Housing research laboratories associated with the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, the John W. Eckstein Medical Research Building plays an important role in scientific and educational missions of the University of Iowa. Named after an alumnus of the University’s medical school and residency program, a professor of internal medicine, and dean of the medical college from 1970 until 1990, the building contains research laboratories for molecular biology, immunology, and genetic engineering.
Rising above a podium created by the passageway connecting three Carver College of Medicine buildings, the Eckstein Medical Research Building is a Late Modern structure of monolithic proportions and impressive massing. Underscaled ribbon windows with horizontally reticulated panes also enhance the impression of size, as do the bands of gray and red-glazed tiles that give the building a layered effect. To the right of the building, a gabled brick gateway leads to a courtyard linking Eckstein with the College of Medicine Administration Building. The sculpture there is one of the last created by artist Robert Arneson, who was ill with terminal cancer while working on the commission. Arneson’s work forms a mirrored gateway in imitation of the brick portal leading to a passageway between Eckstein and the College of Medicine Administration Building. The artist’s conception of the human figure as a pillar is echoed by the pilotis supporting the passage behind.