A. N. Richards medical research laboratories

Louis Kahn – University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA, 1957-1965

Richards Medical Research Laboratories, located on the University of Pennsylvania campus in Philadelphia, were designed by architect Louis Kahn and are considered a turning point in his career. The building is configured as a group of laboratory towers with a central service tower. The brick towers on the sides contain the stairs and air ducts, producing an effect reminiscent of the ancient Italian towers that Kahn had painted several years before.

Rather than being supported by a hidden steel structure, the building has a clearly visible reinforced concrete structure that is openly displayed. Built with precast concrete elements with precision, the techniques used in its construction have advanced the state of the art of reinforced concrete.

Despite the obvious shortcomings, this building has helped to create new directions for modern architecture with its clear expression of served spaces and servants and its evocation of the architecture of the past. The Richards Laboratories, along with the related Goddard Laboratories, also designed by Kahn and treated by architectural historians as the second phase of the Richards project, have been designated as National Historic Landmark.