NEW FACILITIES FOR PENN ENGINEERING

Levine Hall
April 9 marked the dedication of the Melvin J. and Claire Levine Hall. Proudly aglow on our cover, Levine is our own “Mondrian painting”—an exquisite work of vertical and horizontal design. The new structure, which conveniently links the Towne and Moore Buildings, is now home to the Department of Computer and Information Science. In addition to delighting its occupants, Levine Hall continues to garner architectural laurels. At the recent awards ceremony of the Philadelphia section of the American Institute of Architects it received the 2003 Honor Award, the top honor. The competition was severe—the field included all buildings, anywhere, designed by any Philadelphia-area architects. The Levine design, which will now go to a national competition, had already been cited in 2001 as best in the “unbuilt” category. The new Accenture Cyber Cafe opened early this fall in the space of the old Towne garage. It provides fresh-roasted coffees, teas and breakfast and lunch items and has become a great place for students to meet or lounge in comfortable chairs while enjoying wireless access.

Skirkanich Hall
The ceremonial groundbreaking for Skirkanich Hall, the future home of bioengineering, took place on October 17. The celebration honored Pete and Geri Skirkanich, whose $10 million enabling gift was supplemented by a major award from the Whitaker Foundation. The architects for Penn Engineering’s newest building, to be raised on the site of the old Pender Laboratory, are the husband-and-wife New York team of Tod Williams and Billie Tsien. Williams and Tsien are the designers of the Neurosciences Institute at La Jolla, California, and New York’s American Folk Art Museum for which they won the Arup 2001 World Architecture Award for “best new building in the world.” Williams and Tsien are known for their detailed attention to all aspects of a building. Their design for Skirkanich Hall meets a number of demanding conditions: provides state-of-the-art laboratory and office space, improves circulation through the Engineering complex, creates a grand entrance to it from 33rd Street, and endows it with a superb “living room” at its center, the Quain Quadrangle.