2008 Woodie Awards
Not empty, hardly a waste
Zhi Xiong - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 11/1/07 Section: Metro
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Even the rowers aren't sure what goes on in the metal-sheathed building casting shadows on their boathouse.
An occasional art student goes in to look at the liberal design, and groups of children tour it, but the gray, stainless-steel structure seems a quiet and lonely addition to the UI campus.
Since the 127,748-square-foot building was completed in 1992, the "Frank Gehry Building," also known as the "laser building," has been thought by many to be empty.
It is actually called the Iowa Advanced Technology Labs, and today, there is no lack of lasers used in research there, despite its rocky beginnings near the banks of the Iowa River.
For some Iowa City residents, the story of the laser building is familiar like a stain on a favorite shirt. The building that was supposed to garner internationally recognized research fell into a bog of budget problems and negative press. The scientists didn't come, and the then-president of the university, James O. Freedman, left for Dartmouth College that same year, snuffing out remaining hope for the original program.
But now, the building's reclusion stems, in part, from the sensitive equipment used within, said Vicki Grassian, a professor in the chemistry department and director of the Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Institute at the UI, which conducts research in the building.
"It's not that we don't want to share, but we tend to be protective of it," she said.
Today the building houses an eclectic mosaic of multi-disciplinary science programs and research, many of which use laser science. Three major groups conduct studies there: the Optical Science and Technology Center, the Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research, and the nanoscience institute.
The building has more than 39,000 square feet of lab space and more than 18,000 square feet of office space - about 52 percent effective, according to data from UI Facilities Management.
Despite a lack of international fame, the groups crank out their share of publications and bring in research grants. The environmental group alone has brought more than $57 million in state funding and private grants since 1993. The optical scientists are working with about $21 million, said Jill Hartz, the project assistant for the Optical Science and Technology Center.
An occasional art student goes in to look at the liberal design, and groups of children tour it, but the gray, stainless-steel structure seems a quiet and lonely addition to the UI campus.
Since the 127,748-square-foot building was completed in 1992, the "Frank Gehry Building," also known as the "laser building," has been thought by many to be empty.
It is actually called the Iowa Advanced Technology Labs, and today, there is no lack of lasers used in research there, despite its rocky beginnings near the banks of the Iowa River.
For some Iowa City residents, the story of the laser building is familiar like a stain on a favorite shirt. The building that was supposed to garner internationally recognized research fell into a bog of budget problems and negative press. The scientists didn't come, and the then-president of the university, James O. Freedman, left for Dartmouth College that same year, snuffing out remaining hope for the original program.
But now, the building's reclusion stems, in part, from the sensitive equipment used within, said Vicki Grassian, a professor in the chemistry department and director of the Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Institute at the UI, which conducts research in the building.
"It's not that we don't want to share, but we tend to be protective of it," she said.
Today the building houses an eclectic mosaic of multi-disciplinary science programs and research, many of which use laser science. Three major groups conduct studies there: the Optical Science and Technology Center, the Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research, and the nanoscience institute.
The building has more than 39,000 square feet of lab space and more than 18,000 square feet of office space - about 52 percent effective, according to data from UI Facilities Management.
Despite a lack of international fame, the groups crank out their share of publications and bring in research grants. The environmental group alone has brought more than $57 million in state funding and private grants since 1993. The optical scientists are working with about $21 million, said Jill Hartz, the project assistant for the Optical Science and Technology Center.
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