Watson Facility History
On February 6, 1945, Nicholas Murray Butler, president of Columbia University, and Thomas J. Watson Sr., president of IBM, jointly announced the formation of the Watson Scientific Computing Laboratory at Columbia University.
The official news release stated, "the laboratory is designed not only to increase the already notable contribution of high efficiency calculating machines to the war effort, but by a broad interest in the computational problems of all branches of the physical and social sciences to strengthen the scientific and educational foundations of our national security and the welfare and peace of the world."
The Watson Scientific Computing Laboratory was formed on New York City's West 116th Street in 1945. |
In 1953, the Watson Lab expanded to 115th Street. This facility ended operations in 1970. |
Former Robert S. Lamb estate near Ossining N.Y. became the temporary Research Headquarters in 1957 in anticipation of
the planned move to Yorktown Heights.
Yorktown Heights Facility
Constructed: 1957-1961
"The building was curved in a crescent, following the configuration of the hill. It is planned so that this curve can embrace the hill even further by extending the crescent in its future expansion. I think it looks well wedded to its site and that the crescent form gives nice, changing aspects.", documented chief architect Eero Saarinen on T.J. Watson Research Laboratory on April 17, 1961.
Architect: Eero Saarinen (1910-1961)
Born in Helsinki on August 20, 1910, he emigrated with his family to the United States in 1923. His father was a celebrated Finnish architect and the first President of the Cranbrook Academy of Art, Eliel Saarinen.
Initially, Saarinen studied sculpture at the Académie de la Grande Chaumiére in Paris (1930-31) and later architecture at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, graduating in 1934. He received Charles O. Matcham Fellowship there which enabled him to travel to Europe (1934-36). On his return, he worked in his father's architectural firm, Bloomfield Hills (1936-50). He became the principal partner of Eero Saarinen & Associates (1950-61). In 1937, he began a collaboration with Charles Eames which culminated in a series of highly progressive and prize-winning furniture designs for The Museum of Modern Art´s 1940 "Organic Design in Home Furnishings" competition. He designed the Watson Research Center in 1957 and it was completed in 1961.
Some of his other architectural projects include the TWA terminal at John F. Kennedy Airport, New York (1956-62), the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in St. Louis Missouri (1948-64) and the M.I.T. Auditorium and Chapel in Cambridge, M.A. (1950-55).
The Thomas J. Watson Research Center was established in Yorktown Heights, N.Y. in 1961
The Watson Research Center was expanded to the Hawthorne facility, designed by Michael Harris Spector, in 1984.