Gehry at MIT

by Michael J. Crosbie
The latest installment in a billiondollar construction program at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
has just opened on the Cambridge
campus, and it's unlike anything else
MIT has ever built.
The Ray and Maria Stata Center,
designed by Frank Gehry, is a
rambling collage of odds and ends
that now houses three MIT
departments: the Computer Sciences
and Artificial Intelligence
Laboratory, the Laboratory for
Information and Decision Systems, and
the Department of Linguistics and
Philosophy.

The Ray and Maria Stata

Center, on the MIT
campus, by Frank Gehry,
as seen from Vassar
Street at dusk.
Photo: Andy Ryan

The researchers and scientists who

work here pull apart the mysteries of
language, intelligence, and human
decision making, so Gehry's puzzle
palace seems just the right setting
for "pushing the envelope" of what we
know. At Stata, the envelope is
An entrance to the Gates
folded, torn, punched, warped,
Building, one of two
shredded, and crinkled.
Historians in the next century might
conclude that this particular Gehry
creation was a reflection of our
collective social anxiety a
building with twists and tilts
suggesting explosive alteration.
Gateway to Something New
The nearly three-acre (1.2-hectare)
Stata Center is located at the
northeast corner of the campus, which
MIT has planned as a new gateway to
the institute at the corner of Main
and Vassar streets. This 720,000square-foot (67,000-square-meter)
assemblage announces MIT's presence
and its renewed commitment to
building landmark architecture.
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towers of the Stata

Center.
Photo: Andy Ryan

Click on thumbnail
images
to view full-size pictures.

The variegated facades of brick,

painted aluminum, and stainless steel
are Gehry's own brand of contextual
design. There is a lot of brick here
because it is a common local
material, and he believes it will
give users something familiar to
relate to. The staggered wall planes
are meant to suggest, Gehry explains,
a condensed view of buildings on the
surrounding streets, as if you looked The Ray and Maria Stata
down the collection of facades
Center, on the MIT
through a long-range camera lens.
Sculptural pieces of building are
scattered around the complex and
contain special program spaces such
as lecture halls and common areas.
Each one has a name "nose," "kiva,"
"helmet," "heart," "Buddha," "star"
that suggests its shape, and also
helps you find your way around.

campus, by Frank Gehry,

as seen from the grand
staircase, with the
Dreyfoos Building to the
left.
Photo: Andy Ryan

Laurie Olin was the landscape

architect. On the building's south
side he crafted cascading, landscaped
plazas and gathering spaces of
different shapes and sizes that
should encourage full use.
One of the most important of these
spaces, an amphitheater, faces Main
Street. This space not only responds
to lunchtime use it is situated not
far from where lunch trucks pull up
every day but also offers a sunny
place where teaching and discussion
groups can take place.
Unraveling the Spatial Complexity
Conceptually, the plan and
organization are fairly
straightforward; the building just
looks confusing. There are two ninestory towers, each containing twostory lounges and gathering areas,
conceived as "neighborhoods" that
encourage informal interaction and

The view from the raised

terrace captures the
mirror finish of the "nose"
with its "whistle" in the
foreground and the Gates
Building beyond.
Photo: Andy Ryan

collaboration.
"Warehouse" spaces between the two
towers offer open space for labs that
can be reconfigured as the project
demands. There are also free spaces
known as "town squares" on the forth
and fifth floors to accommodate ad
hoc research groups working together.
On the ground level, the building is
like a light-filled, colorful cavern The yellow "kiva."
Photo: Andy Ryan
from one end to the other, allowing
students to walk through unimpeded on
their way to other campus
destinations. Here are found more
common spaces, lecture halls,
classrooms, and a daycare center.
This public street functions as part
of MIT's famous "infinite corridor,"
along which all the campus buildings
are connected.
The two towers are named Gates and
Dreyfoos after their major donors.
Former MIT architecture dean William
Mitchell, who is now the
architectural advisor to MIT's
president, notes that Gehry's
building is ideal for donor "naming
opportunities" because of all its
idiosyncratic pieces.

Stata Center landscaping

plan.
Image: Olin Partnership

Roughing It Inside
The building was constructed for a
reputed $300 million about $415 per
square foot, including an underground
parking garage that was added after
the building was designed. Yet Stata Looking out from the
does not have the high-quality
fourth floor of the
interior finishes that you might
Dreyfoos Building toward
expect for such an investment.
There is a lot of gypsum board and
plywood, which is meant to
communicate the sense of unfinished
architecture that Gehry says he was
looking for. The architect didn't
want the occupants to think that the
building was too precious to change.
He wants scientists, students, and
researchers to feel free to punch
holes through partitions, commandeer
spaces, and use the building in ways

the Gates Building.

Photo: Andy Ryan

that could not be foreseen.

The concept of "assigned space" seems
counterproductive and alien to the
work that goes on inside of Stata.
Instead, there are numerous little
lofts, corner pockets of space around
a table, and open areas where one can
readily plug into power outlets and
computer networks.
The idea is for people to constantly
modify their working arrangements,
and for them to occupy the space in
ways that are always temporary,
governed by the particular way they
are working at the moment. As those
arrangements and collaborations
change and adjust according to the
direction of the work, the open
nature of the building allows new
work configurations to emerge.
Such an ad hoc, changeable, temporary
approach to research should invite
scientists and researchers to let go
of old ideas and look for new
connections. The Stata Center's many
glazed walls inside, with views
between spaces, and from work areas
to circulation areas, are perfect for
symbolizing such connections across
disciplines. The hope is that great
science can be facilitated by chance
meetings on a staircase or casual
observations and musing over a
sandwich and a cup of coffee.
Gehry's design succeeds in giving
form to the notions of the "unformed"
and the serendipitous exchange.
Research that pushes the boundaries
is a chaotic business, and it now has
a building by Gehry to match.
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Michael J. Crosbie is editor-in-chief

of Faith & Form, a senior associate
with Steven Winter Associates, and a
contributing editor to
ArchitectureWeek.

Skylights bring light into

multilevel lab spaces and
surrounding corridors.
Photo: Andy Ryan

The student street in the

Dreyfoos Building near
the entrance of the
childcare facility.
Photo: Andy Ryan

One of many connective

spaces between labs,
offering areas for casual
meetings, classes,
impromptu conversations,
and views to the rest of
the Stata Center.
Photo: Andy Ryan

Click on thumbnail
images
to view full-size pictures.