The SDAF and O&O Organizing Committee are pleased to announce the debut of our O&O offspring, Blooms & Bulbs. This segment will regularly feature two nominations in the O&O website and newsletter - one Bloom (Orchid) and one Bulb (Onion) plucked from the current crop of nominations, all year round. Selected Blooms & Bulbs may be top contenders for the year's big awards, be generating lots of discussion on the website, or may simply be notable nominations worthy of highlighting. It's just another way to keep you apprised and in touch with the hothouse of topics of which the O&O conversation is comprised.

This month's Bloom:
The Robert Paine Scripps Center at UCSD

Located virtually on the beach just south of the pier at the Scripps Institute for Oceanography, this state of the art teaching and conference center is also an unimposing and relaxed retreat where the brightest minds can gather to tackle some of our planet’s greatest scientific challenges.

Architects Safdie Rabines acknowledged the preciousness of the oceanfront site and worked hard to reduce the scale of the complex and preserve ocean views.

Composed as a group of small pavilions connected by trellises, the center provides opportunities between the buildings, on patios and roof terraces to interact with the surrounding environment. The largest of the pavilions contains a 275-seat main auditorium, which was partially sunken into the ground to reduce its bulk. Four smaller meeting room pavilions stretch out along the beachfront, each of which can open up to the sea breeze. The building does not have a front and a back – all four sides of the complex are seen from every angle and were designed accordingly – a challenge that the architects rose to. Like many of the other buildings on campus, wood was used – specifically sustainably harvested teak, to provide longevity in the harsh ocean front environment. The $12.5 million complex was completed in March 2009.

The nominator writes that “this conference center is a calm, unpretentious, elegant addition to the campus and the coastline”. We couldn’t agree more.

What do you think?

Read about, see additional photos and comment on the nomination here.

Read on for the August Bulb...