Columbia’s campus is divided into three clusters, the original McKim, Mead and White Quadrangle on 116th street between Broadway and Amsterdam, the Medical campus on 168th street and the new Manhattanville campus located adjacent to the northwest corner of the original campus. The prohibitive separation between the Medical campus on 168th street and the laboratories for the natural sciences on 116th street campus is symptomatic of the 19th Century view of the University campus and the real estate pressure inherent in locating a major research university within New York City. The integration of the disciplines of scientific research and medicine is the focus of a new building for the research and practice of Integrative Medicine at Columbia.

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The Center for Integrated Medicine at Columbia University would establish its research and programming by focusing on a number of problems that are better addressed through interdisciplinary research. Scientists from all related departments would establish a research center, coupled with a clinic within the building. They would conduct lab work, teaching and field work on the topic they are addressing as well as establish and maintain a network of international communication in their field. The major project topics, or centers, within the building would address contemporary medical issues and could include: a center for Autism research, Alzheimer’s research, Cancer, Addiction, Mental Health, and Obesity to name a few. The centers would be flexible and would change according to needs and desires of the collaborations of scientists. Although most of the research topics would largely be addressed independently within the building, the chance for serendipitous exchanges would increase due to shared facilities such as a library, cafes, and breakout spaces where researchers can interact.

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This project was an architectural proposal to address the problem of siloing in a research university campus plan.

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Total square feet: 510,000

 

Stories: 54

Height: 580’

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Program areas:

Library- 50,000 sq.ft.

Labs, offices, meeting spaces- 150,000 sq. ft.

residential- 150,000 sq. ft

classrooms, lecture hall- 25,000 sq. ft.

clinics- 25,000 sq. ft

cafes- 10,000 sq. ft

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