MIT East Campus - Kendall Square Gateway | Cambridge

I always liked this building. This update is a complete mess.
 
vanshnookenraggen said:
How to make an ugly building WORSE!
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bdurden said:
I always liked this building. This update is a complete mess.
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The cladding and glass you guys are probably referring to is from the '08 renovation.

The new work being photographed is the re-gutting of the ground floor level.

I share your dislike for the '08 work. Hoping that this go-around at least makes it a bit better. The part of the building closest to the charles river (the lowrise portion) is getting re-cladded as part of its total redevelopment (large grocery store, 2 new floors of offices)...but I think the cladding/glass we see above the first level here in this picture is staying.
 
The best way to improve brutalist buildings is to soften them, and that's why these glazing/cladding facelifts often do nothing to make these projects more palatable. Something about the contrast of green against the starkness of the concrete lends it a timeless quality--imagine a garden atop the curved lower parking mass instead of the tacky 2008 addition. These aren't pigs to put lipstick on.
 
bdurden said:
I always liked this building. This update is a complete mess.
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I've developed a love of brutalism over the years, but I'm not sure this building is really brutalist in the classical sense (architectural history buffs, feel free to weigh in). At any rate, I've never grown an affection for this one... it looks too much like a bunch of vents, and it depresses me.
 
Render posted by MIT this weekend:

mit_spotlight_01_0.jpg
 
Gameguy326 said:
Even though the individual buildings look pretty weak IMO, and that grad housing is still a monstrosity the overall structure looks great.
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This is going to completely change the street-level experience of Main st. There will be a very full street-wall on both sides now - almost like a tunnel pointed at downtown boston. I'm not saying that's good or bad, nor can I sense exactly what this will feel like...it just definitely seems like standing in front of the legacy cambridge center complex, for example, will feel completely different after this.
 
MIT Museum/mixed use building seems like it has the most potential appeal. Especially with the potential for lighting installation. Might even want to take it higher so it stands out a bit more. And/or take the longer building down a bit so it doesn't overwhelm/overshadow it.

I am a big fan of courtyards, especially big enough for activity areas and with enough sunlight. If they made Carleton pedestrian only and eliminated that surface parking lot it would make for a good gathering courtyard/gathering spot.

They are doing underground parking ... maybe the issue is MIT medical and the need for adjacent parking. Still I would think underground is close enough or just get rid of that dated MIT medical building eventually and relocate facilities into a new building. Make way for an even bigger new court yard adjacent to Kendall Square.
 
Is that tall building in the middle going to be silvery-colored or is it still going to be that hypnotizing brown color gradient?
 
I have the feeling that someone was a little heavy-handed with the nighttime effects on that render. It should still be the brown gradient.
 
Given that construction on the MIT Kendall Gateway Site 4 is in full swing, I thought I'd post the set of (what appears to be) the most recent renders of this design:

mitkendallsq_rendering-full_(c)nadaaa-perkins__and__will.jpg


MIT-Kendall-06.jpg


MIT-Kendall-07.jpg


20150510_NORTH-EAST_cropped.jpg
 
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