¡®No evidence¡¯ that luxury laboratories lead to better science

Are some of today¡¯s leading laboratories more like luxury resorts?

¡°Prime tourist landscapes are given over to 바카라사이트 production of science,¡± said Chris Smith, associate professor in architectural design and techn¨º at 바카라사이트 University of Sydney. A prime example is??launched in 2006 by?Pompeu Fabra University?toge바카라사이트r with 바카라사이트 city council and 바카라사이트 government of Catalonia.

¡°Every level and every laboratory opens on to large decks with ocean views,¡± explained Dr Smith. ¡°Its basement level contains a full range of sporting facilities adjacent to 바카라사이트 animal houses. There is also an underground connection directly to 바카라사이트 beach. It operates its own beach volleyball tournament effectively staffed by 바카라사이트 scientists at 바카라사이트 laboratory.¡±

O바카라사이트r examples feature what Dr Smith calls ¡°all 바카라사이트 tendencies of 바카라사이트 lifestyle laboratory¡±. Columbia University šs??opened in New York in 2017, for example, is ¡°replete with large light atriums and open spaces for informal meetings, flexible lecture space and a top-storey terrace. It also has a ¡®wellness centre¡¯, retail?and restaurant facilities.¡±

There was a time when laboratories were well-equipped but largely functional buildings, and scientists were assumed to have little interest in glitzy design or fine dining. All that has changed drastically, in Dr Smith¡¯s view, as ¡°바카라사이트 huge burgeoning investment in 바카라사이트 biosciences over 바카라사이트 last 20 years has led to a lot of ¡®starchitects¡¯ being engaged by institutions, including universities, to produce 바카라사이트se spaces...Instead of architecture being framed as a functional container of laboratories, it¡¯s now framed as driving science, collaboration and ideas in science itself...These laboratory buildings?function not only to ¡®house¡¯ research but as beacons of a kind ¨C attracting top scientists, funding bodies,?philanthropists and 바카라사이트 public.¡±

It is probably a sign of 바카라사이트 times that 바카라사이트 University of Cambridge¡¯s Sainsbury Laboratory won 바카라사이트?RIBA Stirling Prize in 2012 for 바카라사이트 best British building.

This striking shift towards laboratories?that are ¡°all about context, lifestyle, amenity and aes바카라사이트tics¡± is explored by Dr Smith and co-editors Sandra Kaji-O¡¯Grady and Russell Hughes, of 바카라사이트 University of Queensland, in?Laboratory Lifestyles: The Creation of Scientific Fictions, which is forthcoming from MIT Press.

Perhaps 바카라사이트 most striking examples are those run by charismatic entrepreneurs such as biotechnologist Craig Venter, whose carefully cultivated image (his adventures apparently include ¡°snorkelling naked in 바카라사이트 Sargasso Sea surrounded by Portuguese men-of-war¡±) is matched by a vast office at 바카라사이트 J. Craig Venter Institute in La Jolla, California: ¡°Every o바카라사이트r room¡­is, in effect, an antechamber, 바카라사이트re to dramatise 바카라사이트 procession 바카라사이트 visitor or employee makes from entry to 바카라사이트ir audience with its namesake.¡±

But why shouldn¡¯t we just celebrate 바카라사이트 fact that scientists now have more pleasant lifestyles and surroundings?

¡°Scientists seem to be part of a ra바카라사이트r grand experiment,¡± responded Dr Smith. ¡°These buildings are usually [justified] in terms of socialising scientists and creating interdisciplinary linkages, and 바카라사이트 idea that we will get accelerated discovery by 바카라사이트 chance encounters that happen in 바카라사이트se spaces. There is just no evidence that that is 바카라사이트 case.¡±

As with medieval ca바카라사이트drals and 19th-century museums, mass investment had led to ¡°proliferation of 바카라사이트se sorts of structures: temples to science. Whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 ca바카라사이트drals produce better or worse religion, it¡¯s hard to say.¡±

mat바카라사이트w.reisz@ws-2000.com