MIT East Campus - Kendall Square Gateway | Cambridge

SeamusMcFly said:
Beyond the new "gateway" the view opens up to new green open space, and extension of the infinite corridor. It's not quite walking thru the gate from Harvard Sq. into Harvard Yard type of gateway, but a definite improvement on creating that "sense of space" people talk about.
Click to expand...

I think this last point is key - currently, when one looks into this gap adjacent to the existing headhouse, one sees parking lots and access roads and the back entrance of the medical center. Even if the gap is not made larger, what one will see in the future is a vast greenspace - the glimpse of which should suggest a bit more of an invitation than what's there now.
 
Bigpicture & Seamus are getting close

SeamusMcFly said:
I believe that is the intent of the new Kendall T station head house gap in between buildings 4 & 5.

The T station itself will be a bit more eye catching itself, but will be nestled between two high rises with active ground levels. This entrance will be in direct eye shot of those coming out of the outbound head house across the raised cross walk....
..
Beyond the new "gateway" the view opens up to new green open space, and extension of the infinite corridor. It's not quite walking thru the gate from Harvard Sq. into Harvard Yard type of gateway, but a definite improvement on creating that "sense of space" people talk about.
Click to expand...

bigpicture7 said:
I think this last point is key - currently, when one looks into this gap adjacent to the existing headhouse, one sees parking lots and access roads and the back entrance of the medical center. Even if the gap is not made larger, what one will see in the future is a vast greenspace - the glimpse of which should suggest a bit more of an invitation than what's there now.
Click to expand...

Almost what this should be and how it should function

My take -- the whole process started with renaming the Kendall T to Kendall / MiT/Cambridge Center. However, most people used to get off at Kendall [that's where you were told was the MIT T stop] and then wander around looking for MIT

If there was a {}Line that had a portal on Mem Dr. opposite Building 10 [the Dome] -- you would not need to be told where MIT was. The same is true of Central Sq. -- "walk toward the river you can't miss it"

But the back side was different -- nothing really told you that you were on the boundary of {arguably the most important U on the planet} -- Ok if you retreated back toward Volpe or back toward the Longfellow you could see Eastgate [sort of a volcanic island] or from some vantages the Green Building -- but even so -- you didn't know how to find the Core of the campus

Now for the first time you can put your back to Kendall*1
[arguably "the most important square mile on the planet"] and [See MIT]*2 in front of you -- the Museum and I hope the Coop would be the portal into a cross between Kilian Court [no one actually enters MIT that way except ceremonially] and 77 -- aka the Building 7 steps [everyone enters MIT that way]

Done right this will be the transition zone between the labs and classrooms at MIT the applications of their contents mediated by kendall to the rest of the world -- Mens [MIT] et Manus [Kendall] -- back to their proper place as Rogers envisioned it*3

What's missing -- Mens et Manus in Lights -- viewable from Mars*4
mitclubmsia-registrar_of_societies_logo.jpg


Quotes:

*1
Cape Cod; 'A man may stand there and put all America behind him.
Click to expand...
Henry David Thoreau

*2
"When the Smog Lifts U- C - LA
Click to expand...
UCLA joke about the LA Smog

*3
"the most earnest cooperation of intelligent culture with industrial pursuits."
Click to expand...
MIT founder William Barton Rogers

*4
“My only requirement [for the headquarters] — I don’t have an eye for it, we have better architects in the company — is that it has a GE logo you can see from Mars,”
Click to expand...
Jeff Immelt CEO GE @ official Welcome to Boston Party -- the State Room, Boston April 4, 2016
 
Last edited:
^ Whigh, seriously, the first part of your analysis is somewhat interesting about the slow but eventual integration of MIT with Kendall Sq...

But then this completely goes off the rails. Yes we know you're proud of MIT, but no one wants that giant logo loading on their phone. And yes we know you're proud of GE's move to boston, but you talk about it constantly on multiple threads.

Come on man, this thread-eclipsing stuff dissuades people from posting their own interesting but subtle insights.

Here in Kendall we have a chance to completely remake a streetscape, at a magnitude probably only matched by the Seaport in the Boston area. Let's keep it about that. Enough about Jeff frickin' Immelt on every thread.
 
^I would respectfully second the above. We have a few members whose enthusiastic contributions sometimes make ARCHB feel more like a personal soapbox than a public forum. Beyond courtesy, there are no rules here, and that's part of the fun. But often times brevity is form of courtesy. I now step off my own soapbox.
 
bigpicture7 said:
^ Whigh, seriously, the first part of your analysis is somewhat interesting about the slow but eventual integration of MIT with Kendall Sq...

But then this completely goes off the rails. Yes we know you're proud of MIT, but no one wants that giant logo loading on their phone. And yes we know you're proud of GE's move to boston, but you talk about it constantly on multiple threads.

Come on man, this thread-eclipsing stuff dissuades people from posting their own interesting but subtle insights.

Here in Kendall we have a chance to completely remake a streetscape, at a magnitude probably only matched by the Seaport in the Boston area. Let's keep it about that. Enough about Jeff frickin' Immelt on every thread.
Click to expand...

BigPicture -- let's separate the two -- the Giant Logo was probably a bot over the top -- but seriously its still small in bytes compared some far more ridiculous posting of silly videos not at all related to the thread

As to your comments about the rest -- this is the time for MIT to make a statement in Art as well as Architecture at its new Gateway via the Kendall Main st. Portal

Harvard has the multiple-lie statue of John Harvard at its Portal to the World -- MIT should commission something of major significance to announce its Kendall Portal

and Mens et Manus is not just a motto -- it really describes what is happening now with Bio and I fully expect it to happen again with Nano.. The Labs and Classrooms on Campus pour out their ideas and people though the Portal and then it and they are "commercialized" in Kendall -- and from their they and it move out into the the rest of the world -- the symbolism is profound and should be celebrated
 
Personally, I would like MIT to put some sort of Rogers Building/Building 7 type of architectural elements (not a copy, but some interesting variation) right at or near the Kendall/MIT station.

The most recognizable architecture of MIT is the Great dome and the columns, but then also the columns and lobby/atrium of building 7 are often people's first impression as you walk in the door from Mass Ave side.

360px-MIT_Lobby_7.jpg


Doesn't have to be anywhere as grandiose at Kendall, could be, but doesn't have to be. On the minimal side I was thinking even just an outdoor gazebo with some columns and a dome as a focal point of the green space as you exit the Kendal/MIT station on the campus side.

Could be something like a variation of the Bandstand on Boston Common:
200px-Parkman_Bandstand.JPG


And/or as part of the MIT museum. Either way it would be good to see the walking connections to the rest of campus (either paths, atriums or hallways) be strengthened so you really get a sense that MIT has a gateway to Kendall Square and that people walking from Kendall would go through this gateway and not just pass it by.

Ideally you would have an MIT Museum atrium/lobby or even outdoor space where MIT could have revolving exhibits that students, researchers and visitors could draw inspiration from as they enter campus even if they are not going into the museum itself.

What really anchors a place like Kendall isn't the shiny office park like buildings with free caffeinated beverages for employees it is the sense of history that people thought up some really amazing things in the past right where you are standing, so what are you waiting for?
 
tangent said:
Personally, I would like MIT to put some sort of Rogers Building/Building 7 type of architectural elements (not a copy, but some interesting variation) right at or near the Kendall/MIT station.

The most recognizable architecture of MIT is the Great dome and the columns, but then also the columns and lobby/atrium of building 7 are often people's first impression as you walk in the door from Mass Ave side.

Doesn't have to be anywhere as grandiose at Kendall, could be, but doesn't have to be. On the minimal side I was thinking even just an outdoor gazebo with some columns and a dome as a focal point of the green space as you exit the Kendal/MIT station on the campus side.

Could be something like a variation of the Bandstand on Boston Common:
200px-Parkman_Bandstand.JPG


And/or as part of the MIT museum. Either way it would be good to see the walking connections to the rest of campus (either paths, atriums or hallways) be strengthened so you really get a sense that MIT has a gateway to Kendall Square and that people walking from Kendall would go through this gateway and not just pass it by.

Ideally you would have an MIT Museum atrium/lobby or even outdoor space where MIT could have revolving exhibits that students, researchers and visitors could draw inspiration from as they enter campus even if they are not going into the museum itself.

What really anchors a place like Kendall isn't the shiny office park like buildings with free caffeinated beverages for employees it is the sense of history that people thought up some really amazing things in the past right where you are standing, so what are you waiting for?
Click to expand...

Tangent -- some very good points -- the Big Dome is the one to emulate though as its on all the MIT Class Rings ["Brass Rat"],
1930MITRingBezel.jpg


is the most common target of opportunity for hacks, etc.

I like the idea of a 19th C style Bandstand with Doric Columns and the Dome complete with the Drum where the Barker Library is located possibly with a large Mens et Manus and of course 1916 [in Roman Numerals] carved into the Barrel below the dome
 
I have to say, as Cambridge's first new tallest building since the Green Building took the crown, this is a hideous disappointment. That cantilever action still looks incredibly unnatural, debasing the small brick building and making it look out of place. The sea-sick facade jut makes me want to throw up looking at it.
 
Is it a pseudo-facadectomy of the Cosi building, or is it just Trump loom?
 
WTF???

CyVu-NzUsAETzC3.jpg


Shift in palette, shift in column width, shift in linear symmetry, random splatter of spandrels = visual chaos.
 
Gameguy326 said:
I have to say, as Cambridge's first new tallest building since the Green Building took the crown, this is a hideous disappointment. That cantilever action still looks incredibly unnatural, debasing the small brick building and making it look out of place. The sea-sick facade jut makes me want to throw up looking at it.
Click to expand...

Literally queasy in the stomach when looking at this more than a second. Not intellectually... metaphorically throw up. Physical reaction. There is a difference between creating something that is visually interesting and assaulting the senses gratuitously.
 
34f34f said:
http://www.cambridgeday.com/2016/11...uare-coming-before-planning-board-on-tuesday/

112816i-new-MIT-dorm.jpg
Click to expand...

For those of you who fret that MIT can't build Tallo n Volpe

Here are few salient details on this SoMA building which will be essentially diagonally across from the Volpe parcel [reformatted with highlights in [bold]

The building is proposed as:
  • 420,000-square-foot,
  • 319-foot building with 28 occupied floors;
  • façade is multi-story bronzed anodized aluminum panels at slight angles, interrupted by three-story groups of windows
  • will incorporate the existing two buildings at 292 Main St. (what the institute calls E38, until last month the site of the MIT Press bookstore), and 290 Main St. (E39, housing Rebecca’s Café and Cosi) while maintaining their historic facades.
  • will make up 68,000 square feet of academic office space
  • 21,000 square feet of ground-floor retail.
  • A three-story “podium” building will be added behind, in what is now a parking lot,
  • 26 more stories above the podium, cantilevering over E39.
    The tower will be graduate student housing, with approximately 450 beds.
Click to expand...

And some comments relative to Volpe
Institute President L. Rafael Reif announced at a Nov. 16 faculty meeting that the initial use of the property would have to make money, and Executive Vice President Israel Ruiz said in a published statement, “we don’t anticipate that the Volpe property will house academic buildings in the near term.” Provost Martin Schmidt said a faculty advisory committee would be established, and Ruiz confirmed: “We intend to engage MIT faculty, students and staff in this process.”
Click to expand...

I.E. -- don't anticipate an immediate detailed plan for the Volpe from MIT though there may be some hints early on
 
Side note: I'm not quite sure I understand why MIT isn't focusing on getting construction up and running on sites S and L. The other sites require the foundation for the underground garage first, but I see no reason they couldn't start prep work for S and L now, as I believe those are just waiting on city approval?
 
I actually rather like it. The cantilever in the back makes no fucking sense whatsoever but that's not really anywhere the general public treks or hangs out in Kendall.
 
I am in agreement with most people here who think that this building is hideous, with one caveat. It is described as having "anodized aluminum siding", which, if done right, could actually make this building interesting. That said, I am SO DONE with this "random" window placement thing. I am absolutely positive that the folks at MIT are good with geometry, and surely, this beneath them. And yes, the cantilever is ridiculous.
 
Cortes said:
I am SO DONE with this "random" window placement thing
Click to expand...

It is the architecturalization of the quasicrystal, embracing the anti-authoritarian, pro-science nature of MIT, with the added advantage of thumbing their nose at one of Caltech's icons who insisted to his death they didn't exist.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top