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A castle for the community

Mar 28, 2008
By Mark Noack





		An artist's rendering of the castle that will become the new center for the American Institute of Mathematics.
		Photo by: Special to The Times








		Brian Conrey shakes hands with AIM board of trustees member Dr. Harry Saul during the ground breaking for the new AIM facility in Morgan Hill.
		Photo by: File Photo








		Congressman Jerry McNerney has been a supporter of the math institute moving to Morgan Hill.
		Photo by: File Photo








		John Fry also owns a golf course in Morgan Hill in which he hopes to host a PGA tournament in 2010 if an environmental impact report is approved.
		Photo by: File Photo

Home to high-tech industry, cutting-edge technology, and all the latest knick-knacks of contemporary culture - Morgan Hill is truly a modern city.

And for John Fry and Steve Sorenson, that means Morgan Hill now needs a medieval castle.

Fry and Sorenson - the namesake founder of Fry's Electronics and an executive of the company, respectively - are designing an Iberian castle in the eastern foothills that will become the new center for the American Institute of Mathematics (AIM), a research think tank founded in 1994 by the two businessmen.

Planners behind the construction say this new $50-million structure brings an array of benefits for Morgan Hill. As a world-class math research center, the new building will draw top-notch intellectuals and international attention in the academic community. Meanwhile, as an exhaustive representation of medieval architecture, the new castle will be a unique landmark that will be a magnet for visitors, enthusiasts - and perhaps money for the local economy.

"When it is finished, this building will be a great architecture timepiece that will stay with Morgan Hill from then on," said Scott Stotler, an architectural consultant for the project. "This building is unique enough that there's nothing like it."

According to Stotler, the building is modeled after the Alhambra castle in Granada, Spain. Originally built in the 13th century by the Moors, the fortress castle in Southern Spain has gone through various expansions and redesigns as various kings and armies captured it and redecorated it according to their native culture. The Alhambra castle has remained intact to this day and is considered to be a prime example of both Muslim and Western architecture.

"This building was ahead of it time," Stotler said. "800 years ago it had running water from the Sierra Nevada mountains in Spain."

Probably better known today than the castle, the Alhambra water company takes its name from the castle, which used an elaborate underground aquifer system to purify water.

The nearly 800-year-old castle is also beloved by mathematicians for being a geometric marvel. The fortress' numerous columns, arabesques and pools are considered to be a mathematical symphony.

"The geometric progression throughout the tile patterns, the inlaid ceilings, even the rooms and the connections to the rooms are created as a result of some math formulas," Stotler said. "In many aspects the architecture ties into math."

The Morgan Hill castle is not intended to perfectly match the original, Stotler said, but rather it will be designed in the style of the Alhambra. Spanish craftsmen are being hired to help design an authentic representation of the Alhambra, Stotler said.

Brian Conrey, AIM's executive director, says that the group's new center in Morgan Hill will bring an educational boost to the community. The institute has already helped organize events in Morgan Hill, such as the Math Mardi Gras, a friendly math competition for students in grades second through 12, which has been held annually since 2006.

"There's a broad range of activities that are already going on," Conrey said. "We expect these to continue to grow as we move into the new facility."

The AIM has also held public talks in the Morgan Hill community center. Future public events, Conrey said, will be held in the castle facility in a large theater.

"The AIM facility will make Morgan Hill a destination," Conrey said. "It will enhance the quality of life, and it will be something that people can be proud of; they will want to see the facility. That will translate into a benefit for the whole community."

Steven Krantz, AIM's deputy director, says that research is only one part of the institute's mission, which also includes various outreach and educational goals. For example, AIM has sponsored the Math Counts competition and helped pay for Morgan Hill students to participate to compete against other Bay Area students.

"Getting involved in math is a long term commitment because it requires many years of study and work," Krantz said. "You have to show kids the reward of math early on."

But Krantz says that for the resident mathematicians, the new 160,000-square-foot facility will be a whole order of magnitude better than the institute's current center, a modest 8,000-square foot building in Palo Alto. Krantz predicts that with the new facility should attract a host of highly skilled mathematicians from around the world, which could lead to a stronger pool of professionals for local businesses.

"You could say that it will help us," said Deborah Morton, director of human resources for the Anritsu Corporation facility in Morgan Hill. "In terms of hiring qualified engineers and getting more students interested in mathematics, ultimately we could benefit from that."

Congressman Jerry McNerney also believes having a math think tank will bring a short-term economic boost for Morgan Hill. But McNerney, one of only two House members with a doctorate in mathematics, says the real benefit for Morgan Hill will come years down the road.

"As scholars from around the world visit the facility and have the opportunity to study, collaborate, and make important mathematical breakthroughs, it will distinguish Morgan Hill for centuries," McNerney wrote in an email.

Construction for the new castle-facility is expected to be completed in 2009.

Mark Noack
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