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The Ruthie and Samy Cohn Building for Magnetic Resonance Studies in Structural Biology
The Ruthie and Samy Cohn Building for Magnetic Resonance Studies in Structural Biology
Architect: Erich Mendelsohn
The Ruthie and Samy Cohn Building for Magnetic Resonance Studies in Structural Biology, designed in 1939 by the architect Erich Mendelsohn, was restored and renovated in 1998 according to the design of the architect Dagan Mochly. This is a simple building, whose main distinguishing features are the white trapezoid roof that connects it to the Helen and Martin Kimmel Center for Archaeological Science and the matching white trapezoid chimney. The chimney was part of the installation that produced heavy oxygen isotopes used mainly in biomedical research. Outside the building is a plaque describing this pioneering scientific enterprise.
To accommodate the large nuclear magnetic resonance machines, the building has been outfitted with an insulated, shock-absorbing concrete floor, with the layer beneath cast of stainless steel rods to avoid the presence of iron near the large magnet. For the same reason, the frames of all the doors and windows, formerly made of iron, have been replaced with aluminum.
During the reconstruction, a passage was created under the building’s long roof by the landscape architect Dan Zur. It consists of a square with a fountain, a water conduit and semicircular steps. From this square, a long vista leads all the way to the Clore Garden of Science. The Cohn Building is one of four structures surrounding the square – all of them designed by Mendelsohn. In this sense, the spot is unique anywhere in the world.
