Founder of Salk Institute Helps in Ground-Breaking

Salk Institute founder Jonas Salk on Thursday took part in a ground-breaking ceremony for a new building at the world-reknowned research institution’s bluff-top campus in La Jolla.

The $21-million building will be erected to the east of the critically acclaimed structure designed by architect Louis I. Kahn. It will house 113,000 square feet of research laboratories, meeting and office space.

Salk described the addition as fitting for “a place that could bring out the best in some of the best minds that could be brought together.”

The addition earlier had prompted some observers to complain that the proposed building would detract from Kahn’s original design. The existing Salk campus recently was awarded the American Institute of Architects’ prestigious “Twenty-five Year Award,” which is given each year to a building project completed at between 25 and 30 years ago.

On Thursday, architect John E. MacAllister, who designed the addition, suggested that the new building would both pay homage to Kahn’s original buildings as well as give administrators and staff much-needed space. MacAllister worked with Kahn on the original buildings nearly 30 years ago.

Salk President-elect Brian E. Henderson described the building as providing “much-needed space as we approach the 21st Century.”