Whenever I entertain visitors from out of town, I take them to see the MIT building in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that I call “The Crazy Building” —more commonly known as the Stata Center. It never fails to get a “Wow” from them. Architecture has tremendous influence on the people and activity around it and this building pushes way beyond the square, drab boxes we usually see on engineering school campuses. The photo at left is a view of the building from the side and is not—I repeat, is not—photoshopped. The Stata Center is a good example of unconventional thinking and design. Boston Globe correspondent Robert Campbell has a lengthy write-up in defense of the building, which opened to some hoots and jeers three years ago. Campbell reviews how the structure is designed to foster communication between separate groups and encourage creative thinking. Large portions of the structure remain unassigned (“unprogrammed space”) for future use, which encourages creative reclamation. All in all, it’s a pretty cool way to think about and create livable, usable space.
In Defense of Unconventional Architecture
