Spaces are like cells …
I am thinking back to my General Biology class learning about and classifying different cell types, one distinction being their membranes: semi-permeable membranes, permeable membranes, cell walls …, and I like to imagine what their architectural equivalent might be. The laboratory as a building typology would be an organism made up of a variety of very different, highly specialized “cells”.Though a lot of emphasis in previous posts has been devoted to communal and interstitial spaces, I want to acknowledge that a variety of spaces (cells) do need to be accommodated in a laboratory environment - and especially an interdisciplinary one. I appreciate the following comment because it speaks to the various classification characteristics of space:
“I think it is great to provide areas that facilitate interactions, such as break-out areas, an adequate lunch room, a larger kitchen area, etc., but there needs to be a balance so that (people) can escape into their offices for peace and quiet and then, as one's research requires, easily get to one's lab to do one's work there and interact with others.”
There are a more than a few ways to define spaces, including – based on use, based on barrier, based on location. Thus, in defining the spaces that need to be accommodated in the new addition, we can classify space requirements according to the following:
Use classification of space (i.e., the "cell function")
We need spaces:
To gather
To sit and think, and concentrate deeply at times
To do laboratory research safely
Barrier classification of space (i.e., the "cell membrane")
We need divisions between spaces which:
Are dense –For example, a membrane impermeable to noise, vibration and radiation would be required to enclose the fMRI
Are thick – An anteroom would protect a highly controlled environment and the person entering it.
Are transparent – some barriers need to be glass to permit visual access between experiment and investigator
Are not intimidating – A shy student might be more apt to approach a professor at the “front porch” of an office or lab because it provides a threshold which mediates between private and public space (office and corridor), and is therefore less intimidating than entering a private/secured/bounded space.
Proximity classifications of space (maybe this is the equivalent of a synapse?)
We need some space adjacencies which:
Are near each other – “If my office if not near enough to the lab, I will go there less frequently.”
Are removed from one another – labs that bring in the general public for use in experiments need to be accessed along a circulation route which does not intersect more secured, private labs.
Did I hit all the major classifications? I have intentionally omitted "morphology", or the size and shape of a space, since this could ideally be a result of the above space criteria.
What’s the cell equivalent of your space?
posted by Meredith Banasiak, ANFA @ 3:47 PM
1 Comments:
Great post Meredith....You know the cell metaphor goes well with the size of the director's office. I'm often struck by two conflicting needs: the need for space to conduct a relatively private meeting, and the general need of the Institute for more space! If only my cell walls could expand and contract--as needed :-)
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