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posted 01/20/00

First New Lamont Building in 25 Years Dedicated Dec. 8, 2000
by Kurt Sternlof

In a dedication ceremony that drew participants and well-wishers from around the world, the first new building on the campus of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in 25 years officially opened December 8th. As the new home of both the International Research Institute for Climate Prediction and the office of Lamont-Doherty's director, the unique architecture of the building shared the spotlight with the researchers who soon will give it life.

"This building is nothing more than an object that represents the people who soon will work in it," said designing architect Raphael Viñoly, as he stood on the podium of the new auditorium, framed by its enormous picture windows. "Their presence will truly make this structure a real building."

Also on hand to welcome the new building and honor its tenants were: Columbia President George Rupp, National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration Director James Baker, NOAA Director of Global Programs Michael Hall, Columbia Executive Vice Provost Michael Crow, World Meteorological Organization Secretary General G.O.P Obasi, IRICP Director Antonio Divino Moura, Lamont-Doherty Interim Director John Mutter, U.S. Representative Benjamin Gilman, Monell Foundation President George Rowe, Ceara State, Brasil Governor Tasso Jereissati, Japan's Frontier Research System for Global Change Director Taroh Matsuno, Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau Director of Research Ming-Dean Cheng and France's Institute of Research for Development Director Jacques Merle.

"Climate forecasts will soon become as important as weather forecasts are today," Baker told the audience. "And the IRI is a crucial contributor to the perfection this new science, as well as its application to the real world."

"Think of this wonderful building as an incubator, a place where physical, biological and social scientists will meet to forge a new type of scientific product - one that understands both how to forecast future climate, and what that capability means," Crow said.

"Now we can all collaborate under one roof in looking for real solutions to real problems," Moura said, "not simply hypothetical solutions to academic problems." The building was financed in large part by a grant from the Ambrose Monell Foundation, founded with $2 million in 1952 by the widow of the 1896 graduate of the Columbia University School of Mines, who died in 1922 at age 49.

"We are very happy that the Monell name will be forever associated with this beautiful building," Rowe said, noting that the cost of construction exceeded by many times the amount of the foundation's original principal.

The building comprises two single-story wings that run north and south along the Palisades Cliff from a two-tiered central lobby, which offers dramatic views of the Hudson and Westchester County to the east. The roof is formed by two overlapping, curved sections held aloft by simple wooden trusses. These are fully exposed on the inside and give the impression of an overturned wooden sailing vessel. The two roof sections meet at a clerestory window that runs the length of the building to provide ample natural light. The orientation, narrow cross-section and open, airy design of the building will facilitate natural ventilation through most of the year.

The new directorate offices for Lamont-Doherty are located at the southern end of the building; the administrative offices for IRI are at the north end. In between are six groups of researcher's offices with views out the river from the east side. Conference rooms and support space are arranged along the western side of the building. The windows of the auditorium look out to historic Lamont Hall through a landscape highlighted by majestic beech and oak trees.

The entire design was premised upon preserving the beauty and integrity of the 140-acre Lamont-Doherty campus, while also encouraging the free communication and intellectual discourse of its occupants, Viñoly said.

"This building is about the landscape, both of them - the physical and the intellectual," he said, observing that darkness had transformed the picture windows into a mirror reflecting the human gathering back to itself. "This juxtaposition is exactly what we meant."

about IRI
about Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory

About The Earth Institute
The Earth Institute at Columbia University is the world's leading academic center for the integrated study of Earth, its environment and society. The Earth Institute builds upon excellence in the core disciplines — earth sciences, biological sciences, engineering sciences, social sciences and health sciences — and stresses cross-disciplinary approaches to complex problems. Through research, training and global partnerships, it mobilizes science and technology to advance sustainable development, while placing special emphasis on the needs of the world's poor. For more information, visit www.earth.columbia.edu.