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At Long Last We Know: Modern Science Owes Its Greatness to Flemish Bond Brickwork

By bcohen on July 20, 2006.

For centuries we've languished in the abyss of not-knowing what science is. An abyss so deep and so languishable, that we didn't even know we didn't know. A true Rumsfeldian dilemma, with mixed metaphors to boot. What accounts for scientific excellence and credibility? Why do we trust scientists? Is it because they are so serious? We just never knew.

But now we do: how can we define science? what does it take to *be* scientific? Just ask Penn's Chemistry Department and their new building.

The answer: Flemish Bond Brickwork. And it was right there in front of our faces all along!

This is the answer:

First, the building:

i-264ce731fb65c117e816f8db4009e835-bi0070.jpeg

Second, the description: "A massive reinforced-concrete frame infilled with panels of Flemish bond brickwork to convey the serious purpose of modern scientific work."

[All due thanks to Gordon Cain Fellow, Dr. Jody, faithful correpsondent.]

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Knoxville '82: Where Miscellany Thrive
The Art/Science (Non?)Divide Building

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Wow. You've got to give some creative credit to the by-line writer. I wonder what that skill looks like on a CV? I wonder what type of byline my building (Michael Smith Labs, UBC) might elicit?

"The eloquent lines of the Michael Smith Labs building perfectly encapsulate the synergy between imagination and functionality that is modern science, with the materials used in this essay in glass and concrete reflect how the discipline is at once transparent and, in the popular perception, ugly and opaque."

To be fair, it *was* the 1973 Wing, the high times for brutalistic architecture. A colleague I met just last night assures me that Berkeley has a similarly constructed laboratory built about the same time. And even my own alma mater, St. Vincent College, has a science center composed of more concrete than the entire Pittsburgh Parkway. But the seriousness with which the byline asserts the link between the strong, impenetrable building and the "seriousness" of the business taking place within its walls is truly remarkable. Everyone knows chemists suffer from a tremendous self-esteem problem - perhaps they're compensating by working in the most militaristic and manly buildings they can find.