IA LABORATORY EXTENSION
Raymond I-Chen Pan
B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California
Santa Barbara, California
June 1994
SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE
IN PARTIAL FUFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE
AT THE
MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
FEBRUARY 1999
Signature of the Author
ymond I. Pan, Department of Architecure
January 15, 1999
Certified by:
William Porter
Professor of Architecture and Planning
esis,Supervisor
Accepted By:
-- Hasan-Uddin Khan
Chairman, DepartmentalCommittee on GraduateStudies
@1999 Raymond Pan. All Rights Reserved The author hereby grants to MIT perm
thesis document in whole or in part
AUT10"4
OF TECHNOLOGY
MAR 0 3 1999
LIBRARIES
Hgq ibute publicly paper and electronic copies of this
4OTCH
Thesis Advisor
William Porter
Professor of Architecture
Thesis Readers
Michael McKinnell
Professorof Architecture
Julie Dorsey
Associate Professor of Architecture
I would like to deeply express my gratitude to my critics, Professor William Porter, Professor Michael
Mckinnell, and Professor Julie Dorsey for their guidance and patience throughout the semester.
I also would like to thank the MIT Department of Architecure for offering me the opportunity to complete
the degree.
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Media Laboratory Extension
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Raymond Pan
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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Submitted to the Department ofArchitecture on
January15, 1999 in partialfulfillment
of the requirements of the degree of
aMaster ofArchitecure
Buildings, serve in the real world, inevitably acquire or become involved in new proposals of meanings all the time. Their identities and expressions are constantly under scrutiny in the tide of changes. This
thesis, through the design of a building extension, intends to explore the art of architectural additions. As the
design project, it will reexamine the design of Media Laboratory at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
and subsequently proposes a design for the extension to the existing lab.
The design of the lab was carried out by I.M. Pei & Partners in collaboration with a group of artists;
a design move underlining the basic philosophy of the lab, integration of Arts and Media Technology. The
Lab is located at the gateway of the MIT East Campus housing the MIT Council for the Arts, the Media
Laboratory, and the List Visual Art Center. While Media Lab's success in producing high-end media technology is readily apparent, its critics still wonders on how much its current physical setting is actually supporting its success.
Given the unique task of marrying Arts and media technology under a single roof, the building has,
since the first unveiling of its design, coaxed extensive discussion about the design's appropriateness and
workability. Not only did its Critics challenged the building's ability to accommodate the intended program,
Sx.R*
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but also its role as a member of the greater MIT community when its introspective plan, a square implying
its own center and focus, and defensive exterior appearance, composed mostly of opaque surface, seems to be isolating itself from its context. Furthermore, the lab's recent shift in research agenda from the abstraction of electronic content, the multimedia technology, to the overlapping of this technology
with the physical world is posing new challenges to its existing lab layout. A reevaluation and transformation of the building, in the face of these
challenges, is inevitable.
Prior to proceeding with the design of the extension, some of the questions that this thesis will try to answer are: What are the values and flaws
of the existing building. Is there room for improvement architecturally? Is the current lab layout supporting efficiently the various types of activities of
the artists and the media scientists? How well is it promoting the collaboration between the artists and the scientists as its founders had intended? How
is it supporting its role as the container of one of the premier public facility on campus, the List Visual Art Center? Architecturally, how to add to such
a rigid and self-sufficient geometry? Finally, how should the new research agenda be accommodated spatially?
The three main methods in conducting this project are: interviews with key informants to understand the value and flaws of the current building,
architectural analysis and a study on how labs of this type work.
From Urbanistic point of view, the new extension tries to integrate itself with the MIT campus in two-folds; the overall massing geometry of the
campus, and the redefinition of public/shared open spaces. The underutilized open space will be activated and internal and circulation modified to best
serve the interest of the facility.
Thesis Supervisor: William L. Porter,Professorof Architecture
Title: Media LaboratoryExpansion
Acknowledgement
Abstract
Introduction
Proposed Project
Program/site
12
Project Background
14
Design/analysis
Evaluation of the Existing
Site Analysis
Geometry
Circulation
Opportunities
General Massing
Urban Grids
.d
38
MEN"e
2
Presenting New Media Lab
Closing Comments
Credit
Bibliography
40
42
60
62
64
....
.
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Each creative act involved an exchange. Each new work of art is supported and enriched by its
sources and its cultural and physical contexts. Once in existence, the new work in turn revises its sources
and contexts, acting on them directly or requiring that they be reevaluated in light of its presence. The
appreciating of a new work of art thus involves understanding its particular meaning as well as the traditions and forms that give value to its novelty and which its novelty changes and enriches. In each creative
act the old and the new are inextricably entwined and inescapably beholden to each other. (Byard, p17)
The interaction of old and new in works of art is particularly evident in architecture. As constantly
as building demands change, new buildings restate the meanings of old ones all the time, sometimes by
replacing them, sometimes by reworking tem to add or subtract expressive material. Most commonly, additions simply arise beside the existing in an effort to make easier the creation of a combined single entity
They renew the meaning of old design work directly and deliberately or simply by association.
The impact of architecture on architecture are apparent in the process that creates what might
collectively be called combined works. In this types of work, new architecture is added to old architecture in
hope of meeting the need for change and subsequently creating a new combined identity and expressing new
meanings. Combined works arise as a particular building evolve to adapt new needs and changing context.
Successive intelligence of these types of work are represented in their existing expression interms of forms,
materials and construction. Togather, the old and the new strive to attain new combined meanings.
In the real world, buildings inevitably attain new proposals for new meaning due to the evolution of their context. Their expression and identity
are constantly challenged by the tide of change. Protecting their expression requires a capacity to understand and appreciate the intelligence of the
successive proposals the building attained during its life span. Addition takes as its starting point the need to understand the expression of the old
building and then to express itself in a way that makes clear that understanding and its support for what the old expression says and how it says it. It
uses the old to generate an expression for their common business that is greater and richer than either and that is sometimes importantly redemptive,
curing flaws that go along with the positive values of the old building.
The interactions of architecture are particularly interesting in combined works, where the old and new designs are put together deliberately so
that they will be understood together and judged for what they do to each other and in combination even though they may be serving widely different
roles. The old may become the backdrop of the setting creted by the new or, vise versa, it may become the focal object as supplemented by the new. In
these combinations the participating works illuminate each other, bring out values in the combination well beyond the value of the parts. Sometimes,
the new sets out with the expressed intention of the operating upon the meaning of the old, not necessarily to alter it but rather to restate it with a new
order of force.
The making of the design of the proposed project intends to express this understanding of the nature of archtiectural additions. Through the
evaluation of the existing Media Laboratory, an enriched set of insights about its value and purpose will be revealed and, upon the adding of the new,
a new set of meaning will emerge to serve the manifestd common business of the combined.
11
I ogram
135,
sq net assignable on a site of 42,200
MIT Media Laboratory, also known as
12
Wei
building, is in need of a transforma-
tio
mandated by its expannding program
and shifting agenda of research. Due to the success of the lab, over the past few years, its spatial requirement have grown along with its reputation. An extension to the site adjacent to the
existing lab of roughly the same size as the existing is proposed.
The program for the extension, together with the existing, include a expansion of
lab spaces for media research, and Center for
Future Children, a newly formed research entity devoted to the development of new digital
technology to revolutionize the way children
Arial view of MIT showing its relation-
ship with Charles River
learn in the digital age. With this new entity, the lab is interested in addressing the
issue of how to get technology to the children globally, especially, the to the Third
World. In this lab, "researchers will rethink
the design of digital technologies to meet
the needs of children around the world. At
the same time, they will rethink the nature of childhood itself, exploring new roles
that children might play in a digital society. Researchers will work closely with children in diverse cultural settings, from inner-city neighborhoods to rural one-room
schoolhouses in the developing world," as
explained by founder of this faciltiy.
Even though this facility is considered as
an additional media research entity, the nature of its research demands that it be more
accessible to the public than the other research entities and provides exhibition opportunities for the research in progress.
Most importantly, the lab's original intention of integrating Art and Media
Technology is to be continued and explored.
13
IV oject Backgroun d
The Media Laboratory was formed in 198 by Nicholas Negroponte and Jerome Wiesner, former
President of MIT, growing out of the Architecture Machine Group, and building on the seminal work of
.. 7~.0
..
...
.....
faculty members such as Marvin Minsky in cognition, Seymour Papert in learning, Barry Vercoe in music,
Muriel Cooper in graphic design, Andrew Lippman in video, and Stephen Benton in holography. On October
1, 1985, it started operating in the newly designed I.M. Pei facility called the Wiesner Building.
.. .
The lab is widely regarded as the country's preeminent research facility for information technology.
Due to its success in achieving its original research goals, the lab's general research agenda has evolved
substantially over its relatively short existence. In its first decade, much of the Laboratory's attention focused on abstracting electronic content from its traditional physical representations, helping create nowfamiliar areas such as digital video and multimedia. The success of this agenda has led to a growing focus on
how electronic information overlaps with the everyday physical world or how bits meet atoms, as the
Media Lab people puts it metaphorically.
.........
.
.........
...
Currently the lab's research effort are
organizedinto three major areas:
Learning and Common Sense includes theoretical and applied work in many aspects of artificialandhuman intelligence:software agents,machine understanding,and how children learn.
Perceptual Computing embraces human and machine vision; audition; speech interfaces; wearable computers; and affective com-
Welcome to The Media Lab
puting,a new branchof interfacedesign intended
to include emotion.
Information and Entertainment
rangesfrom the basicphysics of computation to
the socialengineeringofvirtual communities, including advanced interface design, object-ori-
Academic
Programs
Sponsors
ented and holographic video; and tools for creative expression.
The Media Laboratory is one of the
few places in the world where computers outnumber people by a significantmargin. An experimental, gigabitfiber-optic plant connects a
Research
supercomputers, and includingproducts developed by most major manufacturers. The rapid
prototyping resources include 3-D printing,NC
information
People
heterogeneous network of computers, ranging
from fine-grained, embedded processors to
machining, injection molding, and PC boardfabrication. There are studiosfor audio and video,
Noteworth
Events
and laboratoriesfor electromagnetics, materials, optics, and perceptualstudies. The Philippe
Villers ExperimentalMedia Facility, known as
The Cube, provides a unique setting for Largescale displays,acousticalstudies, andexperimental performances.
Media Lab web page
tahluation of the existing
In architectural additions, it
is
st
Ical
MIT building block plan showing MIT's strong affiliation
physically with the Charles River. The rhythm of buildings
along Charles is readily revealed
that the designer underIfully
the design of the existing
beft landing a foreign hand on it.
16
Th
understanding will serve as the
sating point for generation of design
i .asand will ultimately provide
congerence between the old and the
*
new.. Upon a close look at the build-
ing, both va
V
~W*
and flaw in the design:
of the existing are abs'tracted.
In the design of this building,
the architects and a group of artists
were asked to design a environment
which at once created a connecting
entrance to the East Campus housing
10
-
=Kb
the MIT Council for the Arts, the Media Laboratory, and the List Visual Art
Center. 'bgether, these three programs
provide the possibility for forging the
usually adaptive connections between
artist and audience through the potent
new technologies which inform the
most advanced communication systems and theories also known as multimedia technology.
The Media Laboratory, the interdisciplinary research and teaching
program focuses on the invention and
creative use of new communication
technologies. The Committee on the
Visual Arts(CVA) advises its professional staff on a variety of public programs in the visual arts. These include
exhibitions of Contemporary art and
design, publications, artists-in-residencies, and the acquisition and care
of the Institute's permanent collection,
which will be housed in the Albert and
Vera List Visual Arts Center.
17
BARTON
catalog
The building stands on its site
very much like an object as many of
MIT's buildings do. It is well sited and
SERVICES
well scaled to its surroundings. For
POUCIES
me, its grid surface seems to be meta18
RESOURCES
SUBEeS
HOURS
LOCATIONS
phoric of digital technology which, by
association, suggests number matrices
or, in more computational realm, each
NEWS
FAQ
FIND
square seem to represent the basic
...
..
..
computational information unit, the
bit. The second metaphor has since became a widely accepted concept in MIT
as now information grids are seen everywhere as the basic graphic design
concept for physical and virtual bulletin boards.
The MIT Online Library Page
as a sample usage of information grid
prevalent at MIT
Right, the concrete gate signifying the
gateway to East Campus
In addition, the gridded pattepnalso relate visually to other
gridded surfaces in the vicinity, such
as the square granite tiles around the
20
windows of the Health Services Building across the courtyard. To a deeper
level, the grid evokes the special genius loci of MIT, its unique morphology:
an
open-ended
grid
of
coridors.(Campbell, p12)
Even though the building design had undeniably achieved an iconic
value within the MIT community,
there are some flaws, in my point of
view, that, if properly dealt with, can
further enhance the influence of the
building
The Health Service Building
The granite pavement recalls
the gridded pattern of the Media
Lab and the Health Service
Building
Media Lab with its main entrance
carved out of its solid mass along the
major MIT pedestrian corridor
(#s Interviews
m
with the active
s of the lab were conducted seek-
in.vuabefuntinanforma..The
results of these interviews frequently in22
diate the lack of interaction between the
Art and Technology groups and even between each research groups. This is an
intrinsic flaw of the stacking of floors
which created isolated zones and, consequently, segregated people who are, otherwise, closely associated. On top of this,
there is a general sense of isolation from
the rest of the MIT campus due to the
lab's introspective plan and omnipresent
The South-West corner of the site
offers the opportunity for vista to Charles
opague skin. Even though the lab's form
River and a potential focal point for
bypassers
possesses strong iconic value to MIT, its
internal spaces do the opposite.
Courtyard facade that offers a strong
image but lithle amenity to the pedestrians.
23
~II
View of the existing pedestrian
passage into the courtyard
24
Furthermore, the lack of a
It is strongly believed that a
share physical public realm has inhib-
more interactive relationship among the
ited the fostering ofcommumity within the
research groups would allow better stimu-
bu
g. The lab needs a place where
late creative thinking. There is a gen-
sense of community is fostered through
eral consensus within the lab that the
inrmal face-to-face communications,
current setting does little to encourage
were commercialism is at a minimum,
physical interaction between the groups.
and where the individual feels appropria-
Open lab spaces are sought in
tion and belonging. It is within this in-
responce to the inflexibility of the exist-
formrealmw~here a center can be fostered
ing rigid lab planning that produces iso-
to provide a sense of place and commu-
lated zones. Rather than the current com-
nity. While one may argue that, to a cer-
partmented lab organization, open lab
tain degree, the sky-lit atrium is provid-
floor, which allows more flexible research
ing this space, within the research floors
grouping and better visual and physical
where most people are stationed, there is
interaction between the groups is
hardly any.
prefered.
Birdeye view of the "cube", the
existing typical computing space.
a7-777; !lo
s0tFl
Urbanistically, the lab's boxy
appearance of the lab raised questions
about its intrinsic responsibility as one
of the members of the greater MIT com26
munity. Formally, a square is a selfcentered, stable, and finite form. The
rigidity of the box and the smoothness
of its skin make the building appear
self-contained and sealed off form its
context. Very little of the activities inside the building is revealed, nor for
the most part are the activities inside
the building visible to one another. As
a result, contrary to the public nature
of the art gallery housed within, the
building appears to be visually inaccessible.
Street view of the lab and its concrete
gateway to East Campus
Traffic approach from the Charles side
with Media Lab on the right side of the
road
dkbmetrv
The setting of the East Campus is heterogeneous, consisting of a
br
range of uses, building scales, urban styles. At one corner are the
amaskscale
student apartments clustered around the President's house,
another, high office and residential towers around Kandall Square.
28
The physical organization of the West and Main Campuses is primarily in a north-west to south-east direction. In contrast, the East
Campus area aligns almost directly to the north-south Cambridge street grid,
ajuxtaposition representing approximately a 30 degree differential in the
two street grid. This differential will have a substantial impact on the
future growth pattern of the East Campus.
Aientwith.the MIT gridtends the existing Campus fabric
into East Campus, establishing continuity with Sloan, EastGate and
Amherst Street. As an expansion of an established planning system, this
approach makes a clear statement of unity, continuity and clarity of academic purpose.
Identification of new MIT development with the City grid is an
opportunity to establish a distinct identity for East Campus and, symbolieallyopen
upO a
to the world outside of MIT.
Below, the MIT grid and, above, City grid above
Roof plan of MIT showing the collision of the City and MIT
urban grids around the East Campus
Circulation
The main North
pedestrian corridor
Existing pattern of pedestrian circulation
leading to the East
Campus courtyard
through concrete gateway
as seen far back in the
image
are identified and analyzed in terms of direction,
and intensity of movement. Three major eastwest pedestrian systems are identified: the Main,
30
North, and South Corridors. This skeletal framework embodies both outdoor and indoor movements, with day-night and summer-winter variations implied.
Although highly structured, these inte-
ror'"pme"areoftcircitous and reflect their
multi-destination character. Alternative exterior
routes often accompany them. This exterior system sometimes reduces distances and time connecting West, Main, and East Campus.
Notice that two of the three major corridors pass by the site making the presence of the
building a inevitable part of the pedestrian landscape.
The main South
pedestrian corridor
passing by the south edge
of the site
31
Pedestrian density study within MIT showing the two
major East-West(right as the West and left as the East)
pedestrian corridor clearly pass by the site.
Onbortunities
diUpon a closer survey of the site
rev~de
nuber of opportunities that
th exenio cbe~efit from.
The most obvious is the site's
32
adjacency to major pedestrian routes
Sectional study
showing the
shifting of floor
plates between the
existing and the
new so as establishing visual interactions between the
floors.
that opens up the possibility of integrating public circulation with that of the
lab's thus increase the lab's pedestrain
friendliness.
iopndup fivdta to the Charles River
making it an instant focal point of the
site. It becomes a important corner of
view inside the lab and, outside the lab,
it serves potentially as the signage corner for traffic approaching the lab from
the River side. Cornsequently, it offers
Sectional study
showing the lifting
of the lab spaces
allowing traffic to
flow through
beneath
View of the courtyard showing a
composite of building materials in the
vicinity
the opportunity of establishing a significant entrance.
The existing courtyard is way
underutilized because of it has little
identity and attraction to the pedestrians when it has the potential of being
organizational focal point in East Campus. Tb bring people into the courtyard,
two strategies are derived. First, it is
activated by placing the conference center and classroom within it. Then, the
major entrance to the gallery space is
reallocated to the center of the courtyard making courtyard a significant
design element.
33
General Massing
The massing of the building
follows the MIT tradition of pure geometrc form and is oriented in such a
way that continues the rhythm of the
34
bars of MIT buildings running along
the Charles River as set up by the MIT
grid system.
Building height is minimized
to match the scale of the building's
emphasized in relation to the cluster of
imediate context and also to avoid sus-
pedestrian groups near the site.
tained shade in the courtyard.
The south-West corner of the
This massing model, con-
building is now opened up allowing vista
structed of program blocks reveals the
of the Charles River. Therefore, this vista
interlocking organization of the lab
plays a subatantial role in locating the
and establishes the general organiza-
program elements.
tional strategy of the lab. Corners are
Massing Study
South-West View
Due to the adjacency to the campus
major pedestrian routes, the corners of
the building becomes a significant
architecture feature.
35
Urban Grids
The built form is a reflection
ofthe two overlapping site grids as
,igoned in the geometry section of
E
36
analysis. Public circulation is iden-
tified with the City grid and the private/lab circulation runs along the MIT
grid. This arrangement allows a clear
building organization for the building
users. Notice that research in this
building is defined as interaction between the lab and the public as implied
by the overlapping of these grids.
I
The intersecting grids
.-~LjI7
/
/
-- ~A~.
/
Abstraction of the intersecting grids
as the basic building geometry of the lab.
The Vertical grid as the MIT grid and
the tilted grid as the City grid
/
the Courtyard
LRedefining the
Courtvard
RRA26defining
"This open space, though currently underutilized, is prominently
locate
d, with some pedestrian amenity, can become the focal point of
East Campus. If designed properly, this open space will be the main
identifier of this part of the campus.
To actiuvate the space,the circulation pattern within it is redefinedkand active functions are inserted into the ground. Taking advantage df the existing arcade alone the Health Center, accross the court38
yard, another arcade is made on the ground floor of the lab so as to establish visual relationship between the main buildings surrounding the courtyard. Then, the conference center of the Media Lab is extended bellow
ground into the courtyard, and with its ground-like roof, defines an identifiable geometry for the circulation pattern. Most importantly, this
ground form integrates the courtyard movements with the circulation
insidethe Media Lab byreallocatingthe lab's major entrance to the center of the space. The lower floor of the lab is made transparent to the
public traffic by allowing public to filter through the lower floor, by the
List Gallery, of the building on the shifting ground planes. While inside
the building, the public will get a glimpse of the exhibition through the
openings made by the shifting ground planes. In doing so, the List Gallery and its exhibit is brought to the attention of the public. The lab
spaces will be accessible via a network of horizontal and tilted planes.
The ground plane of the lab as manifested to redirect the
circulation into the building and accommondate functions
bellow ground
Movemennts
Inducing pedestrian movement into
tMb pilding makes the building itself, tor with the concrete archway on its north
si
the gateway to the East Campus.
The public is allowed to filter
40
tl
h the building at the lower level thus
e
ing the courtyard into the building.
T
assage becomes the short cut
ecting the two major campus circula-
tion corridors. In doing so, the building
becomes the physcal gateway of the East
Campus.
Furthermore, this passage, when
inside the builing provides a dynamic
center to the building. Using its residual
geometry, an internal street is created and
serves as the spine of the lab.
41
View of the courtyard
showing ground movement
penetratin ginto the building
Image and Change
The idea of overlapping of the
digital world with the physical world
is metaphorically translated into the
ovrlapping of activities and building
42
structures. The overlapping of activi-
ties is seen as essential to the fostering of interaction between groups of
diferent background and disciplines.
Gallery, conference, and lab activities
are allowed to take place concurrently
on the ground lower level of the building where movements of these activities intersect. The further away from
this zone of intersection, the more specific the activity becomes.
Sectional study of the lab showing natural light filtering
into the building through the internal street creating a
dynamic environment of interplay of light and shadow.
Lbb
....
.. .......
le:
77
NIXF.
n.
_Program and Strateav
The building is organized mainly
the direction of the MIT Grid.
in
three basic componets; the media re-
The public zone cuts through the
s
lab, the List Art Gallery, and the con-
building on the lower floors with the pri-
fe
center. Access to these components
vate zone floating above it. Th e transition
are nected but controled allowing them to
zone where these two zones intesect is the
44 ion independently when necessary.
space where exhibitions of both Arts and
0
0
~Among the different lab entities,
Media Technology are displayed.
Center of Future Children is regarded
Up on the lab floors, the geometry
aswe accessible to public than the rest.
ofthe public sone on the lower floor is mani-
ingly, this facility, togather with the
fested into an academic street where inter-
gallery spaces and the conference center, are
actions between the research personnels are
physically more outward looking and are
allowed to happen. This street links the
organiized to relate to the City Grid symbol-
major research facilities in the lab, and,
izing their origin and mission to the world
within itself, informal funstions such as caf-
outside of MIT.
eteria and break-away areas are incorporated.
On the other hand, the media re-
As the major organizational element element,
search lab is seen as an integral part of the
it inevitably becomes the center of the lab
internal MIT activity and is thus oriented in
which the existing facility desperately needs.
46
Lower floor plan
showing the relationship between
the existing(white area) and the
addition(gray area)
Notice that in which floor, the
addition erodes into the existing
creating two interlocking L shapes
Ground floor plan
W
Second floor plan
Third floor plan
Fourth floor plan
:.Massing
:.o:..:4.
....
..w0a.:4.
50o
51
North Evevation
The existing opague facade is eroded by
the new transluscent facade with
transition marked by the transparent
glazing. The skin quality of the original
facade is continued but transformed. The
idea of grid as a modular paneling system
is continued into the new facade.
The transition is somewhat abrupt
creating a corner of tension.
52
West Elevation
The existing facade is extended into the
new marking a gradual transition
between the new and the old.
53
South Elevation
the Major building entrance is reallocated
to this side of the bulding with vista to
the Charles River.
54
East Elevation
The idea of mapping is metaphorically applied to the facade design.
The mapping of activities inside the
building in silhouette form onto the
transluscent skin, whose gridded pattern
symbolizes media technology, is metaphorical of the lab's intention in mapping
technology onto the physical world.
55
.I
....
IPM
The Center for Future
Childre atrium and the
lab street
Ls h
Controllable natural light is
with its major axis aligning the city
allowed into the lab spaces. Diffused
grid, becomes the major organiza-
light is allowed to filter into the lab
tional element in this part of the lab.
space through the shifting lab floors.
58
____
The oversized structural
The result is a dramatic interplay of
columns in this space are reminis-
the
light and dark that renders
reasearch space more active.
The
cent of the great classical columns
quality of the ambient light is similar
to that of the MIT major lobby spaces
thus, by associatiion, establishing a
link between this building and the
greater MIT community.
The atrium space, as the
heart of the lab, allows visual and
physical interaction between the
groups and can also accommodates
large research installations. This rectangular atrium space rises from the
ground level to the uppermost floor,
of the traditional MIT buildings.
d)
60
A4l
The complexity of the project's program raised the critical question in architecture profession of how specific does
a design has to be in response to its program requirement. In addition, how should a campus building design react to its
ephemeral program and, thus, constant change of usage, in relation to the permanence of an educational institution?
In this design, the question of what makes this the Media Laboboratory was also raised. This design believes
that what makes this building the Media Lab is the activities being conducted inside the lab rather than the hardware that
61
the design deliberately posses. What the design intends to do is to provide a stage where intended activities can be
fostered leaving the specific planning of each lab space flexable and mostly user-defined. That is, realizing that the
volatile nature of the research projects and consequently its constantly shifting demands of space, the design provides a
guideline for the juxtaposition of the activities best serving the overall organizational strategy without specifying exactly
where and how each research is going to be conducted..
By lookin closely at the urban issues, the design tries to desolve itself into the fabric of MIT without compromising the specific programmatic requirement of lab. In doing so, it tries to make easier the accomodation of future change by
setting up a long-lasting structure for growth.
Raymond Pan
Jan, 1999
All illustrations and photographs are by Raymond Pan (author) unless otherwise noted
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'Academic Buildings'.ArchitecturalRecord, November, 1992.
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