“A project of this scale and complexity, which demands a design sensibility informed by both art and technology — along with a deep understanding of architecture education as well as the role of public space — is made for a firm like DS+R,” says Hashim Sarkis, dean of the School of Architecture and Planning. — MIT News
The MIT school of architecture, which has long been dispersed across the campus, will soon have a central base in a large brick warehouse across the street on Massachusetts Avenue. Diller Scofidio + Renfro, the New York-based architecture firm responsible for Boston's Institute of Contemporary Art and Moscow's Zaryadye Park, have recently been announced as the project leader for the renovation of Met Warehouse.
According to the MIT News, "the proposed renovations would preserve the structure’s distinctive external features and create 200,000 square feet of state-of-the-art interior spaces including classrooms, studios, workshops, galleries, and an auditorium." The conceptual design work has yet to be developed.
I'd love to see this renovation make creative use of atria + light wells. Hopefully they'll preserve a decent amount of the skin. It's such an excellent presence on Vassar St.
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If it fails they could pretend it is a castle and film Monty Python skits there. Or Bud Lite commercials.
The Amazon-ification of architecture. Put it in a warehouse.
Nice to see some adaptive reuse rather than some idiotic budget-busting starchitect wet dream.
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I like this. Compare with MIT's Building 20:
It was a rough, hurried construction built during World War II and allowed to stand after the war to handle the rush of veterans returning to school. Its design was illogical and haphazard, as it developed quickly to meet a variety of pressing needs. It not only housed several different scientific disciplines, but also was the first site for the newly formed Linguistic Department—and Noam Chomsky—as well as student clubs.
http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/mithistory/building20/index.html
From Jonah Lehrer, “Groupthink,” The New Yorker 5/19/13:
"Building 20 became a strange, chaotic domain, full of groups who had been thrown together by chance and who knew little about one another’s work. And yet, by the time it was finally demolished, in 1998, Building 20 had become a legend of innovation, widely regarded as one of the most creative spaces in the world.
"The space also forced solitary scientists to mix and mingle.
"The building’s horizontal layout also spurred interaction. Brand quotes Henry Zimmerman, an electrical engineer who worked there for years: 'In a vertical layout with small floors, there is less research variety on each floor. Chance meetings in an elevator tend to terminate in the lobby, whereas chance meetings in a corridor tended to lead to technical discussions.' The urban theorist Jane Jacobs described such incidental conversations as 'knowledge spillovers.'"
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/01/30/120130fa_fact_lehrer?currentPage=all
Then compare with Gehry's Ray and Maria Stata Center.
Let the occupants, the users, define creative quality and not vice versa.
Another view gives a sense of what they have to work with:
A more interesting building than might first appear.
Light will be a problem. I assume the renovation will be fire proof as well.
They'll have to sandblast the signage off if it isn't.
I'd love to see this renovation make creative use of atria + light wells. Hopefully they'll preserve a decent amount of the skin. It's such an excellent presence on Vassar St.
I hope they keep the sign. Imagine in similar large block letters:
SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
FIRE PROOF
I like the brick mass. There's a bit to work with here. Palazzo Vecchio influence on the warehouse, or similar (diluted)?
A last thought. Modern architecture gets much of its impact from juxtaposition and contrast with older buildings. When the older buildings are demolished it loses this impact. This large building will also create a canvas for whatever comes next around it. And the brick will set off and accent glass and steel.
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