Five things you may not know about the Wond’ry
Five Things You May Not Know About the Wond’ry
- The Wond’ry is not just for engineers.
I know, a building that is attached to Olin is going to look like it was made for engineers. When you add in the second-floor MakerSpace it seems almost inevitable that this space will be populated by students with more scientific interests. However, the Wond’ry is actually designed to serve all ten schools on Vanderbilt’s campus. Anyone can participate in the Wond’ry whether they want to attend a lecture on entrepreneurship, learn to sew, or decorate one of our whiteboards.
- The wood wall on the first floor is made from the trees that were on the space where the new building stands.
You may have learned in your Vanderbilt tour that our campus is a national arboretum and we take that very seriously. So when construction began on the Wond’ry, Vanderbilt looked for ways to preserve the trees that are so important to our campus. Over forty species of trees are represented in the reclaimed wood wall on the first level, all of which once stood on the space where we are located now.
- The staircase is a double helix DNA structure.
You may have learned in your biology class that DNA has a double helix shape. It is even possible that your professor compared the shape to a spiral staircase. However, even if you’ve been to the Wond’ry it’s possible that you’ve missed the double helix shape of our stairway. Next time you come to visit, look over the side of the stairs. This time you’ll see it.
- The sculpture at the base of the staircase was pulled out of the ground upon which the Wond’ry rests.
When the Wond’ry was being constructed, the builders needed to pull several large stones out of the ground to allow the building to access a tunnel that runs underneath Vanderbilt’s campus. This tunnel provides Vanderbilt’s buildings with access to amenities like electricity and steam. To remove these rocks, they would remove the core and pull them out of the ground. Once they were above ground they would be taken away. However, when the building’s architect saw these cored stones, he decided that they would make a beautiful sculpture for the building. It took an extra-strength crane to move the rocks to their current position, and they had to be placed there before building construction really began.
- The design of the room number signs was inspired by gel electrophoresis.
If you took biology here at Vanderbilt, you may be familiar with this scientific process. If you did not, here is the basic version: gel electrophoresis is a technique that separates charged molecules like DNA, RNA, etc. by their size. Next time you visit the Wond’ry, compare online pictures of these gels with the room number signs. There will be an uncanny resemblance. In addition, the colors for these signs were perfectly selected to match the exterior glass of the Wond’ry, symbolizing the combination of science and art that the building represents.
To learn more facts like these, come visit us at the Wond’ry or check us out online at https://www.vanderbilt.edu/thewondry/.
Laura Hillsman
Student Ambassador
Class of 2017