The brick ventilation accents embody the way in which Cummings incorporates utility and architectural design.

One of the many architectural innovations supporting the laboratories in the Cummings Life Science Center is the exhaust system housed in the 40 towers that extend upward along the exterior of the building.

Completed: 1973

Architect: I. W. Colburn in collaboration with Schmidt, Garden & Erikson and Harold H. Hellman

Address: 920 E. 58th St.

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Nestled among science buildings such as Hinds Laboratory for the Geophysical Sciences and the Kersten Physics Teaching Center, Cummings Life Science Center rises 11 stories above them. In order to vent the exhausted air rising from lower levels, 40 towers extend upwards along the exterior of the building. They have been compared to both a remnant of 1960s Brutalism and, with their brick-covered vent accents, a fortress-like castle in the Italian countryside.

Cummings serves as the home for the Departments of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology, Microbiology, and Human Genetics. Supported by 44 environmental rooms where temperature and humidity are closely controlled, the laboratories in Cummings facilitate key research on topics including advanced biological research.