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Research & science buildings: General resources

Recommended resources on laboratories and scientific research buildings by discipline, and related topics, providing location info for print resources and links for digital resources.

Recommended books

Recommended for all architectural research

Labs & scientific research buildings

DiBerardinis, Louis J., Guidelines for laboratory design: health, safety, and environmental considerations, Wiley, TH4652 .G85 2013

Dittrich, Egbert (editor), The sustainable laboratory handbook: design, equipment, operation, John Wiley & Sons, 2015 (via Ebook Central)

Fishman, Mark C., LAB: building a home for scientists, Lars Muller Publishers, NA6751 .F57 2017

Griffin, Brian, Laboratory design guide: for clients, architects, and their design team, Routledge, 2005 (via Ebook Central)

National Research Council, Laboratory design, construction, and renovation, National Academies Press, 2000 (via Ebook Central)

“Research and teaching,” Detail, #9, 2010 (Theme issue)

Stephens, Suzanne, “Laboratory design: architecture’s role,” Architectural Record, December 2007, p.21 (three projects indexed separately)

Watch, Daniel, Building type basics for research laboratories, Wiley, NA6751 .W38 2008

Cockram, Michael, “The Living lab,” GreenSource, September/October 2011, p.100-103, 105-106

Ghallab, Yehya H. & Wael Badaway, Lab-on-a-Chip: Techniques, Circuits, and Biomedical Applications, Artech House, 2010 (via Ebook Central)

Kaji_O'Grady, Sandra & Chris L. Smith, LabOratory: speaking of science and its architecture, The MIT Press, NA6751 .K35 2019

National Research Council, National Laboratories and Universities: Building New Ways to Work Together, 2005 (via Ebook Central)

Wessner, Charles W. (editor), Understanding research, science and technology parks, National Academies Press, 2009 (via Ebook Central)

Architectural Record Magazine, Buildings for research, F. W. Dodge, NA6751.A7 (Collection of projects circa 1958)

Brand, Stewart, Media Lab, Penguin Books, T171.M49B74 1988

Klonk, Charlotte (editor), New laboratories: historical and critical perspectives on contemporary developments, De Gruyter, NA6751 .N49 2016

“Laboratories for industry,” Architectural record, September 1955 (Theme issue)

Laboratory history,” Isis, December 2008 (Theme issue)

Latour, Bruno, Laboratory Life: the construction of scientific facts, Princeton University Press, QH315.L315 1986

Labs & scientific research buildings by discipline

American Astronomical Society

International Astronomical Union

List of astronomical observatories,” (Wikipedia)

Moore, Patrick & David Arditti, Setting-up a small observatory: from concept to construction, Springer, 2008 (via Ebook Central)

NASA, Portals to the universe: The NASA Astronomy Science Centers, National Academies Press, 2007 (via Ebook Central)

Newcomb, Simon, “Astronomical observatories,” The North American Review, August 1881, p.196-203 (PDF via Jstor)

Observatory,” Oxford Art Online

Rogers, Gordon, My heavens!: the adventures of a lonely stargazer building: an over-the-top observatory, Springer, 2008 (via Ebook Central)

Schwartzman, Arnold, Griffith Observatory: a celebration of its architectural splendor, Hennessey + Ingalls Books, QB82.L87 S33 2015

Volwahsen, Andreas, Cosmic architecture in India: the astronomical monuments of Maharaja Jai Singh II, Prestel, QB82.I4 V65 2001

Zimmerman, Robert, The universe in a mirror: the saga of the Hubble Telescope and the visionaries who built it, Princeton University Press, 2008 (via Ebook Central)

American Biological Safety Association

American Institute of Biological Sciences

Centers for Disease Control, Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories (BMBL), 5th ed., 2009

Harrison, Ariane Lourie, “Learning from laboratories,” Log, #21, Winter 2011, p.53-61 (On the pharmaceutical firm Novartis)

International Association of Biomedical Laboratory Science (IFBLS)

U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services, Food & Drug Administration, Good Laboratory Practices

Arthur, J. C., “Some Botanical Laboratories of the United States,” Botanical Gazette, December 1885, p.395-406 (PDF via Jstor)

Botanic Gardens Conservation International

Brown, Jane Roy, “Just add nature,” Landscape Architecture Magazine, May 2015, p.56, 58, 60-62, 64, 66 (On outdoor learning laboratories)

Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers (CGIAR)

Cultural and Historical Geographies of the Arboretum,” Garden history, v. 35, 2007 (Theme issue)

International Society for Biological & Environmental Repositories (ISBER)

Johnson, Lauri Macmillan, Creating outdoor classrooms: schoolyard habitats and gardens for the Southwest, University of Texas Press, 2008 (via Ebook Central)

American Chemical Society (ASC)

American Institute of Chemical Engineers

Chemistry laboratories” and “Chemical research institutes” (Wiki)

Hibbert, D. Brynn, Quality assurance for the analytical chemistry laboratory, Oxford University Press, 2007 (via Ebook Central)

National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health, Manual of Analytical Methods

 

National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)

National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Naval Research Laboratory (NRL)

National Research Council (U. S.), River science at the U.S. Geological Survey , National Academies Press, 2007 (via Ebook Central)

National Research Council (U. S.), Science at sea: meeting future oceanographic goals with a robust academic research fleet, National Academies Press, 2009 (via Ebook Central)

Schuler, Timothy, “Before and after Pearl Harbor,” Landscape Architecture Magazine, November 2017, p.102-117 (Plane hangars renovated into offices and labs)

Computing Research Association (CRA)

Harwood, John, “The White Room: Eliot Noyes and the Logic of the Information Age Interior,” Grey Room, Summer 2003, #12, p.5-31 (PDF via Jstor)

National Research Council, Assessment of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Information Technology Laboratory, National Academies Press, 2007 (via Ebook Central)

The Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) program

 “Thomas J. Watson Memorial Computer Laboratory,” Architectural Forum, September 1959, 115-123

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)

The Office of Experiments (UK-based group that maps military R&D sites)

U.S. research laboratories for the ArmyNavyAir Force (Wright-Patterson)  

American Institute of Physics

Calder, Barnabas, “Representing science: the architecture of the New Museums Site, Cambridge, 1952-71, 2013, #11, p.166-179 (PDF via Jstor)

Dackman, Linda, "An interview with Robert Wilson," Arts & Architecture, 1984, Vol.3, #1, (On Fermilab National Accelerator)

Dackman, Linda, “On the designing of a science museum and a particle accelerator laboratory,” Leonardo, 1984, Vol.17, #2, p.75-80

European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN)

Hoddleson, Lillian, et al, Fermilab: physics, the frontier, and megascience, University of Chicago Press, 2008 (via Ebook Central)

Lincoln, Don & Leon M. Lederman, Quantum frontier: the Large Hadron Collider, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009 (via Ebook Central)

Mackintosh, A. D., “Architectural problems in atomic labs,” Architectural Record, January 1952, p.59-164

U.S. Dept. of Energy laboratories

Adams, Constance, "Constance Adams," November 18, 2002 (via SCI-Arc Media Archive)

Cohen, Marc, "Marc Cohen: Space Station Design," May 28, 1985 (via SCI-Arc Media Archive)

Imhof, Barbara, “Dr. Barbara Imhof interview,” February 13, 2019 (via SCI-Arc Media Archive)

Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)

National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA)

“Space architecture: the new frontier for design research,” Architectural Design (AD), 2014, #6 (Theme issue)

Universities Space Research Association (USRA)

Braverman, Irus, “Nature as spectacle,” Topos, 2018, #101, p.80-85

Kohler, Robert E., Landscapes and labscapes: exploring the lab-field border in biology, University of Chicago Press, 2002 (via Ebook Central)

Lannoo, Michael J., The Iowa Lakeside Laboratory, a century of discovering the nature of nature, University of Iowa Press, 2012 (via Ebook Central)

Link, Theodore, “Zoological Gardens, a Critical Essay,” The American Naturalist, December 1883, p.1225-1229 (PDF via Jstor)

Rothfels, Nigel, Savages and Beasts: The Birth of the Modern Zoo, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002 (via Ebook Central)

Steiner, Hadas A., “For the Birds,” Grey Room, #13, Autumn 2003, p.5-31 (London Zoo, Lubetkin & the penguin pool)

Vetter, Jeremy, Knowing global environments: new historical perspectives on the field sciences, Rutgers University Press, 2010 (via Ebook Central)

Zoological garden,” Oxford Art Online

Labs & scientific research building topics A to Z

Laboratory Equipment Online

McMaster, Marvin C., Buying and selling laboratory instruments: a practical consulting guide, Wiley, 2010 (via Ebook Central)

Schaffer, Simon, “Easily Cracked: Scientific Instruments in States of Disrepair,” Isis, December 2011, p.706-717 (PDF via Jstor)

Taub, Liba, “Introduction: reengaging with instruments,” Isis, December 2011, p.689-696 (PDF via JSTOR)

DiBerardinis, Louis J., et al, Guidelines for laboratory design: health, safety, and environmental considerations, Wiley, TH4652 .G85 2013

Good nano guide,” (Oregon State University & National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health)

Laboratory safety training and guidelines” (Info & links from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences)

Laboratory safety standards,” (American National Standards Institute)

Search with alternative keywords

Accelerator laboratories, Aeronautical laboratories, Agricultural laboratories, Astronomical observatories, Atomic accelerators, Biological laboratories, Chemical laboratories, Computer centers, Electronics laboratories, Environmental laboratories, Geological laboratories, Medical laboratories, Meteorological stations, Metrology laboratories, Pharmaceutical laboratories, Planetariums, Research centers, Research facilities, Research parks, Space stations, Veterinary laboratories, Wildlife sanctuaries, Zoos

Please note

  • These guides are intended to provide initial orientation, and suggest a variety of different lines of investigation—not take the place of individual research.
  • All the resources cited here--print and digital--are available through the Kappe Library at SCI-Arc.Items not available at SCI-Arc are not included.
  • Surveys covering multiple projects are preferred over monographic studies focusing on specific works or individuals.
  • Resources on Los Angeles and Southern California are stressed.
  • Proprietary digital resources (Avery Index, Oxford Art Online, ArtStor, etc) can be accessed on-campus at SCI-ARC via any SCI-Arc internet provider. Off-campus they can be accessed 24/7 via the Kappe Library proxy server, and a valid SCI-Arc Network username and password.

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