Herbarium Building

Vertical Beauty 

The Herbarium Building (built from 1959-1962) is representative of post-war modernism. This stands for 'honest' architecture in which the structure must be clearly recognisable and legible. In this case, a series of concrete trusses, stylised hands, can be seen to lift the building to a higher level. The building has a loop-shaped floor plan. In its original form, Le Corbusier's influence was still clearly visible, as the ground floor was an open gallery which was later closed off. The airy, playful character was lost as a result. 

The four-storey main building houses the library and administration. The rest of the building, which is Y-shaped, houses the researchers and the herbarium for the vascular plants. In 1987, a new herbarium building was added to the old one to house the collection of cryptogams.