Completed in 1972, the Burroughs Wellcome headquarters & research center shows Paul Rudolph at the height of his creative and problem-solving powers. Above, the main building is shown on the right, and the later extension (also by Rudolph) is on the left. Photo by Joseph W. Molitor. Image courtesy of Joseph W. Molitor architectural photographs collection, located in Columbia University, Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Department of Drawings & Archives.
RESEARCH, ARCHITECTURE—AND THE THREAT TO A GREAT BUILDING
Durham, North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park is one of the most prominent research developments in the US. It’s here that distinguished firms and organizations have chosen to place their headquarters and research centers—and it has facilities for hundreds of organizatons, including: IBM, Cree, BASF, Cisco, Lenovo, Underwriters Laboratories, and the EPA.
Some have attempted to construct not only efficient buildings, but ones of architectural merit.—and of all of them, it is Paul Rudolph’s BURROUGHS WELLCOME HEADQUARTERS which stands out.
But now, that building is threatened with destruction. A controversial demolition permit has been issued, and the future of the this architectural masterpiece is in immediate jeopardy. We’ll be giving you updates about this—including how you can help save it. But to start, we thought it would be well worth it to tell you a bit about the building—especially why it’s significant.
The client said they wanted an architecturally distinctive building. They got what they asked for—and Rudolph’s ability to create memorable and forward-looking architecture extended to all the spaces of the Burroughs Wellcome building. This can be seen most vividly in the main entry lobby (which also shows Rudolph’s bold handling of color.). Image courtesy of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, photograph by G. E. Kidder Smith
A BUILDING dYNAMIC IN ITS TIME—AND FOR THE FUTURE
In a half-century career filled with architectural landmarks, gems, and masterworks, Burroughs Wellcome is on many people’s “top ten” list of Rudolph’s designs—and here are some reasons why it’s significant:
It is one of Rudolph’s largest constructed projects: So one sees, substantively, how a brilliant designer worked out his ideas about siting, planning, spatial organization, interiors, and finishes in a comprehensive, large-scale way, and over a variety of conditions and spaces.
A design for growth: Rudolph was concerned for the future—of cities, homes, education, and of individual buildings. He knew that, in very tangible ways, buildings are never finished, and must be flexible to accommodate the future. Rudolph designed Burroughs Wellcome with change and expansion in mind: its striking geometries and planning were designed for growth. In fact, this was not just one building, but a growing complex: the main building being designed in 1969; and with extensions added in 1976, 1978, and 1982—that latter date including work on a master plan for the site. [In architecture, as in other fields, there’s no greater compliment than “repeat business.”—and that Rudolph was repeatedly called back by the Burroughs Wellcome leadership shows that his work was practical and beneficial.]
New paths in creating space: Even though he profoundly respected Mies and Gropius (and acknowledged their importance to him) Rudolph rejected their “universal space” concept—an approach to architectural planning which led to undifferentiated, bland, grid-like spaces: the kind found so often found in the office and educational building designs of his contemporaries. Like Wright, Rudolph sought to create spaces of variety and richness, ones which would allow for varying uses and inspiring experiences. Moreover, he saw that overlapping spaces had the potential to increase communication among a building’s users—a significant advantage in a building for research, corporate coordination, or education. Rudolph had previously, in his Yale Art & Architecture Building, shown how this can be done within a sculpturally handled rectilinear geometry. At Burroughs Wellcome, his oeuvre moves forward into the dynamic realm of angled forms and spaces—ones which simultaneously offer energy and a sense of stability. [This geometry is so striking that the building has been used as the setting for film and television: it was part of the set for the 1983 science fiction film Brainstorm (starring Christopher Walken and Natalie Wood), and was in several episodes of the TV series Revolution.]
Humanizing materials: Much architectural work, even of the Modern “masters,” is composed with hard, surgically smooth planes. Rudolph was a pioneer in bringing vivid textures back onto the palette of modern architecture. At Burroughs Wellcome, Rudolph specified an exterior finish using a limestone aggregate which was sprayed in place into a plastic binder (and he used similar finishes in subsequent projects.) Such texturing humanizes a building, moving it away from the sterility of which other architects’ buildings are often accused.
Careful siting and massing: Here, we’ll let the architect speak for himself:
This complex climbs up and down a beautiful ridge in the green hills of North Carolina and is architecturally an extension of its site. An “A frame” allows the greatest volume to be housed on the lower floors and yet connected to the smaller mechanical system at the apex of the building. The diagonal movement of interior space opens up magnificent opportunities. Anticipation of growth and change is implicit in the concept. — Paul Rudolph, in Moholy-Nagy, Sibyl. The Architecture of Paul Rudolph, 1970
The opposite of blandness: So many corporate facilitates are dull boxes—uninspiring, and creating no impression of pride or identity. From the beginning, Burroughs Wellome’s leadership recognized the specialness of what they’d built—as evidenced in this statement from the company’s President:
This building is an exciting and ingenious combination of forms [in which] one discovers new and different qualities of forms and spaces . . . a splendid climate for scientific scholarship and for the exchange of ideas. — Fred A. Coe Jr., President of Burroughs Wellcome
A comprehensive work of “wholeness": Rocco Leonardis, a practicing architect and scholar who had a long association with Rudolph, characterized the essential work of architects as “creating wholes.” At Burroughs Wellcome, site placement, structural elements, exterior shapes, viewing angles, steps and paths, interiors, finishes, details—and even the closets and the placement of the flagpole—all are carefully coordinated (especially within the overall diagonal geometry), creating a “total” work of great power and charm.
Rudolph maintained good relations with the company, and was called back—several times—to do further work on the complex. This is his perspective rendering of the dining area—a dynamic space which was constructed as part of the 1976 extension. That addition has been demolished, and now the main part of the building is under threat too. Image © the estate of Paul Rudolph, The Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation
Paul Rudolph himself greatly prized the design, as is clear from his using Burroughs Wellcome’s Headquarters building for the cover of the monograph on his celebrated drawings.
WILL THERE BE A FUTURE FOR THIS GREAT WORK?
Losing Burroughs Wellcome would be a cultural disaster—a titanic loss to this country’s cultural heritage.
We cannot let that happen—and when a building is demo’d, there are no second chances.
In upcoming posts, we’ll let you know more about the building. Even more important, we’ll keep you updated about the our efforts to save it from destruction—a fate that’s befallen too many of this great architect’s works, and which should not be allowed to happen again.
FOR NOW: THERE ARE TWO THINGS YOU CAN DO—
Sign the petition to save Burroughs Wellcome. You can sign it here.
We’ll send you bulletins about the latest developments. To get them, please join our foundation’s mailing list: you’ll get all updates, (as well as other Rudolphian news.)—you can sign up at the bottom of this page.
Rudolph’s full section drawing through the main headquarters building, indicating the dynamic spaces within—and the building’s relation to the site. Image © the estate of Paul Rudolph, The Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation