
Eero Saarinen's Bell Labs, Now Devoid of Life - andyjohnson0
http://www.metropolismag.com/Point-of-View/January-2014/In-Photos-Eero-Saarinens-Bell-Labs/
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brudgers
I never cease to be amazed by how humane high modernist architecture often
was. All the interior photos in the article are daylit, even the stairwell. I
always have to remind myself not to misread such buildings based on all the
poor quality knockoffs driven by the speculative development model.

Bell Labs is not just another glass box in the burbs because Saarinan was not
just another bullshitting architect.

~~~
jgon
I sent both the page and this discussion to my architect student sister and
this was her reply:

 _" You know, I would love for some people who say “bullshitting architects”
to design a building. It’s hard to do. Super hard. You need to think about
lighting, space, circulation, code, envelope, foundation, zoning, materials
and material restrictions, HVAC and electrical, construction timelines, COST,
fire exits, structure just to make ANY building. And you have to think of it
all at once. And each of those things has many many possible choices available
and every choice you make affects every other choice. And all of those choices
contribute to the “design.”

Now imagine that you are just a normal human being going to work and you’ve
got some shit at home, or you are kind of tired or sick, and then make all the
best architectural choices for all of those things. And do it on a timeline
and sell it to a client who, more often than not, is just the person who is
going to rent out the building, so the entire purpose of the structure is to
make money for a client who is therefore, not going to be super into spending
a lot of extra $ on design time to make it streamlined, beautiful and
functional. I would say 90% of the time it’s not the bullshit that makes a bad
building, it’s circumstance that makes your design goals bullshit. But you
can’t say that, because it’s your job to deal with all that crap. Which is
super hard to do."_

I told her I loved her comment and was going to post it, and then she sent an
additional message (after she had become a bit less annoyed):

 _" I do, to some extent understand the criticism… or at least, I have some
personal criticism. Because the thing with architecture is that it is, to some
extent, all within the public realm. Everyone HAS to look at it. Most people
have to occupy it. The decisions that architects and clients make dictate what
takes up space in your world – visual space at the very least, and in some
cases those decisions will actually force you to alter your behavior every
single day. So I get it, but instead of calling out “design” as the issue,
take steps to alter your world in a way that is meaningful.

Attend public forums on zoning meetings, learn how to do graffiti and make
ugly walls beautiful, buy your own buildings and participate in the design
process, plant more flowers, sponsor public art, etc. etc. Some architecture
firms have open-forum presentations on their upcoming projects where the
public is welcome and criticism and ideas are discussed, but the only people I
have ever seen in attendance are other architects (and students) and while
they all want our cities to be more functional and visually pleasing they
probably have a different perspective than some people (which naturally comes
from being in on all of those zoning and permit discussions, and having your
livelihood depend on the oft-volatile construction industry.)

In conclusion, cool it, dudes. And “be the change..” or something like that."_

I thought it was fascinating to read what could have basically been a
developer complaining about the rigors of developing software for clients or
bad managers, but instead it was an someone talking about what goes into
building a structure. And it was refreshing to get a bit of outside
perspective and break some of that "programmer's myopia" I find myself
succumbing to from time to time.

~~~
badman_ting
I have noticed this type of thinking in a lot of different contexts. If you
play a video game and it has a female character portrayed in a sexist manner,
you say "damn developers". If you have to work in a building that has no
windows you say "damn architect". If you get screwed by a retail business you
yell at the schmo behind the register making minimum wage.

We don't like to think about systems, we like to think about what jerks other
people are.

~~~
brudgers
I think about the practice of architecture and it's systems all the time. It's
a commoditized service, that doesn't scale because it's ultimately based on
labor intensive piecework.

A set of architectural plans for a project that won't be built has no value. A
set of architectural plans for a building that will be built has exactly the
value of the fee for their preparation. There's little opportunity for reuse,
and what reuse occurs tends not to add value for the client.

To compare it to software, imagine if the first code sent to the compiler was
what was shipped as final product. Construction is unit and integration and
usability test.

Thus the architect has three tools for selling their services: legal
requirements, expertise, and bullshitting. The legal requirements create a
level playing field and most architects have adequate expertise for most
projects. That leaves bullshitting as an important differentiator - even more
so for those willing to treat the regulatory playing field less seriously -
and the seriousness of the regulatory playing field is why architects are
licensed in the US.

Erio Saraann wasn't a "bullshitting architect" because he at least as good as
he presented himself (same for Rudolph).

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jessaustin
I'm a fan of Saarinen's work on the Arch, and I know that great things were
accomplished in this building, but it seems to me to indulge in the worst
excesses of the International Style. Awe is a nice emotion to experience
occasionally, but it eventually becomes oppressive. The "stacks" motif here
evokes nothing so much as an early 20th-century prison. We don't see any of
the actual office space here, but I expect it's entirely the same cramped
warrens I've suffered in other buildings of this style. It's not surprising
that the merged company decided to sell this building.

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bradleyland
What a beautiful example of the international style of architecture.
Unfortunately, the internal layout seems rigidly adapted for office use. I'm
not sure how they'll adapt a five-story office building to mall use without
gutting the place. Maybe they'll do some sort of hybrid and convert the first
two floors to a mall layout, knocking out walls and putting up glass
storefronts, preserving the top three floors for office space.

Fun fact: The architect who designed this building also designed the Gateway
Arch in St Louis and the iconic Tulip Chair.

~~~
andyjohnson0
There's a collection of Wikipedia pages of Saarinen's buildings and structures
at
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Eero_Saarinen_structur...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Eero_Saarinen_structures)

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jskonhovd
There are so many cool building in the States that just get abandoned. I hope
they find a anchor tenant and save this place. It reminds me of the Sterick
Building in Memphis, not architecturally but I just feel sad to see a
beautiful place go to waste.

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tlb
I've been there. It was beautifully designed and perfectly suited to its job
as headquarters for a telecom monopoly. With everything good and bad that
implies. It's sad to see it fall into the hands of suburban mall developers.

~~~
iammaxus
Actually, it wasn't the headquarters of AT&T and not even the headquarters of
Bell Labs (a part of AT&T). The headquarters of Bell Labs was at another
massive (though less beautiful) complex in Murray Hill, NJ

[http://newprovidencedailyphoto.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/8...](http://newprovidencedailyphoto.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/83_mh_belllabs.jpg)

~~~
stox
I always preferred Murry Hill to Holmdel. I found the architecture more
interesting, and the copper roof to provide continuity in the history of the
Labs.

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housel
I consulted for Bell Labs as my first job out of grad school, and spent a year
(1990-1991) working in this building. I always loved the environment,
especially the library and dining area in the atrium. Sad to see it all
vacant.

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chiph
The Burroughs-Wellcome building in RTP is another Modernist design under
threat of being significantly changed by a new owner. It was featured in the
1980's movie "Brainstorm", starring Natalie Wood and Christopher Walken.

[http://paulrudolph.blogspot.com/2013/03/burroughs-
wellcome-u...](http://paulrudolph.blogspot.com/2013/03/burroughs-wellcome-
under-threat.html)

~~~
allochthon
The building plan is kind of neat, but the carpet has got to be a little
sketch by now. Better to go with marble, wood, brick or tile floors for the
main thoroughfares.

~~~
brudgers
If you don't care about achieving a particular set of acoustic properties,
that might be a reasonable solution.

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hkmurakami
I noticed that the third photo has a couple of people sitting in the hall. Is
the photo from back when the building was still inhabited?

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mathattack
I recall another telecom building (owned by AT&T, formerly Ameritech, formerly
Illinois Bell) that was designed with resale in mind. It was set up for an
easy conversion to a mall, in case they had to sell it.

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Pxtl
I'll never understand how it makes good economic sense to keep buildings
barren. Somebody is paying carrying costs for this thing and extracting zero
value.

~~~
Spooky23
Losing money on property is a great way to make money. There are all sorts of
tax schemes that let big real estate developers pool and distribute losses to
offset taxes in profitable investments.

Often times, the exits for forlorn property make a bunch of money for the
people speculating on them as well.

~~~
Pxtl
So in other words, the tax code incentivizes destroying great architecture?
Fantastic.

~~~
Spooky23
Tax code incentivizes all sorts of bad behavior.

Stuff like abandoned urban residential property that destroys neighborhoods,
empty office towers in midsize cities, etc.

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larrydag
Was this a direct result of the Alcatel and Lucent merger or did this start
long before?

~~~
andyjohnson0
The merger happened in 2006, the same year that the building closed and was
sold. Wikipedia says [1] that the closure was a result of post-merger R&D
restructuring.

[1]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Labs_Holmdel_Complex#Post_...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Labs_Holmdel_Complex#Post_Alcatel-
Lucent)

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eternalban
The original:
[http://31.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_luf7d6TKj01qzvxbko1_1280.j...](http://31.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_luf7d6TKj01qzvxbko1_1280.jpg)

(Isn't it a shame Larkin is no more?)

~~~
ChickeNES
:( Now there is a building I wish was sitting abandoned, instead of being torn
down and the space not used. I put it up there with the destruction of Penn
Station and the Chicago Stock Exchange as one of the greatest losses of
American architecture.

