MIT Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing | Kendall Square | Cambridge

34f34f said:
That would be neat, but there's not much to reach across the tracks to connect to – just the parking garage (which I'd happily redevelop, but seeing as it's right next to the expanded cogeneration plant, probably isn't at the top of the list of desirable sites).
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Agreed, but I like the idea of reaching across the tracks with a building like building 46. There is a surface lot at 139 Mass ave and some space on the other side next to some older facilities. Seems strange that that spot has remained a surface lot so long considering its location. A bit further away from the existing programs the new college is supposed to be working with, but closer to student housing.

The parcel bounded by main st, albany and portland seems like the best bet as it lines up the buildings that house those programs.
 
From the original link, THIS is what hit me:

".....create 50 new faculty positions that will be located both within the College and jointly with other departments across MIT — nearly doubling MIT’s academic capability in computing and AI;"


Now think about THAT. That's 50 top notch computer/AI minds coming to Boston to compete for a future Nobel Prize/start the next trillion dollar company. Domino Effect.
 
shmessy said:
From the original link, THIS is what hit me:

".....create 50 new faculty positions that will be located both within the College and jointly with other departments across MIT — nearly doubling MIT’s academic capability in computing and AI;"


Now think about THAT. That's 50 top notch computer/AI minds coming to Boston to compete for a future Nobel Prize/start the next trillion dollar company. Domino Effect.
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50 new faculty is a lot. That easily translates into 500 PhD students and postdocs.
 
I love the butterflies. I hope they (and the J) migrate over to the new building.
 
The ugliest campus in America flexing more muscle than most small countries.
 
BeeLine said:
Site today.

https://flic.kr/p/2cGdThs
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I like this track facing view... maybe someday there could be a rail or BRT stop here along with a pedestrian walkway/trail. Would be good if this project could spur interest along those lines.

Great news regardless... MIT is really starting to shape up some of the old utilitarian sides of campus.

Will be great to see the design come out in the coming months and it looks like we won't have to wait long for construction to begin.
 
Gameguy326 said:
Dunno if anyone cares as this is a minor update, but SOM was chosen as the architect: http://news.mit.edu/2019/3q-dan-huttenlocher-formation-mit-schwarzman-college-computing-1126

Also those butterflies have been moved to the Wang Fitness Center.
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Interesting looking at some of their other work.

Something I hadn't thought of before.... it is somewhat of a constrained location. I know campus buildings don't lend themselves to being tall with ten minutes to get between classes sometimes. But looking at some of their tall designs... what about going a bit taller here? Architecturally risky being behind and to the right of the dome so it would be very prominent from across the river. Putting academic and conference space on lower levels with offices and study spaces higher up. It would have to be very attractive and timeless, and not flavor of the day architecture, to be worth going much taller than the dome.
 
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tangent said:
Interesting looking at some of their other work.

Something I hadn't thought of before.... it is somewhat of a constrained location. I know campus buildings don't lend themselves to being tall with ten minutes to get between classes sometimes. But looking at some of their tall designs... what about going a bit taller here? Architecturally risky being behind and to the right of the dome so it would be very prominent from across the river. Putting academic and conference space on lower levels with offices and study spaces higher up. It would have to be very attractive and timeless, and not flavor of the day architecture, to be worth going much taller than the dome.
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From what I heard, MIT does what they can to make sure the Dome isn't encroached on by new development. I dont think they would put anything with height here. If they wanted height MIT controls a number of other sites where they could put it.
 
No, MIT can build tall around the dome...look at the Green Building, even closer than this site, and 300 ft tall.

This probably will max out at around 10 stories for three reasons, though:

1. Zoning. I'm pretty sure the height limits here max out at around 150 ft.

2. This will likely be a lab building with wet lab support. Those are expensive/difficult to build too tall.

3. There's nothing else close, except the Green building, that's over 10 stories. Stata across the way is 9 stories. It'd feel weird from an urban design perspective to suddenly have a 300ft tower or whatever.
 
Gameguy326 said:
No, MIT can build tall around the dome...look at the Green Building, even closer than this site, and 300 ft tall.

This probably will max out at around 10 stories for three reasons, though:

1. Zoning. I'm pretty sure the height limits here max out at around 150 ft.

2. This will likely be a lab building with wet lab support. Those are expensive/difficult to build too tall.

3. There's nothing else close, except the Green building, that's over 10 stories. Stata across the way is 9 stories. It'd feel weird from an urban design perspective to suddenly have a 300ft tower or whatever.
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Really, just throwing it out there. I wasn't thinking tall tall. 300 feet kinda tall would be more like it if they could make it stand up beautiful.

I don't think it would be wet lab space. It sounded more like classrooms, auditorium(s) and some common areas on the lower levels and lab space would be more electronics and computer science focused, so not much or any wet labs. Higher levels aren't practical for much more than offices or something like a function space with a view at a higher level (like the media lab function space).

Standing out is kinda the point of what I am saying. Given that it is supposed to be a new center of the biggest program on campus I think it probably should stand out. Not if it is ugly of course, so it is risky to think 250 or 300 feet. But maybe it could make sense given the right architecture, massing and space needs.

But really I don't think they "need" to do anything here other than build out the right mix of space and leave room for the trains, busses and rail trail in the back. Just thought it might be interesting to think about.
 
Gameguy326 said:
No, MIT can build tall around the dome...look at the Green Building, even closer than this site, and 300 ft tall.

This probably will max out at around 10 stories for three reasons, though:

1. Zoning. I'm pretty sure the height limits here max out at around 150 ft.
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Can does not mean they will. It has much less to do with zoning and what is currently on campus and everything to do with brand management and the institute's leadership. I believe they specifically do not want buildings encroaching on the dome as viewed from the Charles, the Green building does not do that.
 
goody said:
Can does not mean they will. It has much less to do with zoning and what is currently on campus and everything to do with brand management and the institute's leadership. I believe they specifically do not want buildings encroaching on the dome as viewed from the Charles, the Green building does not do that.
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I'm not sure what height is considered encroaching, but this area already has a bevy of buildings around and above 100 ft - Stata Center, Fairchild Building (36), Brain and Cognitive Sciences (46), and the Tech Square Novartis building.
 
Post edited for unrelated content/thread derailment
Gameguy326 said:
I'm not sure what height is considered encroaching, but this area already has a bevy of buildings around and above 100 ft - Stata Center, Fairchild Building (36), Brain and Cognitive Sciences (46), and the Tech Square Novartis building.
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Gameguy -- at least as tall as Stata -- possible to make it taller -- as opposed to the Nano which needed big floor plates and explicitly as a user facility didn't want faculty offices -- theStephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing*1 -- going in for nice faculty offices with some space for grad students, Post-docs, some class rooms and seminar rooms but not that much need for labs -- actually quite a bit like Google just down the street

The following is a digression from the main thread -- but it is not a derailment!

Based on a rumor that the Schwarzman is going to be about 300 k sq ft --- I'm guessing this might go 15 to 20 stories or more as the New 44 is to be constructed on the footprint of the old Building 44 -- [aka J*] ---- about [112 x 172 ft] or 19k sq ft -- 300k sq ft would require about 20 stories


1576209021236.jpeg
ting.png
MIT-Schwarzman-College-Site_3.jpg

formerly the home of the MIT Cyclotron, recently the home of the Lab for Nuclear Science and the virtual home of the J Particle
[1974 discovery and 1976 Nobel Laureate to SAMUEL C. C. TING, Thomas Dudley Cabot Institute Professor of Physics @ MIT]



Refs:
*1
The college aims to: connect advances in computer science and machine learning with advances in MIT’s other academic disciplines; create 50 new faculty positions ... in computing and artificial intelligence; educate all students to responsibly use and develop computing technologies to address pressing societal and global resource challenges; and focus on public policy and ethical considerations relevant to computing, when applied to human-machine interfaces, autonomous operations, and data analytics.... a building, large enough to house 50 faculty groups, to replace Building 44

Scheduled for completion in late 2022 [now 2023] the new building will serve as an interdisciplinary hub for research and innovation in computer science, AI, data science, and related fields that deal with computing advances, ...It will stand in close proximity to a cluster of computing- and AI-focused departments, centers, and labs located directly across the street and running up to the intersection of Vassar and Main Streets. All other buildings on campus are about a six-minute walk away.

“You can think of this intersection of Vassar and Main as the ‘entrance to computing,’” says Associate Provost Krystyn Van Vliet, who is responsible for Institute space planning, assignment, and renovation under the direction of the Building Committee

“The building is intended as a convening space for everyone working to create and shape computing — not just computer scientists, but people who have expertise in the humanities and arts, or science, or architecture and urban planning, or business, or engineering,” Provost Schmidt adds.

...Demolition is scheduled to begin in the fall.

a key planned feature will be “convening spaces,” which will include areas set for interdisciplinary seminars and conferences, and potentially an “open office” concept that promotes mixing and mingling.

The centralized location is key to the college’s interdisciplinary mission. Building 44 sits directly across the street from Building 38, which houses the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; the Stata Center, which the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) calls home; and the Research Laboratory of Electronics in Building 36.
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updated information from
news.mit.edu

3 Questions: Dan Huttenlocher on the formation of the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing

Dean Dan Huttenlocher has been working on developing the organizational structure of the new MIT Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing. He answers three questions about building the college and offers a glimpse into the new college headquarters.
news.mit.edu news.mit.edu
3 Questions: Dan Huttenlocher on the formation of the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing
The inaugural dean shares an update on the process of building a college.
Terri Park | MIT Schwarzman College of Computing
November 26, 2019

Since beginning his position in August, Dean Dan Huttenlocher has been working on developing the organizational structure of the new MIT Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing.

Q: Last year MIT announced the location for construction of the college’s new headquarters, near the intersection of Vassar and Main streets. What are the plans for the new building, and when is construction expected to be complete?

A: The building’s central location will serve as an interdisciplinary hub. The new building will enable the growth of the faculty and bring together those from numerous departments, centers, and labs at MIT that integrate computing into their work, and it will provide convening spaces for classes, seminars, conferences, and interdisciplinary computing projects, in addition to much needed open areas for students across disciplines to meet, mingle, work, and collaborate.

After an in-depth search and selection process, we have chosen Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) to design the new building. SOM

We are currently early in the design with SOM, a process that began in October. Completion of the new college headquarters is slated for 2023.
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shmessy said:
He needs a life.
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Shmessy -- And your derailment -- "reTweeting" someone else's comment and adding nothing of substance
At least when I derail -- I attempt to edify and educate -- so many people just mindlessly react

In particular the fundamental transformation of MIT [even just the restructuring of the MIT Department responsible for Course 6 [aka the Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering] associated with the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing -- certainly has the potential and will likely result in a greater impact on the fortunes of Greater Boston than all of the "Car Gurus', Toasts, and all the other "2nd-Gen DotComs" combined
 
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