A Conversation with HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan

Mon, 13 May 2013 17:30:51 GMT

In a talk at MIT on May 7, 2013, Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan called for a new wave of creative urban planning to help cities evolve during a time of economic hardship.

2013 Architecture Open House: Nader Tehrani

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 20:30:48 GMT

Recorded 4-4-13

2013 Architecture Open House: Welcome and Overview

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 20:30:48 GMT

Adèle Naudé Santos, Nader Tehrani, Andrew Scott, Arindam Dutta

Recorded 4-4-13

2013 Architecture Open House: Alexander D'Hooghe

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 20:30:47 GMT

Recorded 4-4-13

2013 Architecture Open House: Ana Miljacki

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 20:30:47 GMT

Recorded 4-4-13

2013 Architecture Open House: Antón García-Abril

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 20:30:47 GMT

Recorded 4-4-13

2013 Architecture Open House: Cristina Parreño

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 20:30:47 GMT

Recorded 4-4-13

2013 Architecture Open House: Joel Lamere

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 20:30:47 GMT

Recorded 4-4-13

2013 Architecture Open House: John Ochsendorf

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 20:30:47 GMT

Recorded 4-4-13

2013 Architecture Open House: Mark Goulthorpe

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 20:30:47 GMT

Recorded 4-4-13

2013 Architecture Open House: Skylar Tibbits

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 20:30:47 GMT

Recorded 4-4-13

TalkBack 360: Science on Trial

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 17:30:47 GMT

 Rebuilding Credibility in the Face of Natural Disaster :

After the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake struck the Italian region of Abruzzo, killing more than 300 people, six seismologists were convicted of manslaughter. Nearly three years later, the city is still rebuilding. In this event on March 20, 2013, representatives from the city's reconstruction team met with MIT experts on geology, architecture and dispute resolution.

The 19th Pietro Belluschi Lecture: "Recent Works Around the World"

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 07:06:50 GMT

Architect Benedetta Tagliabue directs Miralle/Tagliabue-EMBT in Barcelona.

Matthias Kohler: The Design of Robotic Fabricated Architecture

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 20:30:47 GMT

The 7th Goldstein Architecture, Engineering, and Science Lecture, recorded on March 7, 2013.

4D Printing: Self-Folding Strand

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 15:45:14 GMT

A collaboration between Stratasys & The Self-Assembly Lab at MIT, which is headed by Skylar Tibbits, a lecturer in the Department of Architecture.

Professor Mriganka Sur speaks to the American Junior Academy of Science

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 21:30:45 GMT

MIT hosted a full day of activities on Feb. 14, 2013 for 232 American Junior Academy of Science delegates who were in Boston to attend the academy’s annual conference.

Open House: An introduction to HTC

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 08:07:40 GMT

History, Theory and Criticism Program of Architecture and Art.

Center for Advanced Urbanism

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 08:05:58 GMT

The Center for Advanced Urbanism (CAU) provides a home for faculty interested in collaborative research projects that will engage student participation.

The Center for Advanced Urbanism

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 18:35:14 GMT

The CAU is committed to fostering a rigorous design culture for the large scale

Yolande Daniels: Blindspots

Fri, 21 Dec 2012 08:05:41 GMT

A presentation of a series of independent projects on the intersections of race, architecture and the city, Blind Spots represent spaces that may not be observed under certain circumstances.

As a group, the projects explore the possibilities of descriptive terms and forms in architecture by seeking to materialize the immaterial while moving between the present and a past that has shaped it. Produced within the framework of an architecture practice, the independent projects are both blind spots and influencers of production.

Yolande Daniels

Principal/Co-founder, Studio SUMO

Yolande Daniels received architecture degrees from Columbia University and City College, CUNY. She was a recipient of the Rome Prize in Architecture from the American Academy in Rome, received a travel grant from the NY chapter of the American Institute of Architects and fellowships at the Mac Dowell Colony and the Independent Study Program of the Whitney American Museum of Art where she was a Helena Rubinstein fellow in Critical Studies.

She has taught architecture at various universities including the Graduate Schools of Architecture at Columbia University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is also a design principal of studioSUMO an architecture office founded in 1995 that is located in New York with projects in the United States, Japan and Brazil.

studioSUMO has been the recipient of various awards including: Emerging Voices, Design Vanguard and Young Architects Forum, as well as, the recipient of grants such as New York State Council on the Arts and New York Foundation for the Arts.

Franco Micucci: Architecture in Caracas after Modern Times

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 18:30:11 GMT

The lecture is about the urban and architectural outcome of the modern project in Venezuela and its consequences for the contemporary city of Caracas.

Franco Micucci is an architect who graduated in 1989 from Universidad Simon Bolivar in Caracas, Venezuela, and got his Master of Architecture in Urban Design from Harvard Graduate School of Design in 1992, where he received the Urban Design Thesis Prize.

He has been a Professor of Architecture since 1993 at Universidad Simon Bolivar where is currently the coordinator of the architecture program since 2009. He has also taught at Universidad Central de Venezuela and in the Master of Urban Design at Universidad Metropolitana, a joint program with Harvard University in Venezuela.

He has had academic experiences in Puerto Rico, Colombia, Chile and Spain.

His professional practice at MA+, Micucci arquitectos asociados, is based in Caracas and has developed a wide variety of projects for several Venezuelan cities in collaboration with a young generation of architects that share a vision for the city and its architecture.

Micucci has won the National Award at the Bienal de Arquitectura de Caracas in 2000 and recognitions on several national and international competitions of architecture and urban design. His work has been published in several magazines and books in Venezuela and some other countries of Latin America.

His academic research about the contemporary city and the tradition of modern architecture in Caracas is focused on an understanding of the city from the 20th century and its results. It is also an exploration about new ways to produce architecture with a proper response to strong and difficult political, economic, social and cultural issues in the Venezuelan and Latin American context.

Bibliodoptera

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 08:06:03 GMT

Bibliodoptera, by Peter Torpey and Elena Jessop, graduate students in the MIT Media Arts and Sciences Program. Location: Corridor along the Hayden Library Courtyard (map). Video by Judith M. Daniels/SA+P. Interviewer: Scott Campbell. Still photographs: Copyright Andy Ryan. http://arts.mit.edu/fast/fast-light/

IceWall

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 08:06:03 GMT

MIT150 celebrates past innovation and achievement, while acting as a catalyst for the next generation. In this spirit, IceWall plants a new future, even as its own seemingly fades away during the Festival of Art, Science and Technology. The installation consists of blocks of ice stacked on each other, creating one continuous surface facing the Charles River. Each block will have flower seeds frozen inside, visible during the Festival. The wall will be lit at night, creating a new face for MIT from across the river in Boston. As FAST concludes and Icewall melts away, the seeds are left behind in the ground. As the seeds germinate and bloom, the installation will continue to celebrate the sesquicentennial in the spring.

Unflat Pavilion by Nick Gelpi

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 08:06:03 GMT

Unflat Pavilion by Nick Gelpi. FAST Festival, MIT, May 7-8, 2011. Music: Mediterranean Tango by Pasqualino Ubaldini, http://www.jamendo.com/en/album/82896.

An Interview with MIT DUSP Grad Student Jeffrey Juarez

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 08:06:02 GMT

An interview with MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP) student Jeff Juarez (MCP 2011) about how he came to be at DUSP in the MIT School of Architecture and Planning after growing up in South Central Los Angeles - and his plans for the future.

Anchises

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 08:06:02 GMT

Excerpts from a video of a collaborative performance piece by Jonah Bokaer and Harrison Atelier. Ariane Lourie Harrison is a visiting lecturer in SA+P's Department of Architecture.

LightBridge

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 08:06:02 GMT

LightBridge by Susanne Seitinger, researcher in the Program in Media Arts and Sciences, and Pol Pla, graduate student in the Program in Media Arts and Sciences, and the software team: Russell Cohen, Eugene Sun, Andrew Chen, Dave Lawrence, Daniel Taub, and David Xiao. Location: Harvard Bridge Installed May 7 + 8, 2011 Video by Judith M. Daniels

Liquid archive new 0912 sm

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 08:06:02 GMT

An Interview with MIT Professor Philip Freelon

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 08:06:01 GMT

An interview with Phil Freelon about his firm's exhibit "REACH", which was in the Wolk Gallery at MIT from February 15th to June 8th, 2012. Phil talks about his design process, his time as a student at MIT, and the importance of encouraging diversity in the profession of Architecture.

An Interview with MIT Professor Xav Briggs

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 08:06:01 GMT

An interview with Professor Xav Briggs about his time in Washington DC working in the Obama Administration. Briggs has a national reputation for his work on social capital and the 'geography of opportunity' -- a policy and research field concerned with the consequences of segregation by race and income and with efforts to respond, such as through 'housing mobility' programs that help families exit high-poverty, high-risk neighborhoods in search of better places to raise their children.

Elizabeth Watkins, Video Artist

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 08:06:01 GMT

Excerpt from an interview with Elizabeth Anne Watkins, MS Candidate in Art, Culture and Technology at MIT. In this video Elizabeth talks about her research into time-based media.

Interview with William O'Brien Jr. About Winning the Rome Prize

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 08:06:00 GMT

William O'Brien Jr., an Assistant Professor of Architecture talks about winning the Rome Prize and what he intends to study while in Rome at the American Academy.

In profile: Christoph Reinhart — Seeing the light

Fri, 12 Oct 2012 20:30:16 GMT

Architect Christoph Reinhart’s work is all about daylight and its effects: how people respond to light in buildings, and how it might be used more effectively.

Advances in Architectural Geometry - MIT

Wed, 03 Oct 2012 07:05:28 GMT

The MIT Center for Art, Science & Technology (CAST) and the MIT Department of Architecture co-sponsored a video that was featured at the "Advances in Architectural Geometry" symposium at the Centre Pompidou in Paris from September 27-30, 2012.

Architectural geometry is an emerging field using geometrical principles to approach current design challenges with a renewed mathematical rigor. As part of a presentation on the most advanced and challenging research in the field, the video spotlights the groundbreaking technologies, materials, and processes produced at MIT. Curated by Skylar Tibbits.

Exhibited work and comments by: Material: John Fernandez Associate Professor, Building Technology Faculty, Department of Architecture Principal and Founder of LFArc and Urban Metabolism Group Scale: Skylar Tibbits Lecturer, Design Faculty, Department of Architecture, MIT Principal and Founder of SJET LLC Prototype: William O'Brien Jr. Assistant Professor, Department of Architecture Principal, William O'Brien Jr. LLC Movement: Joel Lamere Assistant Professor, Design Faculty, Department of Architecture, MIT Principal and Founder of GLD Modules: Nader Tehrani Department Chair, Department of Architecture, MIT Principal and Founder of NADAA Interaction: Meejin Yoon Associate Professor, Design, Faculty, Department of Architecture, MIT Principal and Founder of Howeler + Yoon/MY Studio Innovation: Sheila Kennedy Professor of Practice, Design Faculty, Department of Architecture, MIT Principal and Founder of Kennedy & Violich, www.kvarch.net Digital: Mark Goulthorpe Associate Professor, Design, Faculty, Department of Architecture, MIT Principal and Founder of dECOi Architects, HypoSurface Corp and Zero+

Interview with William O'Brien Jr. about winning the Rome Prize

Thu, 20 Sep 2012 07:10:05 GMT

The assistant professor of architecture talks about winning the Rome Prize and what he intends to study while in Rome at the American Academy.

MIT Architecture

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 15:51:45 GMT

A portrait of MIT's Department of Architecture.

MIT Design and Computation Group

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 20:30:16 GMT

Description
Research conducted by the members of the Design and Computation Group in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Architecture.

Agenda
The MIT Design and Computation Group inquires into the intersection of geometries and algebras, shapes and numbers in order to trace tensions and establish passages between the seen and the spoken, the sketched and the coded, the perceptual and the cognitive, the human and the mechanic. Motivated by the vision to bridge the gap between the elusive particularities of creative design processes and the innate characteristics of informational machines, the DCG inquires into ways of thinking/describing/seeing/embodying shapes and numbers so as to generate computational interpretations of design and designerly interpretations of computation.

Credits
Curation and Production: Theodora Vardouli
Consultation: Professor Terry Knight, Asli Arpak, Moa Carlsson, Onur Yüce Gün, Daniel Rosenberg
Featured research: Alan Song-Ching Tai, Carl Lostritto, Daniel Cardoso Llach, Daniel Rosenberg, Duks Koschitz, Kaustuv Debiswas, Laia Mogas-soldevila, Masoud Akbarzadeh, Moritz Kassner, Onur Yüce Gün, Rizal Muslimin, Shaul Goldklang, Thomas Wortmann, Theodora Vardouli, William Patera
MIT Design and Computation Group, August 2012

Growing MGHPCC - Presentation to the Governor (thru April 2012)

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 07:03:50 GMT

Slideshow from ground-breaking through completion of exterior construction presented to Governor Patrick in spring 2012.

A Few Words from the 2012 SA+P Urban Studies and Planning Graduates

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 20:30:11 GMT

The DUSP grad students were asked a few questions at the party after the 2012 graduation ceremony.

Lawrence B. Anderson '30 video memorial

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 17:30:11 GMT

Colleagues of MIT architecture professor Lawrence B. Anderson '30 created a video tribute to him in 1994 because so little was documented in one place about his remarkable life and work.

Cambridge Science Festival - What's Your Question? - Rivers of Ice

Thu, 31 May 2012 17:30:11 GMT

From the high Himalayas to the poles, the world’s glaciers are melting. What does this mean for your community and our shared Earth? David Breashears presents his stunning new images of the Himalayan glaciers to mark the MIT Museum’s opening of its special exhibition by GlacierWorks: Rivers of Ice: Vanishing Glaciers of the Greater Himalaya.

Along with David Breashears, the symposium brings together scientists and community members to debate your questions about our climate, environment, water supply and much more.

Speakers:
Graham Cogley, Professor of Geography, Trent University
Orville Schell, Arthur Ross Director, Center on U.S.-China Relations, Asia Society
Susan Solomon, Professor, Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Ellen Swallow Richards Chair, MIT
James Wescoat, Aga Khan Professor, Department of Architecture, MIT
Moderated by: Marco Werman, host of PRI's The World

Part of the Cambridge Science Festival: http://www.cambridgesciencefestival.org/2012Festival/2012ScheduleofEvents/RiversofIce.aspx

BOOKISH: Artist books from the collection of the Rotch Library of Architecture & Planning, 1960-present

Fri, 25 May 2012 07:03:20 GMT

Rotch Library of Architecture & Planning

Guest curator: Samuel Ray Jacobson, MIT SMArchS ’13, History Theory and Criticism of Architecture and Art

On view April 20-June 10, 2012

Video for the exhibit created in conjunction with the symposium “Unbound: Speculations on the Future of the Book”, BOOKISH explores the means and methods through which artist books challenge the book as traditionally conceived. By their selective, intentional performance and denial of normative aspects of book design, these artist-conceived objects negate such norms while sustaining their worth and continued relevance.

Clearly Impossible - at the MIT Museum

Mon, 14 May 2012 20:30:12 GMT

A video of Clearly Impossible, an installation by Zhe Huang and Yao Zhang. The installation was originally part of a larger exhibition at the MIT Museum called Ways of Seeing. It will be up at the museum until May 25, 2012. Sponsored by Florcraft, Clearly Impossible is a MIT Museum Studio project.

Read more: http://web.mit.edu/museum/exhibitions/studio/ways-of-seeing/index.html

SENSEable cities

Sat, 12 May 2012 07:03:14 GMT

Assaf Biderman, co-director of the MIT SENSEable City Laboratory, discusses his lab's work.

ACT Lecture | Michael Eng: Sound and Semiocapitalism: Affective Labor and the Metaphysics of the Real

Thu, 10 May 2012 07:03:28 GMT

Sound and Semiocapitalism: Affective Labor and the Metaphysics of the Real

This talk will analyse the sonic and affective turns that have appeared relatively recently in both contemporary art practice and current critical thought from the standpoint of what Franco ‘Bifo’ Berardi has termed “semiocapitalism.” Though the attention to sound and affect is typically held to be a remedy to the excesses of the past few decades (occularcentrism, the preoccupation with discursivity, and the persistence of form, to name but a few), affect is precisely that which contemporary capitalism in its financialized form exploits as a productive force. Are the sonic and affective turns, then, actually extensions of semiocapitalism? Michael Eng’s areas of research include sound, philosophy of the image, philosophy and architecture, and post-Heideggerian aesthetic theory.

Speaker: Michael Eng, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, John Carroll University, University Heights, Ohio.

ADA TOLLA + GIUSEPPE LIGNANO: LOT-EK O+O (Objects and Operations)

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 17:30:11 GMT

MIT Architecture's Spring 2012 Lecture Series: Specifications
Read more at: http://architecture.mit.edu/lectures/public-lecture-series

April 12, 2012 - Ada Tolla and Guiseppe Lignano (LOT-EK)

LOT-EK SCANS THE ENVIRONMENT IN SEARCH OF MANMADE OBJECTS AND SYSTEMS

LOT-EK EXPLOITS OBJECTS AS RAW MATERIAL FOR ARCHITECTURE

LOT-EK UPCYCLES OBJECTS TO CREATE REMARKABLE BUILDINGS

PARTNERS

LOT-EK’s founding partners, Ada Tolla and Giuseppe Lignano, have a Masters Degree in Architecture and Urban Design from the Universita’ di Napoli, Italy (1989), and have completed post-graduate studies at Columbia University, New York (1990-1991). Besides heading their professional practice, they also teach at Columbia University, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation in New York, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Department of Architecture, in Cambridge, MA.

They also lecture at major universities and cultural institutions throughout the US and abroad. In December 2011, Ada and Giuseppe were recognized as USA Booth Fellows of Architecture & Design by United States Artists (USA). Nominations are made each year by an anonymous group consisting of arts leaders, critics, scholars, and artists—all selected by USA—of artists they believe show an extraordinary commitment to their craft.

RELEVANCE

LOT-EK has achieved high visibility in the architecture/design/art world for its sustainable and innovative approach to construction, materials and space through the adaptive reuse of existing industrial object and systems not originally intended for architecture. LOT-EK is also recognized for the use of technology as an integral part of architecture, for addressing issues of mobility and transformability in architecture and for blurring the boundaries between art, architecture and entertainment. Its projects are published in national and international publications, magazines and books, including The New York Times, The London Times, Herald Tribune, The Wall Street journal, Wallpaper, Domus, A+U, Interior Design, Wired, Surface, Metropolis, Vogue, Graphis and more.

LOT-EK’s first monograph, URBANSCAN, was published by PAP in February 2002. LOT-EK MIXER, by Edizioni Press, came out in 2000 and MDU Mobile Dwelling Unit, published by DAP, came out in June 2003.

SUSTAINABILITY

LOT-EK’s sustainable approach to construction through the adaptive reuse of existing industrial objects and systems has been the basis of projects at all scales. Committed to ecologically-responsible, intelligent methods of building, our team takes advantage of the technological properties of existing industrial objects resulting from decades of expert development, to create architecture. We not only recycle the objects themselves, we also recycle the intelligence that went into their development. Beyond the inherent sustainability of our design methodology, LOT-EK is committed to researching and implementing innovative ways of conserving materials and energy. As with all technological elements, we are interested in highlighting sustainable technologies visually, as ingredients to emphasize overall design concepts.

MARIA ALESSANDRA SEGANTINI: C+S, Translation Architecture(TM)

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 07:04:38 GMT

MIT Architecture's Spring 2012 Lecture Series: Specifications
Read more at: http://architecture.mit.edu/lectures/public-lecture-series

March 8, 2012 - Maria Alessandra Segantini, C+S, TranslationArchitecture TM

C+S believes that each project is unique and should act as a translation of the historical, socio-political, economical, physical and climatic contexts which they belong to. They define their research TranslationArchitecture™.

Working on the integration of architecture, urban design, landscape architecture and ecology, C+S has developed an extensive catalogue of architectural and urban strategies, which aim to erase architecture as an object, instead melting it into the design of the landscape and translating it into contemporary universal values the power of the environment specificity, the community's expectations, the culture, the memory and the climate. The detailed analysis of the program and the site from both a cultural, social, physical and climatic point of view are the necessary conditions to approach design which is the result of the correct melting of concepts such as scale, form, community spirit and detailed design.

Readings for the lecture
http://web.mit.edu/annesim/www/Segantini_Readings.zip

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Maria Alessandra Segantini is partner, with Carlo Cappai, of C+S based in Italy.

She was educated at IUAV, University of Architecture of Venice, where she received an Awarded Master Degree in Architecture in 1991.
C+S works internationally in the different fields of architecture: urban design and the design of the landscape, architectural design, interior design both for the private and the public sectors.

C+S won many international competitions: Policlinic Hospital in Milan, Tenova headquarters in Verese, housing complex in Japan, university students’ housing in Murano (Venice) and the law court offices of Venice.

Segantini has lectured internationally and has been visiting professor in several universities of architecture. C+S has exhibited at the 8th and 12th Biennale of Architecture and in the 50th Biennale of Art Exhibition. C+S works won or were selected in many architectural design awards among which are: the Gold Medal of Italian Architecture 2006 (section education), the selection in the Mies Van der Rohe Award 2009, the honorable mention in the AR AWARD 2008, in the FarbDesign Preis in München and in the Dedalo_Minosse International Award 2011, the SFIDE 2009 of the Italian Ministry of Environment and the Faces of Design Award, Berlin 2010.

C+S architectural projects have been published in significant international magazines such as A+U, Architectural Review, C3, Detail, Domus, and Abitare.Segantini’s books, among which Contemporary Housing (Milan 2008) and Learning from Space (at press), are the results of her research.

ZIAD JAMALEDDINE + MAKRAM EL KADI: L.E.FT - RECENT WORKS, LEBANON

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 07:02:55 GMT

MIT Architecture's Spring 2012 Lecture Series: Specifications
Read more at: http://architecture.mit.edu/lectures/public-lecture-series

March 15, 2012
This Lecture, instead of linking architecture production to its proper history (history of architecture), proposes to draw a parallel between architectural production and the political history of Lebanon.

MAKRAM EL KADI

Born in Beirut in 1974, Makram el Kadi received his bachelor of architecture degree from the American University of Beirut in 1997 and his masters of architecture from Parsons School of Design in 1999. After working at the offices of Fumihiko Maki in Japan, he joined Steven Holl Architects where for 5 years he was project architect on numerous international projects, among them the World Trade Center proposal with Richard Meier, Peter Eisenman and Charles Gwathmey, and the winning entry to the natural history museum of Los Angeles county competition. Mr. El Kadi taught architecture studio with Steven Holl at the Columbia University School of Architecture Planning and Preservation GSAPP in 2004 and 2005 and as part of L.E.FT at Cornell University in 2006, and currently teaches graduate studio at MIT where he serves at the Aga Khan visiting Lecturer. He also has a regular teaching position at Yale where was the Louis Kahn visiting assistant professor of architecture and has been part of the Yale faculty since 2009.

ZIAD JAMALEDDINE

Born in Beirut in 1971, Ziad Jamaleddine received his Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the American University of Beirut in 1995, where he won the Areen Award for excellence in design. He received his Masters degree in architecture from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University in 1999. Mr. Jamaleddine worked for Steven Holl Architects for 5 years where he was the assistant to project architect for Simmons Hall dormitory at M.I.T, (winner of the National AIA Design award in 2003 and the New York AIA award in 2002), and the project architect for the design and development of the Beirut Marina project in downtown Beirut. Mr. Jamaleddine co-taught Vertical studio and seminar at Cornell University, Third-Year Graduate Advanced Architectural Design Studio at PennDesign, and Vertical Studio at Rensselaer (RPI) School of Architecture.

Glenn Adamson: Curating Postmodernism

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 14:30:10 GMT

Glenn Adamson is the Head of Research at the Victoria and Albert Museum. He leads the Research Department’s activities, working closely with colleagues within the museum and in collaboration with scholars and institutions worldwide. He holds a PhD in art history from Yale University, and was previously curator at the Chipstone Foundation in Milwaukee. Dr. Adamson co-curated (with Jane Pavitt) the exhibition Postmodernism: Style and Subversion, 1970 to 1990, which opened at the V&A in 2011. He has also written widely on craft history and theory, in such books as Thinking Through Craft (2007), The Craft Reader (2010), and The Invention of Craft (2012); and has edited numerous publications including the triannual Journal of Modern Craft, the volume Global Design History (co-edited with Giorgio Riello and Sarah Teasley, 2011), and Surface Tensions (co-edited with Victoria Kelley, 2012).

João Ribas is Curator of the List Visual Arts Center at MIT and was previously Curator at The Drawing Center, New York. His writing has appeared in numerous art and culture publications, and he is the recipient of three consecutive International Art Critics Awards for Best exhibition in a Non-Profit Space, and of an Emily Hall Tremaine Exhibition Award. João’s recent curated exhibitions include the Otto Piene: Lichtballet installation at the List Visual Arts Center (2011), Stan VanDerBeek: The Culture Intercom (MIT List Visual Arts Center and Contemporary Art Museum, Houston, 2011) Manon de Boer (Contemporary Art Museum, St. Louis, 2011); FAX (Carpenter Center, Harvard University, 2011): Frances Stark (MIT List Visual Arts Center, 2010); and Ree Morton: At the Still Point of the Turning World (Drawing Center, 2009). He has contributed essays to numerous publications and monographs, and has been a visiting lecturer for institutions and organizations worldwide. He was previously adjunct faculty at the School of Visual Arts in New York and the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD).

MARK WEST: Heavy Light - Finding Biomimetic Construction

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 07:02:54 GMT

Feb 9, 2012
Concrete has been formed in rigid molds since its invention in Ancient Rome. Very recently however, the possibility of a new architectural and structural language has emerged based on the use of flexible fabric formworks that are shaped by an internal response to the weight and pressure of wet concrete. This way of building results in works of great simplicity, economy, and beauty. This lecture will present many examples of this approach to construction and design, and explore the methods of discovery used at the Centre for Architectural Structures and Technology (CAST), in Winnipeg, Canada.

Mark West
University of Manitoba
Mark West is the Founding Director of the Centre for Architectural Structures and Technology (C.A.S.T.) at the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Architecture (Winnipeg MB), where he is a Professor in the Faculty Architecture (with a cross appointment in the Faculty of Engineering). He is the inventor of numerous fabric-formed concrete techniques for architectural, and structural applications.

He has worked as an architectural educator for thirty years in Canada and the U.S., dedicating his research to expanding the possibilities of design and construction by combining the disciplines of architecture, engineering, sculpture, and drawing. His first education was as a builder, followed by a B.Arch. from the Cooper Union in New York, NY, (1980) and a post-professional M.Arch. from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada (1996). His work has received wide recognition through publications, awards, lectures and exhibitions in North America, Asia, and Europe.

An Interview with Professor Philip Freelon about "REACH"

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 14:30:09 GMT

An interview with MIT Professor Phil Freelon about his firm's exhibit "REACH", showing in the Wolk Gallery from February 15 - June 8, 2012.

2012 CDD Forum - Jill Desimini, "Value in Vacancy: Landscape and the Shrinking City"

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 17:30:11 GMT

2012 CDD Forum: Shrinking Cities

Jill Desimini is a landscape architect and an Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. Her research focuses on landscape strategies for shrinking cities in North America. The work attempts to re-frame the normative dialogue surrounding population loss towards a productive outcome. Prior to joining the GSD, she was a senior associate at Stoss Landscape Urbanism. She holds MLA and MArch degrees from the University of Pennsylvania.

Hidden Hands and Divided Landscape: A Penal History of Singapore's Plural Society

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 07:03:47 GMT

A K P I A @ M I T 30TH ANNIVERSARY ALUMNI REUNION
Hidden Hands and Divided Landscape:
A Penal History of Singapore's Plural Society
Anoma Pieris - University of Melbourne

New Technologies for Interpreting and Representing a Medieval Islamic Suburban Villa

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 07:03:47 GMT

A K P I A @ M I T 30TH ANNIVERSARY ALUMNI REUNION

New Technologies for Interpreting and Representing a Medieval Islamic Suburban Villa

Glaire Anderson - University of Wisconsin Milwaukee

Seascape Urbanism: Conserving Port Cities in Al Khalij

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 07:03:47 GMT

A K P I A @ M I T 3 0 T H A N N I V E R S A R Y A LU M N I R E U N I O N

Seascape Urbanism: Conserving Port Cities in Al Khalij

Samia Rab - American University of Sharjah

Space of Resistance: The Return of the Avant-garde to the Streets of Iran

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 07:03:47 GMT

A K P I A @ M I T 3 0 T H A N I V E R S A R Y A LU M N I R E U N I O N

Space of Resistance:
The Return of the Avant-garde to the Streets of Iran

Talinn Grigor - Brandeis University

An interview with Phil Freelon about "REACH"

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 17:30:09 GMT

An interview with Phil Freelon about his firm's exhibit "REACH," showing in the Wolk Gallery from Feb. 15 to June 8, 2012

MIT Japan 3/11 Initiative

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 18:30:07 GMT

The MIT Japan 3.11 Initiative is MIT’s response to the March 2011 triple disaster in Japan.

An Interview with Professor Xav Briggs

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 08:03:12 GMT

Professor Xav Briggs talks about his time in Washington, D.C., working in the Obama Administration.

RLE Investigator Profile Video Series: Vincent W.S. Chan

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 23:17:53 GMT

Chan discusses research and education in his group.

Chris Nagel

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 18:17:16 GMT

SMArchS Colloquium

October 7, 2011

Manuel Castells

Sat, 19 Nov 2011 21:00:48 GMT

William B. Mitchell Symposium November 10, 2011

Rodney Brooks

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 02:09:49 GMT

SMArchS Colloquium September 30, 2011

Mark Bishop

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 18:05:32 GMT

SMArchS Colloquium October 21, 2011

Networks Understanding Networks, Pt. 12: Neri Oxman

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 18:22:41 GMT

Fabricating Networks: Notes on Biologically Inspired Design — Neri Oxman

Anchises

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 19:10:35 GMT

Excerpts from a video of a collaborative performance piece by Jonah Bokaer and Harrison Atelier. Ariane Lourie Harrison is a visiting lecturer in SA+P's Department of Architecture.

AIDA - The Affective Intelligent Driving Agent

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 18:18:14 GMT

The Affective Intelligent Driving Agent (AIDA) - a new in-car personal robot that aims to change the way we interact with our car. The project is a collaboration between the Personal Robots Group at the MIT Media Lab, MIT's SENSEable City Lab and the Volkswagen Group of America's Electronics Research Lab.

Liquid Archive

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 15:45:45 GMT

New video of Nader Tehrani's and Gediminas Urbonas' "Liquid Archive", part of MIT's FAST Festival. The video was created by the Urbonas Studio and Gerda Serbentaite.

Unflat Pavilion

Tue, 24 May 2011 19:32:17 GMT

Part of the MIT FAST Festival, Unflat Pavilion is a freestanding pavilion illuminated with LEDS that flexes two dimensions into three. Flat sheets are bent and unfurl into skylights, columns and windows.

Suzanne Seitinger: LightBridge at FAST Light 2011

Tue, 24 May 2011 18:01:43 GMT

In 1916, MIT crossed the river from its original location in Boston's Back Bay to Cambridge, taking up residence on the banks of the Charles. Since then, generations of students have trekked across the bridge, including Oliver Smoot and his fraternity brothers, who left their indelible mark along the way. LightBridge is a dynamic display symbolic of MIT's historical and contemporary connections between people and places on both sides of the river. This participatory installation allows people to use a website to design their own interactive light effects in advance and then experience their designs on site on May 7 and 8 as part of FAST Light at MIT's 2011 Festival of Art, Science and Technology. The 10,000 pixel display is activated by sensors (proximity sensors, cameras, buttons, microphones, mobile phones) that respond to the movement and activities of viewers in the area. By combining sensors and programmable lighting, the project illustrates the potential for user-driven urban screens and new configurations of low-resolution displays that blur the boundaries between traditional city lighting and the responsive infrastructures of tomorrow. Thanks to Philips ColorKinetics for donating the LED light strips, CISCO for providing the network hardware, and SparkFun Electronics for donating additional electronics for the sensor network. The project is funded in part by a grant from the Council for the Arts at MIT. MIT Festival of Art, Science and Technology. FAST Light 2011. Video by Judy Daniels.

Nick Gelpi: Unflat Pavilion/Feather-Weight House at FAST Light 2011

Fri, 13 May 2011 16:37:32 GMT

A freestanding pavilion, created by flexing two dimensions into three, this house deploys a fabrication system used to create a membrane, which is simultaneously structural, functional and representational in a single act. Entirely constructed of laminated plywood, an open pattern is cut into flat plywood stock which transforms into three-dimensional architectural features as flat sheets are bent and unfurl into skylights, columns, buttresses, windows and vents, in the act of becoming UNFLAT. This project demonstrates an architectural role reversal across its surface. On one elevation, a soft skin is hung on a structural frame. On the other elevation, the skin becomes structural, lifting the frame from the ground, inverting the normative structural hierarchy in an act of tectonic confusion. The project uses a promising method of fabrication with flexures, as many hundreds of parts become discreet, yet remain continuously attached to the sheet, eliminating the need for fasteners. This structure isn't hard, heavy, bulletproof, or monumental, it is modest, soft, cheap, low-tech, and full of holes. Inside the house, the walls appear porous and lightweight, its cavity illuminated with flexible LED strips attached to interior of each sheet. MIT Festival of Art, Science and Technology. FAST Light 2011. Video by Judy Daniels.

Maxwell's Dream: Paint with Light

Wed, 11 May 2011 14:40:16 GMT

An art installation that allows observers to play with a magnetic field to create patterns in light.

Nader Tehrani and Gediminas Urbonas: Liquid Archive at FAST Light 2011

Mon, 09 May 2011 13:19:27 GMT

Liquid Archive, a floating, interactive artwork, imaginatively extends MIT's Killian Court beyond Memorial Drive into the Charles River, to celebrate the Institute's 150th anniversary. Consisting of an inflatable screen anchored to a floating platform, it provides a backdrop for dynamic projections. Visible from the banks of the Charles, an hour-long program will feature several original artist proposals conceived in 1972 as part of the Charles River Project, a series of environmental artworks conceived by the designers, artists and scientists associated with MIT's Center for Advanced Visual Studies. Liquid Archive will bring these projects to life and demonstrate MIT's renewed commitment to creating an energy efficient environment and environmental art on a civic scale. MIT Festival of Art, Science and Technology. FAST Light 2011. Video by Judy Daniels.

Otto Piene: SKY Event at FAST Light 2011

Mon, 09 May 2011 13:18:04 GMT

Rising above the Great Dome of MIT, immense inflatable stars soared over Killian Court on the evening of May 7 during FAST Light, the culminating event of the MIT150 Festival of Art, Science and Technology. The sculptures celebrated - and incorporated - the distinctive symbiosis among artists, scientists and engineers that emerged at MIT during the 1960s with the founding of the Center for Advanced Visual Studies and continues today throughout the Institute. This event began in the afternoon as the sculptures were arrayed on the ground and - with the help of a crew of students and alumni - started to inflate. The stars launched at dusk and were fully illuminated at 9:00 pm, floating overhead while members of the crew and the audience kept them tethered to the earth. This participatory event was a collaborative art process leading to luminous images against the canvas of the night sky. MIT Festival of Art, Science and Technology. FAST Light 2011. Video by Judy Daniels.

Inverted Platform Lobby 7 competition entry

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 19:17:46 GMT

Inverted Platform offers new perspectives of MIT's Lobby 7 to visitors and members of the Institute community by redefining the plinth as a new type of platform for viewing and storytelling. Large red horn-like objects are placed on each existing plinth, but rather than acting as the pieces of art themselves they are merely the receptors for stories to be told, and projected along the walls of the dome. The project, which won first place in the graduate division, is titled the Inverted Platform for the three different types of inversions that drove the project conceptually: THREE INVERSIONS 1 // Cultural: transforming the pedestal to a platform for storytelling. 2 // Functional: taking on the form of an instrument to amplify sound, yet perversely amplifying text instead. 3 // Technological: through errors of speech recognition, stories are transformed and re-authored.

An Interview with Amanda Levesque

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 18:12:35 GMT

An interview with student Amanda Levesque about the value of international travel as part of an architectural education.

TrashTrack

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 17:46:40 GMT

Winner of the NSF International Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge, the video shows how TrashTrack uses technology to expose the challenges of waste management and sustainability. For more information go to: http://senseable.mit.edu/trashtrack/index.php

IceWall - a Festival of Arts, Science and Technology Installation

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 15:25:08 GMT

MIT 150 celebrated past innovation and achievement, while acting as a catalyst for the next generation. In this spirit, IceWall, part of the Festival of Art, Science and Technology, plants a new future, even as its own seemingly fades away.

Technology Day 1994 - "For the Wonder of it All: The Arts at MIT"

Thu, 24 Feb 2011 22:55:08 GMT

MIT's Technology Day 1994 titled "For the the Wonder of it All: the Arts at MIT" takes place on June 3, 1994, and features the following presentations: Philip Morrison on "Art and Science;" I. M. Pei '40 and William Mitchell on "I. M. Pei Recent Work;" Richard Polich ML '65 on "Engineering and Art;" and Lloyd Schwartz, John Harbison and Tod Machover on "The Sounds of Music at MIT." The video includes clips of musical performances. [T3054, T3055, T3056]

Maseeh Hall (W1) Under Construction

Thu, 10 Feb 2011 13:18:35 GMT

W1 is a historic residence at the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and the Charles river that re-opened on 8/15/2011 as Maseeh Hall, a new home for 462 MIT undergraduates, named in recognition of a generous gift from Fariborz Maseeh (ScD '90). For more information on the project, please visit The Division of Student Life's news blog. In this video shot in January, 2011, Project Manager Sonia Richards leads a tour of Maseeh Hall under construction, accompanied by Housemaster Jack Carroll and Residential Life Associate Becky Kjaerbye. Video by Josh Kastorf.

Excellence is a Shared Path: Working Together for Justice and the Quality of Life

Wed, 09 Feb 2011 05:00:00 GMT

02/09/2011 7:30 AM Walker Morss HallKhalea Robinson, '11; Pierre Fuller, 'GDescription: In their brief remarks honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., two students strike the theme of collaboration. They touch on the importance of humility and listening to one's inner voice while pursuing a shared vision of justice and equality. When she first came to MIT, Khalea Robinson was set to become a builder of bridges and skyscrapers. "Their visibility and permanence appealed to me." But a talk she attended on some of the world's pressing problems shook her commitment to this path. Access to clean water, and other issues, should surely count more than her own private engineering goals, she imagined. But after taking introductory courses in environmental and civil engineering, she realized that she "couldn't simply fall in line wherever there was a call, because there are so many calls, all of them worthy." Robinson felt that she should instead look for a field that would "bring forth my initiative, passion, drive, insight and courage," while also promoting justice and fairness. In a world "full of complex problems that need to be solved by many people," Robinson believes each of us "has a distinct voice that can and must be raised." Pierre Fuller finds a model in Biblical scripture's Nehemiah, who called on his people to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem one brick at a time, "each man contributing according to his ability." Fuller recounts that when acquaintances call him a "genius" because he studies at MIT, he points to the help he received during his childhood in Flint, Michigan: his grandmother, a hospital cleaner; a barber friend with a drug record; and his mother -- "who guided me with equal doses of love and tender encouragement, and a wooden paddle and a backhand that would rival Serena Williams." Just as Fuller attributes his success to a collective that made unique contributions to his upbringing, he sees the project of building a better world as a function of individuals working together in humility, suppressing personal ambitions, and "replacing a savior mentality with a serving mentality." The technological innovations MIT sees as the foundation of the future are "only a brick, a small portion of the wall that is to sustain our community." The academic elite, says Fuller, must seek solutions for communities they serve. All of us "must humble our hearts" to work for "those who come after us, as we have been served by those who come before." About the Speaker(s): A native of St. Kitts and Nevis, Khalea Robinson has been deeply involved with social policy issues. In 2008 she participated in MIT's Presidential Policies Initiative to raise awareness among national candidates of the greatest issues facing the U.S., including education and mortgage reform. Pierre Fuller earned a B.S. in civil engeering and in architecture from Lawrence Technological University, and his S.M. in civil engineering from MIT. His current research focuses on applying computing techniques to solve problems in building construction and operations. Fuller has served as a teaching assistant at MIT, and is involved with various youth outreach programs, including MIT's STEM science enrichment program for middle school children.Host(s): Office of the President, MIT Annual Breakfast Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Slipstream Public Exchange

Mon, 07 Feb 2011 18:34:04 GMT

Associate Professor Meejin Yoon and her partner Eric Höweler have won an open competition to design a new headquarters for the Boston Society of Architects on Boston's waterfront. Animation by Squared Design Limited

"Big City 1980" (1961) - MIT Centennial Film

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 20:21:41 GMT

MIT professor and architectural engineer John E. Burchard '23 accompanies the program host, Garry Moore, as they consider together what the urban future holds: how and where we will live in 1980, twenty years ahead? They take Philadelphia and Brasilia as examples to illustrate how a city could be transformed. The hour-long program was filmed as part of the CBS "Tomorrow" series on occasion of MIT's Centennial in 1961. Film to HD transfer courtesy of MIT 150. MIT Museum Collections. [T6151]

"Sailing by Computer" (1966) - Science Reporter TV Series

Thu, 13 Jan 2011 18:02:21 GMT

Novel approaches to ship design using state-of-the-art computers are presented in a 1966 interview of Halsey Herreshoff, instructor at the MIT Department of Naval Architecture in charge of research in ship model testing, in this "Science Reporter TV program co-produced by MIT and WGBH. Interview by John FItch. Courtesy of the MIT Museum. © MIT and WGBH. [T6078]

"Soft Machine" (1984) - Architecture Machine Group

Thu, 06 Jan 2011 17:23:32 GMT

In this video the Architecture Machine Group (a think-tank laboratory that preceded MIT's current Media Lab) introduces the Interactive Graphical Robot System and Video Slidathon. As the computer states, "The man-computer interface has evolved from the teletypewriter to workstations, that accomplishes a spatial metaphor for data management. In this experimental system the interface is metaphorically a person, an alter ego who provides conversational access to several conventional computer programs." Produced in1984 by Patrick Purcell. [T16312]

About MIT-France

Thu, 09 Dec 2010 18:31:03 GMT

MIT-France interns discuss their research and experience.

Kristian Kloeckl - "The Senseable City" - 2010 MIT SDM Conference on Systems Thinking for Contemporary Challenges

Tue, 07 Dec 2010 20:22:03 GMT

"The Senseable City" is a presentation given by Kristian Kloeckl, Research Scientist, in the MIT SENSEable City Laboratory at the MIT System Design and Management's 2010 Systems Thinking for Contemporary Challenges Conference on October 22, 2010. Please reference the link below for Kristian Kloeckl's presentation http://sdm.mit.edu/systems_thinking_conference_2010/presentations/kloeckl.pdf

Three Questions for Nader Tehrani

Wed, 13 Oct 2010 19:50:04 GMT

An interview of Nader Tehrani, the new Head of Architecture in the School of Architecture and Planning, MIT.

Hines: The Man, The Company

Fri, 01 Oct 2010 04:00:00 GMT

10/01/2010 1:00 PM e14"633Gerald D. Hines, Founder and Chairman, HinesDescription: An iconic figure in real estate development, Gerald D. Hines relates lessons learned over his half"century career to an admiring industry audience. Leveraging know"how in mechanical systems and project management, and not a small amount of chutzpah, Hines opened a one"man office in 1957 Houston, intent on buying, renovating and managing his own buildings. From this tiny start"up, the Hines development business has grown into an international powerhouse, controlling $22 billion in assets, and employing 3,300 people in 245 cities dealing with hundreds of millions of square feet of commercial, residential and mixed"use projects. Hines ticks off a handful of reasons for this spectacular success. First, he believes in "quality architecture" and mechanical systems that provide good service at low cost. When buildings embody these principles, he says, you can "mitigate risk in any economic cycle." Such architects as Philip Johnson and Kevin Roche have drawn tenants to his buildings. You want to be the "last to lose occupancy and the first to gain it back," says Hines. Second, he advocates a steadfast commitment to sustainable technologies, which also "makes good business sense." Even in the era prior to LEED standards, Hines sought ways to streamline buildings for greater operating and energy efficiencies. Other lessons he imparts: there are opportunities in acquiring existing buildings if you are "sure you can add value;" and "mixed use development makes for better communities and a better world." The average tenure for Hines' employees runs in the decades, and the company's organizational structure contributes in great part to this retention rate, as well as to its global successes. Hines describes the autonomy top managers enjoy in their various divisions. The company also offers these managers 50% of equity in new ventures. The "people leading the project have something to lose," says Hines, and a great deal to gain as well. Hines sees a real estate landscape that is a lot tougher to break into today, and one fraught with great uncertainty, especially in current economic times. He was chairman of the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank in the early 1980s, and witnessed a bust that "wiped out the real estate industry." He sees parallels today to those times, and warns his listeners, "Button down your hatches, guys, it could come overnight." About the Speaker(s): Gerald D. Hines grew a one"man operation into one of the largest real estate investment, development and management firms in the world. Since its inception in 1957, Hines has developed or acquired more than 980 projects in 245 cities globally and 17 countries, representing more than 330 million square feet of commercial, residential, mixed"use and industrial projects. The Hines firm controls assets valued at approximately $22.9 billion and partners with major institutional investors as well as individual investors through the Hines REIT. Hines is an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and has received the Urban Land Institute's J.C. Nichols Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development. An industry pioneer in aesthetics and sustainability, Hines has championed and supported real estate architecture and urban planning programs at Harvard, Yale and Rice universities; the College of Architecture at the University of Houston is named in his honor. Host(s): School of Architecture and Planning, MIT Center for Real Estate

Re-Engineering Buildings: Innovations in Building Technology

Fri, 01 Oct 2010 04:00:00 GMT

10/01/2010 11:00 AM e14"633Tony Ciochetti, Chairman, MIT Center for Real Estate; John Ochsendorf, Associate Professor, Department of Architecture; Alex (Sandy) Pentland, PhD '82, Toshiba Professor of Media Arts and Sciences, and Director of Human Dynamics Research, MIT Media Lab; Sarah Slaughter, 82, SM'87, PhD 91, Associate Director for Buildings & Infrastructure, MIT Energy InitiativeDescription: The built environment consumes a very large share of the nation's energy, and so offers rich opportunities for reducing our overall carbon footprint. MIT researchers share innovations that could soon radically alter the energy profile, as well as form and function, of buildings. Their work may prove invaluable to those in the real estate or construction industries seeking not just efficiency, but a good investment. Pumping gas into a car, we can get a good sense of its energy costs, says John Ochsendorf. But when it comes to buildings, which are huge capital investments, "we have practically no literacy" around energy performance. Now we are entering a "new frontier," says Ochsendorf, as pressure builds to achieve substantial, swift reductions in energy consumption. He is helping to develop new metrics for measuring the amount of energy a building uses over its entire lifespan, from construction through many years of occupancy. Ochsendorf maps the material and energy flow involved in producing a can of Coke, from the extraction of minerals for aluminum smelting, to the French beets used in its sugar syrup, and suggests that this level of detail should be available for our buildings as well. This means "lifecycle assessment with rigorous benchmarking of building performance," down to the CO2 emissions per square foot. Ochsendorf is working with concrete and cement manufacturers to help them achieve steep reductions quickly, and to design buildings that use local waste material such as clay, and operate with zero net energy use. The value of buildings derives from their capacity to "protect and enhance the health, safety and well"being of occupants and communities," says Sarah Slaughter. There are measurable benefits, too: Acoustically quiet classrooms improve student retention, and reinforced buildings can withstand hurricanes and earthquakes. Slaughter is interested in using "low impact development" for healthy, resilient buildings. She takes a "system of systems" approach, examining first the interaction of systems within a building. Could use of rainwater capture, for instance, decrease the need for non"potable water, or could "daylight harvesting" permit the downsizing of artificial lighting? Slaughter next considers the building's connections to the larger environment, including its neighborhood and region. She sees a "value"added chain" that ultimately includes municipalities and state and federal agencies. By targeting the right links in the chain, one can achieve both performance enhancement and cost efficiencies. This leads to "clearly demonstrable bottom"line benefits -- less than a year payback for some upgrades" as well as improved buildings that "allow people to complete their organizational missions more effectively." Alex (Sandy) Pentland hopes to make buildings more productive and efficient, but focuses on people rather than structures. He has devised methods for mapping human activities, following cellphone and other wireless signals. For example, Pentland can track face to face meetings taking place in an organization, and troubleshoot areas of low"productivity. He describes changing the time for coffee breaks in a Bank of America call center, and saving that business $15 million. He has detailed how "tribes" of people move about in cities, and can make astonishingly accurate predictions about where and when these groups go to eat and the kinds of things they buy. Real estate developers could look at transportation patterns, for instance, and build stores in places convenient to a target group. These tools are powerful enough to reveal socioeconomic patterns, such as crime rates, disease and even life expectancy among different groups. Data mapping, believes Pentland, will prove increasingly useful to many institutions, although it presents some perils around privacy issues. About the Speaker(s): Tony Ciochetti leads the Center for Real Estate's mission to improve the global built environment through industry relevant research and to promote more informed professional practice. Prior to his appointment at MIT, Ciochetti was the Director of the Center for Real Estate Development and a Professor of Finance at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Ciochetti is also a visiting Professor in the Department of Land Economy at Cambridge University in England. His teaching areas of expertise include Commercial Real Estate Development and Real Estate Finance. He has created or taught courses in these areas at MIT, the University of Pennsylvania, Cambridge University, the University of Wisconsin"Madison, Indiana University, and the University of North Carolina"Chapel Hill. Ciochetti's research interests lie in two broad areas: commercial mortgage credit risk and the role of real estate within pension plan portfolios. His work has appeared in leading scholarly journals, including Real Estate Economics, and the Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, among others. Ciochetti is currently the President of the Real Estate Research Institute, where he is also an academic fellow, and serves on the Board of Directors of Real Estate Economics. Ciochetti received his B.A. in Finance from the University of Oregon, and both his M.S. and Ph.D. in Real Estate and Urban Land Economics from the University of Wisconsin"Madison. Host(s): School of Architecture and Planning, MIT Center for Real Estate

William McDonough - Cradle to Cradle: A Strategy of Hope

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 16:24:16 GMT

This talk was given on April 22, 2010 as the Earth Day Colloquium, sponsored by the MIT Energy Initiative and the United Technologies Corporation. - About the Speaker - William McDonough is an internationally renowned designer and one of the primary proponents and shapers of what he and his partners call 'The Next Industrial Revolution.' Time magazine recognized him in 1999 as a 'Hero for the Planet', stating that "his utopianism is grounded in a unified philosophy that-in demonstrable and practical ways-is changing the design of the world." Time Magazine again recognized Mr. McDonough and Michael Braungart as "Heroes of the Environment" in October 2007. In 1996, Mr. McDonough received the Presidential Award for Sustainable Development, the nation's highest environmental honor; and in 2003 earned the U.S. EPA Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award. In 2004 he received the National Design Award for exemplary achievement in the field of environmental design. In October 2007, Mr. McDonough was elected an International Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects.

Numbers, Words and Colors

Fri, 21 May 2010 04:00:00 GMT

Tools developed by Martin Wattenberg and his associate Fernanda Viégas, have changed the way people look at and use visualizations, by empowering and equipping users with the methodology needed to ask different question

Visual Overviews for Cultural Heritage: Interactive Exploration for Scholars in the Humanities, Arts, and Beyond

Thu, 20 May 2010 04:00:00 GMT

05/20/2010 6:00 PM Morss Hall Walker Memorial Ben Shneiderman, University of MarylandDescription: A focus on designing technologies that allow the "visualization of things not visible" has been at the center of Ben Shneiderman's work over the past two decades. He advocates the discovery of temporal patterns, relationships and clusters via an empowering user experience which enables discovery at a customizable pace and depth. Shneiderman makes a clear distinction between high"resolution presentation (ala Edward Tufte) and discovery, which he defines as "the dynamics of interaction." Noting that different patterns will be interesting to different people, he suggests that the capacity to quickly test out a viewpoint, to ask a large number of questions in a short amount of timeis an "enriching gift." Shneiderman cites several different projects which utilize various methodologies of user exploration and empowerment, principles applicable to the scientific and technical world, as well as the humanities and arts. The best known of these is Spotfire, a commercial application of visual data mining and information visualization. (User control _ via dynamic query sliders, for example " directs the rapid updating of a display containing color" and size"coded points.) He describes other methodologies _ including treemaps (space"constrained visualizations of hierarchical structures), TimeSearcher (a visual analysis tool for time series data), FeatureLens (interactive visualization of text patterns) and Social Action (for social network data, now incorporated into NodeXL) _ as capable of giving "answers to questions you didn't know you had." Questions from the audience address the challenges of visualizing uncertainty and the notion of a "user" as a participant whose contributions and engagement actually reshape the very conditions of the system. Shneiderman emphasizes a desire to not only empower users but to alert them to potential hazards of interpretation and make them more cautious users, readers and/or participants. Additionally, Shneiderman encourages an information visualization approach through which selection strategies allow "treasures to rise to the surface" from vast databases. Noting ongoing constraints of time and budget, he emphasizes the processes of categorization and prioritization, and supports courage of ownership for decisions made. About the Speaker(s): A pioneer of information visualization, human"computer interaction, and user interface design, Ben Shneiderman'swork has focused on database design, human factors in computer systems and information design, and technology"mediated social participation. Concepts of information design associated with him include dynamic queries and starfield display (research that led to the development of Spotfire, the user"driven analytical tool), HyperTIES, the treemap concept, the Lifelines project, PatternFinder, TimeSearcher, the Hierarchical Clustering Explorer, and universal usability, among many others. His book, Designing the User Interface: Strategies of Effective Human"Computer Interaction, has appeared in numerous editions and had a profound impact as an educational and professional text. Founding Director (1983"2000) of the Human"Computer Interaction Laboratory (HCiL) at the University of Maryland, Shneiderman is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and has received the ACM CHI (Computer Human Interaction) Lifetime Achievement Award. He earned his PHD at SUNY at Stony Brook in 1973. Professor, Computer Science and Institute for Advanced Computer Studies, University of Maryland >http://www.cs.umd.edu/~ben/ Host(s): School of Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences, HyperStudio

Blended Learning Revisited

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Even when children are high achievers and facile with new technology, many seem gradually to lose their sense of wonder and curiosity, notes John Seely Brown.

Transportation in Contemporary Society: A Complex Systems Approach

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 05:00:00 GMT

03/09/2010 4:00 PM 3"270Joseph Sussman, J R East Professor of Civil and Environmental EngineeringDescription: In the nineteen fifties and sixties, students of transportation focused on building infrastructure and applied lessons from the physical sciences to designing mobility. Mobility was facilely linked to the engines of economic growth and expanding GDP. In time, that perspective was replaced by a focus on transportation systems and networks. There was a newfound emphasis on environmental impacts, land use, and intermodal freight. There was also a growing concern on unpriced externalities. Today, Joseph Sussman explains, with many of those problems still unsolved, transportation has entered a new phase-- a period of immense complexity or CLIOS, which stands for complex, large scale, interconnected, open and sociotechical is an acronym that is becoming the mantra of transportation engineers. While it is not as far"reaching as "chaos" to a physicist, it is an approach with far"reaching consequences for the transportation field. To participate in "Complexity 101" engineers must take account of stochastic systems, difficulties relating cause and effect, and non"linear behaviors. They must also recognize complex feedback loops between macro and micro issues; time scale anomalies, and evaluative complexity brought by new stakeholders. Sussman observes, " Even if we could wish away behavioral complexity, it would not mean that we know what we should do." He says that transportation engineering must now embrace management, the social sciences and planning and he warns us eschew narrow representations of complex systems because they are implicitly easier to solve. Sussman walks us through the new tools of math and advanced technology which have evolved with with CLIOS. In earlier times engineers could not respond with full information, disaggregate demand analysis, or real time operational data. He cites the need to apply these to find new solutions and designs--particularly ones that incorporate flexibility, reliability, and sustainability. Sussman terms these the "bilities". Taking flexibility as an example, he notes that some transportation providers, and particularly the airlines, are creating tailored and customized services for users. Sussman poses whether the concept of flexibility could be extended to highway travel and " pay as you go". Likewise, in automobile design, we are moving away from crash worthiness to a concept of crash avoidance. At a more macro level, Sussman says that we can now solve problems of a scale that seemed unthinkable 5 or 10 years, i.e., problems that were seen to be beyond our computational scope. Sussman observes a growing connection between economics and transportation. "We are moving toward a period where new technology and mathematical solutions allow us to better recognize and value previously un"priced externalities". Increasingly, he views transportation as a regionally scaled enterprise that can be managed at the scale of the metropolitan regional level. That aligns us, he says, with economists who have long talked about metro based regions as the economic engine of society. He also says there is a need for a large national vision on the scale of the one that created the national highway infrastructure. Sussman endorses the view that the American people yearn for a big vision and are tired of cycles of crisis and doom. Host(s): School of Engineering, Transportation@MIT

Emily Katrencik, "Consuming 1.956 Inches Each Day For 41 Days"( 2005)

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 17:33:41 GMT

Documentation of a performance where 1.956 cubic inches of a wall in an art gallery in Brooklyn, New York is consumed each day for 41 days until a space in the gallery wall, large enough to fit ones head through, is opened up between the gallery and the gallerist's adjacent bedroom. Visitors to the space are offered fresh bread which contains bits of the gypsum--to help take an active position in the consumption of architecture.

Fascia

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 08:26:21 GMT

Fascia, a commissioned work for Storefront for Art and Architecture, New York 2006_____________________________________________________________________________________________ An artist statement by Pia Lindman __________________________________________________________________________________________________ "[This façade is] a spacemaker; it is an instrument between the inside and the outside." Vito Acconci __________________________________________________________________________________________________ Let's assume there is only one space and no division. Instead of dividing space the wall is simply an embodiment in space. As it occupies and moves in space it makes space emerge. This embodiment can be a membrane, a human body, or architecture. They become social acts and gestures in space. Thus there are formations and negotiations of that space in various social configurations. If I think of the façade of Storefront for Art and Architecture, the pivoting doors make gestures that imply social relationships. I can ask a literal question: What do these openings want to do in life? What do they want us to do to them? We can imagine the façade as a continuously evolving series of social events in space. I can imagine gestures and social relationships in the pivoting, protruding, retracting, and intruding doors of the façade. __________________________________________________________________________________________________ "There is a face wherever something reaches the level of exposition and tries to grasp its own being exposed, wherever a being that appears sinks in that appearance and has to find a way out of it." Giorgio Agamben ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ I believe the experience of being a socially functional human could be described as existing between the core of a tree and its bark. Our consciousness is neither fully inside our 'core', i.e., our biological body, nor is it completely outside of the confines of the same body. We communicate with ourselves from the vantage point of looking at our exterior representation as much as we feel our internal body. When we feel sick, we look at our tormented face in a mirror, rather than at the bacterial growth inside our stomach. Perhaps Giorgio Agamben is speaking about face as if it was a bark that had melted together with the core. In Fascia, I physically exhaust my body and face in filming sessions that last up to 60 minutes. Parts of my face stay fixed while others may move. The physical exhaustion and the necessity on focusing on staying fixed despite experiences of pain, work towards my face reaching this condition of a bark melting with its core: a membrane that has turned porous, a façade that is no longer holding up and as it - not crumbles, but evaporates - voids a division of space. Ironically, as the façade evaporates, expression seems to be as meaningless as its opposite. It does not matter what grimace I am making: __________________________________________________________________________________________________ "As soon as the face realizes that communicability is all that it is and hence that it has nothing to express - thus withdrawing silently behind itself, inside its own mute identity - it turns into a grimace, which is what one calls character." Giorgio Agamben ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ I built a chair for the specific purpose of filming these facial configurations. These configurations are not facial expressions, although they may resemble some. Indeed I have been inspired by some typical facial expressions, such as a smile or raised eyebrows to express surprise, but also facial caricatures such as an overly droopy under lip or enlarged and protruding ears. I have also been inspired by architectural metaphors, such as the eyes as the windows to the soul, or the mouth as a metaphor for a door. I have had various metal devices constructed for me. These attach to the chair and serve to manipulate my face in order to make it assume a distinct 'expression', frozen for the duration of the 60-minute long filming. Due to the duration the face inevitably cannot sustain a sense of authenticity and meaning of its expression. For that, the face would have to assume it for merely a fleeting moment. Instead, these faces turn to constructed poses, or more precisely, grimaces. After filming one face, I make the video recording transparent. I then cut it into one-minute sections and layer these sections on top of each other. In this way, one sees a one-minute video showing 60 minutes of video recording simultaneously. __________________________________________________________________________________________________ TEN FACES OF FASCIA I have composed ten faces for Fascia. The first one serves as a sort of introduction to the series and I filmed it as follows: I sit in the chair with three metal arms extending from the headrest to fix my head. However, the features of my face, such as my eyes, mouth, and nose are free to move. I read out loud a poem by Apollinaire of the nine gates to his lover's body. The layering of the video recording has the visual effect of my facial features becoming blurred and multiplied, while the edges of my head remain fixed and focused. 1_________________________________________________________________________________________________ For filming the face following the introduction, I removed the metal arms fixing my head and instead fixed my face by wrapping my mouth around a metal dowel that extended from a metal arm rising from the seat. My head behaved like a pivoting object with the mouth as the center point. The effect of layering the video makes my head and face seem blurred except for the dowel and my lips, which are in clear focus. 2_________________________________________________________________________________________________ For filming the second face following the introduction, I placed a triangular tube in my mouth. It was so close to my head, that it nailed it to the headrest. My lips and teeth wrapped around the three edges of the tube, while my tongue stuck out towards the camera through the triangulated opening. I soon realized it is impossible to swallow. Instead, my saliva found an exit through the triangulated passage of the tube. 3_________________________________________________________________________________________________ For the third face I had frames made for my eyes from square steel tube. I wanted to suspend the frames around my eye sockets, so I pulled and rested my brows on edges shaped to fit my facial bone structure. I dipped these edges in a rubbery plastic material that covered the smooth hard steel and offered a grip to the skin. While filming the face, I strived to keep my eyes fixed on one single point. My face and head were pivoting around the axis of my eyes. 4_________________________________________________________________________________________________ For the fourth face, I used magnet buttons to nail my under lip. I unfolded and extended the lip as far down and out as I could, finally fixing it to a steel plate beneath my chin. I expected this face to be particularly difficult, because the exposed under lip would dry out during the 60 minutes I needed to film. However, I was able to breath through my nose, and keep saliva running down the lip. 5_________________________________________________________________________________________________ For the fifth face, I used rubberized hooks to horizontally expand my nostrils. The pulling of the nostrils had the effect of raising my upper lip and made me look like a rodent. 6_________________________________________________________________________________________________ For the sixth face, I used two metal rods of different lengths: one to push up my left eyebrow, and the other to push up the right corner of my mouth. I think of a pirate, when I see this face. Surprisingly, this funny face caused some trouble. I had difficulty keeping my saliva in my mouth, as it wanted to escape through the slit between my lips forced open by the rod. The rod pushing my eyebrow kept brushing against my eyelashes. I tried not to blink too much. 7_________________________________________________________________________________________________ For the seventh face, I had metal supports made for my ears to rest on. These supports pushed the ears outwards, perpendicular to the head. As I realized that during a 60-minute filming session, the ears might very well fall off their supports, I fixed them at the top and bottom with magnets. My face was free to move, except for the ears, and therefore I was able to even smile. 8_________________________________________________________________________________________________ For the eighth face I bolted two rubberized metal blocks to the steel frame fixing my head. Like sliding doors pushing in, these blocks pushed my cheeks towards the front of my face. This gesture reminds me of someone grabbing your face between their fingers, in order to pull your lips forward to kiss you or to intimidate you. 9_________________________________________________________________________________________________ For the ninth face, I closed my lips over a rectangular rubberized metal sheet. My teeth pushed against the sheet, so that it kept pushing out of my mouth, while my lips kept the sheet inside. The corners of the sheet pushed the flesh of my cheeks from the inside, forcing my lower face to assume a rectangular shape.

The State of Drupal

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT

Dries Buytaert relates a synopsis of his life with Drupal from its inception while a "typical geek" undergraduate in Antwerp in 1999 to the upcoming release of Drupal 7.

Electrochromic Window

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:27:08 GMT

Sustainable practice emerges from a carefully crafted choreography between different elements within the built environment. In our design, we program the relationship between both the active and passive elements of the architecture as an interactive system where each component works with each other in a continuous, dynamic feedback loop. The building is designed to be able to decide what would be the most sustainable course of action given the variations in environmental conditions or user needs. It can dynamically customize its behavior by taking into account both real-time conditions, long-term goals and user preferences to re-optimize building performance while maximizing user expectations. http:// mobile.mit.edu/fbk

West Bank Barrier Crossing

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:49:26 GMT

Just Jerusalem Competition Proposal for a West Bank Barrier Crossing. Entered by Alex Zimmer and Matthew Rajcok

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