Some thoughts on Novartis.

From “Head­line goes here,” The Tech, Novem­ber 9, 2001:

In 1996, the Mass­a­chu­setts Avenue fac­tory unveiled its highly rec­og­niz­able water tower, which resem­bles a roll of Necco wafers. The tower, which com­mem­o­rates the company’s 150th anniver­sary, will remain part of the Cam­bridge sky­line after Necco moves.

From “Candy Coated Power-Cleaning Clears Way for Labs at Old Necco Fac­tory,” The Boston Globe, July 9, 2003:

DSF and its archi­tect, Ed Tsoi of the Cam­bridge firm Tsoi/Kobus & Asso­ciates, are pre­serv­ing the building’s exte­rior, includ­ing the water tower painted to look like a giant roll of Necco wafers. Because of those efforts, the build­ing will be placed on the National Reg­is­ter of His­toric Places, earn­ing a tax credit equal to 20 per­cent of the ren­o­va­tion cost.

My how short the col­lec­tive atten­tion span of Cam­bridge is. Less than a year later, with echoes of the Nike “swoosh” story (a stu­dent designed it for $35 in 1971), they enlisted the help of the MIT Museum to solicit designs from area stu­dents. And now they’ve gone and painted it with an (admit­tedly taste­ful) double-helix. I won­der if Novar­tis gave back their $40 mil­lion tax break. Ha.

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