Famed architect Eero Saarinen died on September 1, 1961. At the time of his death, one of his major projects was the The Bell Labs Holmdel Complex, in Holmdel Township. Bell Labs functioned for 44 years as a research and development facility, initially for the Bell System and later Bell Labs. The centerpiece of the campus is a Saarinen-designed structure that served as the home to more than 6,000 engineers and researchers. This modernist building, dubbed “The Biggest Mirror Ever” by Architectural Forum, due to its mirror box exterior, was the site of at least one Nobel Prize discovery, the laser cooling work of Steven Chu. The building has undergone renovations into a multi-purpose living and working space, dubbed Bell Works by its redevelopers. Since 2013 it has been a mixed-use office park for high-tech startup companies.
Sources: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Eero-Saarinen
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Bell-Laboratories
https://www.bell-labs.com/
Aerial photo of Bell Labs in Holmdel, The Oval. Created by Lee Beaumont. Public domain via Creative Commons.
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