Amos Noyes
Central Plant 1967
George W. Downs Laboratory of Physics and Charles C. Lauritsen Laboratory of High Energy Physics 1969 Named for George W. Downs and Charles Christian Lauritsen
Keith Spalding Building of Business Services 1969
Donald E. Baxter, M.D., Hall of the Humanities and Social

Sciences

 1971 Includes Ramo Auditorium, named for Simon Ramo
The Earle M. Jorgensen Laboratory of Information Science 1971, 2012 Complete renovation in 2012; now Jorgensen Laboratory for sustainability research
The Mabel and Arnold Beckman Laboratories of Behavioral Biology 1974 Named for Arnold Orville Beckman
Seeley G. Mudd Building of Geophysics and Planetary Science 1974 Also known as South Mudd. Named for Seeley G. Mudd.
Clifford S. and Ruth A. Mead Memorial Undergraduate Chemistry Laboratory 1981
Thomas J. Watson, Sr., Laboratories of Applied Physics 1982 Named for Thomas J. Watson
Braun Laboratories in Memory of Carl F. and Winifred H. Braun 1982
Athletic Facility 1984
Catalina Graduate Apartment Complex 1984, 1986, 1988
David W. Morrisroe Astroscience Laboratory 1986 Originally the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, renamed in 1995
Wilson Avenue North Parking Structure 1987
Beckman Institute 1989 Named for Arnold Orville Beckman
Braun Athletic Center 1992
Holliston Avenue Parking Structure/Satellite Utility Plant 1993
The Gordon and Betty Moore Laboratory of Engineering 1996 Named for Gordon Moore and Betty Moore
Avery House 1996 Named for R. Stanton Avery
Sherman Fairchild Library of Engineering and Applied Science 1997 Funded by Sherman Fairchild Foundation
Powell-Booth Laboratory for Computational Science 1963 Originally the Willis H. Booth Computing Center, renovated in 1999. Named for Willis H. Booth and Charles Lee Powell
Wilson Avenue South Parking Structure 1999
Financial Services Building 2000
Broad Center for the Biological Sciences 2002 Named for Eli Broad and Edythe Broad
California Parking Structure 2005 Located underneath the athletic fields
Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics 2009
Walter and Leonore Annenberg Center for Information Science and Technology 2009 Funded by the Annenberg Foundation
Warren and Katharine Schlinger Laboratory for Chemistry and Chemical Engineering 2010
The Keck Center 2013 Incorporates the historic Tolman-Bacher House. Funded by the W. M. Keck Foundation.
Caltech Childcare Center 2014
Bechtel Residence 2018 (planned) Named for Stephen Bechtel Jr.
Hameetman Center 2018 (planned)

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Arnold Thackray & Minor Myers, Jr. (2000). Arnold O. Beckman : one hundred years of excellence. foreword by James D. Watson. Philadelphia, Pa.: Chemical Heritage Foundation. ISBN 978-0-941901-23-9.
  2. ↑ "Work begins officially on Caltech Auditorium". The Independent (Pasadena, California). 9 January 1962.
  3. ↑ Sinsheimer, Robert L. (1994). The strands of a life the science of DNA and the art of education. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 9780520082489. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  4. ↑ "Chemical Synthesis: A New Lab Gets it Together" (PDF). Engineering and Science. 49 (5). 1986.
  5. ↑ "Quantum leap: Caltech facility combines astronomy, astrophysics". AllBusiness. January 26, 2009. Retrieved July 7, 2010.
  6. ↑ "Walter and Leonore Annenberg Center for Information Science and Technology". Caltech. August 10, 2009. Retrieved July 7, 2010.
  7. ↑ "Caltech Cuts the Ribbon on Schlinger Laboratory". Caltech. March 9, 2010. Retrieved July 7, 2010.
  8. ↑ "Perpetual Energy Systems Activates 1.1 MW Solar Energy System at California Institute of Technology". Business Wire. October 21, 2010. Retrieved October 22, 2010.
  9. ↑ "2012-13 Caltech Catalog" (PDF). California Institute of Technology. September 2012. pp. 19–25. Retrieved 25 September 2012.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.