:: August 2006 ::Caltech’s Architectural ConductorBonnie Khang-Keating orchestrates the construction of new buildings — and the renovation of historic ones — at Caltech.text Teena Apeles photo Evans Vestal Ward
The California Institute of Technology is about to get some exciting additions — and it’s not new faculty making the headlines in this case. The school is gearing up for the construction of three new buildings: the Walter and Lenore Annenberg Center for Information Science and Technology, the Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, and the Warren and Katharine Schlinger Laboratory for Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. And some big names are involved in the development of them, including Rem Koolhaas and Thom Mayne, both recipients of the Pritzker Prize, the most prestigious award for architecture. There’s also the firm of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, which designed the Pixar Studios and Headquarters and several Apple stores in the United States and abroad. Bonnie Khang-Keating, Caltech’s director of the Department of Major Projects, gets to work with all of them. Khang-Keating joined Caltech just over two years ago and is responsible for running capital projects, namely new construction and major renovation projects with budgets in the millions. It’s a demanding workload, but she is no stranger to ventures of this magnitude. As an architect who has worked at some of the biggest architecture firms in the country — and even owns her own firm, Keating/Khang Architecture, with her husband, Richard Keating, in Pasadena — she has managed the construction of skyscrapers, laboratories and hospitals as close to home as downtown Los Angeles and as far away as Seoul, Korea, where she was born. Prior to joining Caltech, Khang-Keating had been practicing architecture with her husband for several years. When she became pregnant with their second child, she decided she wanted to try something else. So she left the jet-setting architect life, which required her to travel four days a week, for the Caltech position that allowed her more time with her family and challenged her professionally. “I think this position is very unique,” she says. “Rather than practicing architecture, I’m the owners’ representative, and I’m able to use all of my skills that I have learned over the past 15 years to do something that is more than about one building — it’s about designing a campus.” One of the first projects she worked on at Caltech was the renovation of an undergraduate residence, a historic building designed by celebrated architect Gordon Kaufmann. Los Angeles–based Pfeiffer Partners, which did the renovation and expansion of the L.A. Central Library, is doing this project, and it should be completed by the end of the year. Then there are the new buildings that Khang-Keating and the Caltech faculty hope will further enrich life on campus and add to the long tradition of exceptional architecture there. “A lot of the community has a very nostalgic kind of image of Caltech being Spanish arches and red-tile roofs, but if you actually wander through the campus, we have numerous types of design and architecture styles,” she says. Currently in its initial design stage, the Warren and Katharine Schlinger Laboratory for Chemistry and Chemical Engineering is being designed by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson. Caltech’s main criteria in selecting the firm were its excellence in design and technical lab experience. Thom Mayne of Morphosis is the lead architect for the Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics. “[He] had this idea of having almost a telescope within a building, and that would become a metaphor for the design and an analogy to what the astrophysicists actually do in the building,” explains Khang-Keating, who is thrilled that they just received final design approval from the City of Pasadena Design Commission. Rem Koolhaas’ firm, OMA (Office for Metropolitan Architecture), is heading the design of the Annenberg Center for Information Science and Technology. Koolhaas and Mayne are certainly among the world’s most cutting-edge architects, and that is exactly what Caltech wants. “When we selected Morphosis and OMA, this was really a vision primarily led by the president and key faculty members who felt that with Caltech — which is the leading institution for science and technology — the buildings should reflect what we do inside,” says Khang-Keating. “So having a modern building, using technology and materials that are new and inventive in the same way that we are researching all those ideas in science, was important.” Khang-Keating talks about the projects with complete enthusiasm, but stresses the collaboration necessary to bring them to fruition. “I think everyone comes out of architecture school thinking, ‘I’m gonna be a world-famous signature designer.’ But I really think architecture is a team effort,” she says. “You want the designer to be able to design the best building. … I think orchestrating that and making sure that we meet the pragmatic parameters like budget and schedule and everything else, that’s what I think produces the best building.” The faculty, for instance, had a tremendous amount of input into the development of the Annenberg Center, whose design themes include flexibility and collaboration. There will be a lot of natural light and many areas to congregate in the building per their request, and environmental issues, such as economical use of electricity, are also part of the plan. “[The faculty] are all coming from multiple disciplines, but they all have one thing in common, which is sharing information and technology and how information is exchanged,” says Khang-Keating. With so many projects at multiple stages, Khang-Keating’s days are understandably hectic. “I arrive quite early, around 7:30 or 8 a.m., and have a day full of meetings … and workshops with various architects,” she says. “So what I have to do is juggle my schedule to attend these workshops that can sometimes last from eight in the morning until five at night.” Of course, she has an amazing network of people to support her. “I work very closely with my project managers to oversee [each] design and ensure that all the users’ needs have been met, making sure that we’re listening to the faculty and have conducted enough user-faculty group meetings to get information to the architect,” says Khang-Keating, who also reconciles budgets and makes sure the projects are delivered on schedule and receive the proper approvals. The self-professed workaholic compares her job to that of a conductor of an orchestra. “Everyone has their role, so I need to make sure that every single aspect of the building is addressed, from structural engineering to mechanical engineering to architecture, landscape and campus planning.” And with an institution the size of Caltech and millions of dollars on the line, there are many people to consult: the faculty, the senior administration (the president, provost and vice president), the board and the building and grounds crew, to name a few. “At the end of the day I need to make sure that we produce and get the best building for our campus,” says Khang-Keating. “It’s a huge team effort with the architects, the contractors, Caltech representatives, all working together…. You don’t just get a great building by hiring a great architect.” Apart from her projects, simply being part of the Caltech family is rewarding. “There is no other campus that compares to ours in terms of science and research and the quality and the value of our faculty,” she says. That’s why it makes her laugh when people tell her how it must be so wonderful to have a job that involves working with famous architects and firms. “It’s more exciting to sit across the table from Professor [Robert] Grubbs, who won the Nobel Prize [in chemistry], or these faculty who are finding cures for AIDS and cancer and dealing with environmental issues,” she confesses. “I think what makes Caltech so wonderful is the caliber of the people I have the opportunity to work with, the researchers.” And Khang-Keating hopes that in her role as “conductor,” she can help create spaces where these people can prosper. “If the faculty and students of Caltech can continue to use these buildings to discover new science and technology, and [the buildings] add to the architectural value of Caltech and the community of Pasadena, then I think it’s been a success.” © 2006 Southland Publishing |