MIT New 450-bed Residence Hall | 121 Vassar St. | Cambridge

That's a little brutal, but okay. I've vented my share of disdain on this board so who am I to criticize. For me, much of what gets built in this town is more real estate calculation than actual architecture. (It's unfortunate that the two leading firms in the city are so responsible. But I digress.) This dorm, personal taste aside, is at least an attempt at more than just maximize-the-footprint at the lowest possible cost, architecture be damned. It's the perfect place to take a risk like this - somewhat removed - don't you think? Higher education should be forward-thinking and not risk-adverse. Nonetheless, risk is just that - risky. I have an inkling the real clients - students - will like this building. Time will tell.
 
You know what elevates this project 10-fold for me? The lack of damned alucabond metal panels.
 
Brad Plaid said:
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I think this picture emphasizes pretty well that for a massive landscraper, the way it breaks up the street wall is actually not bad. Once the trees grow in and the ground floor is finished its gonna be pretty alright. Its not amazing, but its not crap either imo.

I think as a visually interesting infill project it gets the job done. I think itll work fine as a building that fades into the fabric once complete, but at the same time isnt completely anonymous.
 
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nm88 said:
For me, much of what gets built in this town is more real estate calculation than actual architecture.
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Well that's why I'm brutal on it. This board is called archBoston, not ProFormaBoston and I've lost my ability to sugar coat my words when it comes to stuff like this -- 5+ years in developer-dominated NYC will fill you with a lot of disdain.

Agreed that they did something reasonably creative with the massing, but there's just so many areas where the design took some brutal VE blows that I don't think there's much left to sift through. Granted, I hadn't been following this project at all until the latest round of pictures, so this is basically a kneejerk internet hot take that should probably be taken with a grain of salt and a shot of bourbon. So while it's almost certainly crap, it'll probably be just fine in the long run.
 
The orange is very close to University of Texas 'orange', Pantone PMS 159. The white looks to be 0, 0, 0, 0.

Colors – UT Brand

brand.utexas.edu brand.utexas.edu

MPC00379175-2.jpg


So close, a Longhorn alum might think the building is a UTexas@Austin outpost in Cambridge
 
stellarfun said:
The orange is very close to University of Texas 'orange', Pantone PMS 159. The white looks to be 0, 0, 0, 0.

Colors – UT Brand

brand.utexas.edu brand.utexas.edu

MPC00379175-2.jpg


So close, a Longhorn alum might think the building is a UTexas@Austin outpost in Cambridge
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Watch--it

Don't mess with Texas

as both an MIT and U Texas alum -- this is a very sensitive subject

The best that can be said about the building is that for an Ugrad dorm at MIT built post the 1960's -- its not as bad as it could be
Generally -- the only nice new dormitory*1 is Maseeh Hall which has opened since my 1970's time as a Ugrad --
all of the rest including my dorm McGregor could be flushed without any loss [Ok I'll grant that the "Punchcard" once had some humour value now so anachronistic as to be unrecognizable to any student and most of the faculty]

maseeh_old.jpg


*1
in name with significant interior renovations] [which of course existed since the prior to the prior century] as a luxury hotel/ residence [open in 1901 -- purchased by MIT 1930's -- made into Graduate Dorm [Ashdown House] - then remade into Ugrad dorm by gift from Fariborz Maseeh ScD ’90
 
whighlander said:
The best that can be said about the building is that for an Ugrad dorm at MIT built post the 1960's -- its not as bad as it could be
Generally -- the only nice new dormitory*1 is Maseeh Hall which has opened since my 1970's time as a Ugrad --
all of the rest including my dorm McGregor could be flushed without any loss [Ok I'll grant that the "Punchcard" once had some humour value now so anachronistic as to be unrecognizable to any student and most of the faculty]
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Baker House is pretty nice, no? At least the plan is quite beautiful, nice brickwork.
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Is the white paint already running into the orange in that first pic??
 
Massachoicetts said:
I agree. But its kind of like a 'why take up all that space for that!' building. Im surprised they didnt cut the amount of land they took up by 1/3, and added 3-4 stories to this. I hope the street wall effect is good atleast. (Im thinking positive here!)
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JeffDowntown said:
I suspect they capped the height based on fire code (I could be wrong, of course). There is essentially a height area that is impractical to build, based on construction costs due to code requirement jumps. You either build 6 or under, or over 10. Rarely in between.
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Nope, you can build much higher here. The lower height was designer preference.
 
Knock it down and start over.

I don't understand for WHOSE enjoyment was this joke?

Did the architect ever ask, who benefits from this?
 
The photos are from mid July. I imagine it's a good deal more complete now with the awnings and ground level finishes?

I used to hate this project, but now I sort of love it...
 
Bananarama said:
The photos are from mid July. I imagine it's a good deal more complete now with the awnings and ground level finishes?

I used to hate this project, but now I sort of love it...
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You mean, THIS happened since July???? I sure hope you're right.

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shmessy said:
You mean, THIS happened since July????
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Hahaha well...
I'm starting to enjoy how playful the massing and material coding/fenestration is. It's a very limited palette of brick and forms, but they do a lot with that small kit of parts to make it interesting. The orange figures are fun and do a lot to breakup the long white bar.
It also makes a lot of sense for its location. Next to the giant Steven Holl... thing. On the MIT campus, which is already known for oddities. There isn't some precious historic context to work into.
 
Bananarama said:
Hahaha well...
I'm starting to enjoy how playful the massing and material coding/fenestration is. It's a very limited palette of brick and forms, but they do a lot with that small kit of parts to make it interesting. The orange figures are fun and do a lot to breakup the long white bar.
It also makes a lot of sense for its location. Next to the giant Steven Holl... thing. On the MIT campus, which is already known for oddities. There isn't some precious historic context to work into.
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I must say, you make excellent points about the location/context. I GoogleMapped 121 Vassar and that actually DOES fit in well with the context on that street.

It is the exact opposite of the situation with the BU Stack o' Books (or Stack o' Shipping Containers) building going up on Comm Ave which completely bigfoots its neighborhood with a "Look at Me, I'm Cancelling You Guys out" raspberry.

I had been judging this building completely on its own, without taking context in mind. Your post got me to look deeper at this and come to a different conclusion. Thank you!
 
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