BOSTON.Projects 7. Institute of Contemporary Art, ICA Boston, United States Diller Scofidio + Renfro museum, theatre. Baker House.

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1 BOSTON Projects 7 Created 05-Nov-10 By Gabriella Giungato, Torino, Italy Institute of Contemporary Art, ICA Boston, Diller Scofidio + Renfro museum, theatre Simmons Hall MIT Chapel 3 Kresge Auditorium Baker House 6 Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts 7 Cambridge, Le Corbusier exposition space, gallery, museum 4 Cambridge, Eero Saarinen chapel, university Cambridge, Alvar Aalto student housing Cambridge, Steven Holl 2 MIT Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences 8 Cambridge, Charles Correa Associates laboratorium, university 5 Cambridge, Eero Saarinen auditorium, university 1

2 photo: Peter Vanderwarker photo: Iwan Baan Institute of Contemporary Art, ICA Northern Avenue 100 Boston Massachusetts MA The new Boston ICA is located on the harbour at Fan Pier in south Boston The building design negotiates between two competing objectives: to perform as a dynamic civic building filled with public and social activities, and as a controlled, contemplative atmosphere for individuals interacting with contemporary art The Boston Harbour-walk borders the north and west edges of the ICA site This surface is metaphorically extended into the new building as a pliable wrapper that defines the building s major public spaces It folds up from the walkway into a "grandstand" facing the water, it continues through the skin of the building to form a stage, then turns up to form the theatre seating, then seamlessly envelopes the theatre space, ultimately, slipping out through the skin to produce the ceiling of the exterior public "room" Above the wrapper sits the "gallery box": a large exhibition space on one level that dramatically cantilevers over the Harborwalk toward the water photo: Iwan Baan Floor area/size m², Interior architect Diller Scofidio + Renfro Client ARUP Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston MI_MOA Tuesday and Wednesday 10 am - 5 pm Thursday and Friday 10 am - 9 pm Saturday and Sunday 10 am - 5 pm Closed Monday, except on national holidays Located at 100 Northern Avenue on Boston s waterfront, adjacent to Anthony s Pier 4 restaurant It is a short walk from downtown and easily accessible by public transportation There is affordable parking in the area, but fewer spots may be available in lots immediately adjacent to the ICA after 5 pm Take the Red Line to South Station and transfer to the Silver Line Waterfront The ICA is short walk from either Courthouse or World Trade Center station 2

3 photo: Ken McCown photo: Ryan Taube Simmons Hall Vassar Street 229 Cambridge Massachusetts Dubbed the "Space Waffle" by some of its residents, the striking grid system that Steven Holl employs for the design derives from his concept of "porosity," and while it appears massive in scale, the depth of the windows does give it a sense of permeability The 18 inch deep windows blocks the summer sun, but also allows Holl to play with color, with each panel in the recess colored different The exterior, while very regimented in its design, actually serves as a framework for an organic interior Long amoeba-shaped internal cavities slice through gridded structure bringing light into the central core The also serve as the "lungs" of the building, drawing warmer air upwards in order to cool the building down photo: Ken McCown Floor area/size m² Client Steven Holl Massachusetts Institute of Technology rtaube The exterior is easily accessible to the public The interior is not open to the public, but you might get lucky and a student will let you in From downtown Boston, take Main street across the Longfellow Bridge Turn left at Vasser Street, passing Frank Gehry's Stata Center, and continue on about a quarter of a mile It will be on the right side of the street across from the playing fields 3

4 photo: Frankss photo: Frankss MIT Chapel Massachusetts Avenue W15 77 Cambridge Massachusetts l Eero Saarinen designed the non-denominational MIT Chapel in 1955 It is located opposite the Kresge Auditorium which was also designed by Saarinen The oval chapel is a cylindrical brick form constructed of rough and imperfect bricks which catch the sunlight on its textured surface The building sits in a shallow moat and is supported by a series of low arches of different radii which rise out of the moat that reflects patterns of light onto the exterior wall of the chapel and evokes images of bridges spanning a river To enter the small chapel, one walks from the public spaces surrounding the chapel into a small grove of birch trees, enters through the timber doors which are located off the main oval and turns 180 degrees to head back through a enclosed glazed bridge into the circular chapel and is then drawn towards the light falling onto the white marble altar from the ceiling 1955 Eero Saarinen thom The MIT Chapel is open seven days a week from When nothing is scheduled during those times, it is open to members of the MIT Community for private meditation The chapel is located within the grounds of MIT Take the Red Line subway at the Kendall Stop Parking is available on the campus 4

5 photo: Frankss photo: Frankss Kresge Auditorium Massachusetts Ave 48 Cambridge Massachusetts l Kresge Auditorium was designed by Finnish architect Eero Saarinen It is located opposite the MIT Chapel on the Kresge Oval The pair of buildings were designed to define MIT's social cohesion The Auditorium was designed for formal events and the chapel was designed for marriages and memorial services with the oval in between as a public space for civic events The auditorium has an elegant copper-clad roof which springs from the ground at three points with sheer glazed walls that fill in the arches created by the form of the roof These sheer glazed walls offer views into the lobby and out onto the green The roof was constructed as a thin-shell structure of concrete which was an innovative building technique at the time of construction The building contains a concert hall which can seat 1226 people and a small theatre with 204 seats, rehearsal rooms, dressing rooms, offices, bathrooms and lounges The domed roof allows the interiors to remain column free Project is not public! 1955 Eero Saarinen thom The building is located on the MIT Campus Take the Red Line subway to Kendall Stop Parking is available on campus 5

6 Baker House Memorial Drive 362 Cambridge Massachusetts Baker House is a building for student residences, designed by Alvar Aalto and located at MIT University in Boston The curving form of the building protects the residents from the busy street along Charles River by having each window at an angle to the street, whilst providing each room with excellent views of the river Circulation is located on the façade facing MIT allowing the building to relate to the activity of the university The staircases are designed to allow unobstructed views along their entire length, increasing the visibility of the students moving through the building and increasing the opportunities for informal interaction The brick building with timber window frames has a pleasant domestic feel which reminds of early 20th-century Dutch housing The planning provides important communal areas and a variety of room types for different students, increasing the sense of community and diversity within the building Project is not public! 1948 Alvar Aalto thom The building is in use as student residences Contact the front desk on (617) for information regarding visits 6

7 Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts Quincy Street 24 Cambridge Massachusetts The Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, designed by Le Corbusier, is a building of intricate spatial devices, carefully choregraphed movement, and revealing views It is Le Corbusier's only building in North America and one of his last buildings As such the building is a fascinating collection of ideas, architectural language and devices developed in Le Corbusier's lifetime, compressed into a complex building which reveals and explains itself to you with ease Elements from La Tourette, Marseille, Chandigarh, and earlier works of the 1920s such as Ville Savoye and Maison Ozenfant are visible Approaching the building from any angle one is swept up, under or into the building, leading to the centre of it as views of the different volumes and glimpses into the office spaces are revealed The exhibition space opens up before arriving at the full-height glazed walls of the studio, where the building is effectively cut through in section, split by the ramp and movement of people 1963 Le Corbusier thom The building is open from Monday to Friday, Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon A gallery space on the ground floor is open to the public and studio spaces are clearly visible from the central ramp To contact the administration go to wwwvesfasharvardedu or call The building is located near Harvard Yard Take the red line to Harvard Square Station 7

8 photo: Sahil Latheef photo: Sahil Latheef MIT Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences Vassar St 43 Cambridge Massachusetts With a floor area of over square feet, MIT's new centre for Brain and Cognitive Sciences is the largest such facility in the world The site at Kendall Square is a difficult one, straggling two separate pieces of land separated by a railroad track The complex houses three major research institutes The brief stipulated that each of these institutes has its separate identity and its own entrance from street level Yet, once inside the complex, all three are melted into one continuous system, which maximizes the flexibility and interaction between scientists With its outer skin of glass and beige Portuguese stone, the BCSC succeeds not only as a great piece of architecture, but as a seminal example of urban design photo: Sahil Latheef Floor area/size m² Main designer, Services engineer Landscape designer Structural engineer Landscape designer Project manager Client Charles Correa Associates Goody, Clancy & Associates BR+A Consulting Engineers, Inc Carol R Johnson Associates LeMessurier Consultants Martha Schwartz, Inc Turner Construction Co Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sahil_Latheef 8