Mellon Institute

Sixty-two monolithic limestone columns wrap around the Mellon Institute in a continuous, unbroken line. This building holds the record for having the largest single-piece columns in the world, each carved from a solid block of Indiana limestone weighing sixty tons. Andrew Mellon commissioned the structure in nineteen thirty-seven to house his industrial research laboratory. When the architects began work, they insisted on this heavy classical style, even though modern glass and steel designs were already becoming common for research facilities downtown.