Moving to new offices? You might want to visit MIT first.
The 1,000+ people in MIT’s computer science labs are moving from
the WWII-era "NE43" building to the $285-million, 719,000 square-foot,
Frank Gehry-designed "Stata Center."
Computer science
engineers are, in many ways that matter, much like lawyers: Solitary
specialists who must also collaborate, confronting real-world problems
and dreaming of paradigm-shifting solutions, perhaps not naturally gregarious
but benefiting immensely from interaction and cross-disciplinary pollenization. Whereas
NE43 was one enormous rectilinear box, there is scarcely a right angle
to be found at Stata.
“It’s a people building,” says Chris Terman,
associate chair of CSAIL, who asserts that the Stata Center’s layout
promotes conversation and interaction among people. It’s designed for
ease of movement. It promotes collaboration. It welcomes change.
Unless you’re Skadden, you may not have $285-million to spend (and
you’re renting not buying in any case), but MIT is nothing if not confident
that it’s giving its crown-jewels department a powerful new platform
for innovation in the 21st Century.
Take a look: Food for thought.
