Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
taining the performance taking place in the front region.
11
As Goffman
notes,
it is apparent that the backstage character of certain places is
built into them in a material way, and that relative to adjacent
areas these places are inescapably back regions. . . . Employers
complete the harmony for us by hiring persons with undesir-
able visual attributes for back region work, placing persons who
“make a good impression” in the front regions.
12
While I by no means wish to suggest that workers at 320 Charles
have “undesirable visual attributes,” there are many ways in which the
relationship between the two Broad buildings maps onto the division
between Goffman's front and back regions. First, the locations of the
two buildings make their relative status clear. 7CC is a front region,
designed for showing off biological work to scientifi c and nonscientifi c
visitors. As a showpiece of Kendall Square, its grand, glassy lobby is
designed to create and sell an image of biological work. 320 Charles, on
the other hand, is sequestered in an industrial zone. The technical work
of this back region sustains the performance of 7CC.
Second, 7CC and 320 Charles differ in terms of access. The former
appears open and welcoming to the visitor—anyone can wander into
the lobby to peruse the sequencing “museum” or the televisual display.
Although access to the upper fl oors is controlled, scientifi c visitors are
afforded offi ce space and free movement about the informal meeting
spaces, kitchens, balcony garden, and library. 320 Charles, on the other
hand, appears almost totally closed off: there are few exterior windows,
access to any part of the building is by ID card only, doors are moni-
tored by security cameras, and the interior space is closed off and hard
to navigate. Biological laboratory safety designations (BL1, BL2, BL2
)
further designate spaces that only individuals with certain levels of train-
ing are permitted to enter. Third, human traffi c between the two labo-
ratories is controlled—few individuals fi nd the need to regularly make
the ten-minute walk from one building to the other. In this way, 320
Charles remains remarkably hidden and cut off from its counterpart.
13
Robert Tullis, one of the principal architects for the 7CC building,
told me that Eric Lander wanted 7CC to be a space in which many dif-
ferent types of people could be comfortable: undergraduate and gradu-
ate students, senior faculty scientists, software engineers, consultants,
and visitors from the NIH and NSF. Lander wanted a “sock track”
around each fl oor of the building—a “racetrack corridor” that one
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