thickeye

Stata.Center

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My first roommate after college whom I shared a flat with in silverlake / los angeles was a junior, junior model builder at Frank O. Gehry & Associates. I remember that the first project that worked on, worked 50+ hours a week on, was building endlessly changing scale models for a new building at MIT. I remember seeing pictures of the models he would show me and thinking, ehhh, it's aiiiight, but a bit over the top for my taste (which tends to run towards buildings with clean, clinical lines of light awash over spare landscapes of organic materials).

Over the weekend I had reason to travel up to boston to visit family and I made sure to drop in and see how MIT's Stata Center turned out. After seeing it in its final built form, while I am doubtlessly 'wowed' I think my final analysis remains the same as my initial reaction- 'turn down the volume'.

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Obviously the building is a picture slut, lusting for attention, licking it's lips as it stares into the camera. Beyond that... Well it does burst out at you, at least toward the back side here, frozen energy, excitement and ideas barely able to contain themselves within the walls, idea's bursting forth... If that seems a bit transparent, well... yea. It is. What you cannot see from these pictures I took are the buildings innards which mean to provide lots of 'common working area' for the exchange of thoughts and ideas across departments and disciplines. It's all a bit 1998.


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It is interesting to note that the building is built where MIT's famed Building 20 used to stand. That building, an ad hoc, 'temporary' building which stood from 1943-1998 was only supposed to be around until the second world war ended. I wonder if the new center produces even a fraction of the scientific creativity that the first one did, creativity that many occupants felt stemmed from the building's temporary, un-sacred, and breakable nature.

update:I forgot to mention my fav. part: open access wireless network was all around the building, and yes I am a dork for dragging my powerbook there to check...

Posted by thickeye at June 6, 2004 10:39 PM | TrackBack