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MIT Stata Center
Category: Public Services & Government Landmarks & Historical Buildings Landmarks & Historical Buildings [Edit]
32 Vassar StCambridge, MA 02139
Neighborhood: Kendall Square/MIT
(617) 577-8812
- Nearest Transit:
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Vassar St @ Mass Ave (CT2)
77 Massachusetts Ave (1, CT1)
84 Massachusetts Ave (1, CT1)
21 reviews for MIT Stata Center
Review Highlights
"Architect Frank Gehry makes me smile and so does his Stata..."
(in 4 reviews)
"Love the architecture--also love sneaking in here to have..."
(in 3 reviews)
"...beauty, as well as easy to use- that's my design philosophy."
(in 4 reviews)
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21 reviews in English
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Review from Nan S.
Somerville, MA
6/13/2010 2 photos
I think this is a great thing to show friends/guests when they come to town. It looks pretty cool if you've never seen anything like this before. I'm no architect and I don't really know much of anything about it...so for people like me, looking at buildings like this makes me excited!!
I wouldn't spend hours here (I didn't even bother trying to go in) but just passing through (maybe on the way to brunch?) and snapping a couple of pictures will brighten my day!~ -
Review from Elmer C.
Oak Island, MA
It finally dawned on me today, what building the Stata Center has always been suggesting to me, if perhaps in a subconscious way: The Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California.
I visited the WInchester House with my sister and niece in 1973 and, at that time, was amazed at all of the weird things that had been built into it. The story goes, that Mrs. Winchester (the widow of the rifle manufacturer) was convinced by her personal psychic, that in order to ward off hostile spirits, she needed to keep her house under construction 24 hours a day.
The result is a structure that never looks finished, has strange shaped rooms that waste space and serve little purpose, and lots of useless staircases that lead nowhere at all. (Sound familiar?) Oh, and there's the tourist gawkiness factor too; trolly busses, duck tours, etc., all slow down for people to stare at the strange place.
As a kid, I was rather dismayed to see that while Mrs. Winchester obviously had paid a lot of money for the high-end materials and construction techniques that were used, she didn't get a very good value because everything was so impractical.
Such is the case for many features of the Stata Center. I've always felt a similar dismay when exploring it's Winchesteresque staircases. They look impressive, and sometimes even inviting. But if you actually take the stairs to see where they go, they never seem to lead anywhere useful.
There is a system of useable staircases in the Stata Center, but they are practically hidden, out of the way and difficult to find amidst the confusing layout on all floors except the parking garage (see pictures). As a result, everyone uses elevators to go from floor to floor. By contrast, the staircases of Building 46 across the street are very well utilized and are in fact a common place where passing friends say hello to one another.
Also in common with the Winchester House is the Stata Center's eternal "non finished" look. But with the Stata Center, it was intentional. The interior furnishings have a "Home Depot" look to them, like uncompleted projects of rough lumber and industrial hardware. Even the canopies over the street entrances look like temporary pieces of non-matching sheet metal.
Only the first floor corridor of the Stata is a successful common space; with few exceptions, the many balconies, outside terraces and problematic amphitheater are seldom used by anyone.
The Stata center does have some gorgeous classrooms and lecture halls, and the laboratories housed within are as notable as any at MIT. Another plus is that some windows can actually be opened for natural ventilation.
Perhaps the most practical features of the Stata Center are hidden out of sight underground. On the basement level is the main receiving dock for this part of campus. Packages from UPS, etc. are delivered there en masse, sorted, and delivered by MIT facilities employees to individual labs and offices. This level also connects to MIT's underground tunnel system via Building 26 and now, Buildings 76 and 68. Below the basement level are two additional subterranean parking levels where hundreds of cars park each day. It's the best parking garage on campus, especially in the winter.
Love it and/or hate it, the Stata Center is definitely one of the more interesting buildings at MIT. I wonder if Mr. Gehery ever visited the Winchester Mystery House?
(Oh wait.... on that 1973 trip to California, I also went to the Santa Cruz Mystery Spot. It's harder to explain than the Winchester House, but anyone who's been there probably knows what I'm thinking...)Listed in: MIT
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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10/8/2010
Bad Gehery cliché. Already dated and not wearing well at all. I wish they could get rid of the… Read more »
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Review from Andy F.
Pico Rivera, CA
7/28/2011 1 Check-in Here
MIT what can I say. This is a great place to meet up, have lunch or dinner and get a table to sit and study or have a meeting. Decor is great, you wont be bored from any plain walls around you.
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Review from Jane E.
Cambridge, MA
2/1/2011
I read an article once about the Stata center, deriding it for being the exact antithesis of everything MIT stood for - reason, logic, engineering excellence, and so on... and it is probably true. The building is impossible to navigate, impractical (except the first floor which is brilliant), and inefficient in many ways.
But you know what? Stata is exactly what MIT needs - a little chaos. -
Review from Tom E.
2/16/2007
Architectural critique time... this building is 4 stars compared to most of the new builds in Boston but zero stars compared to:
a) buildings Gehry has done before
b) buildings that have cost such a ridiculous amount
So it gets two stars.
What shocks me is that the combination of huge amounts of money, Frank Gehry and (the usually stellar) MIT came up with such a relatively bland and uninspiring building both inside and outside - especially the paint job. This is almost certainly Gehry's career low - especially after Bilbao's Guggenheim and LA's Disney Hall. It feels utilitarian - inside and outside - and it strikes me as a weak compromise - probably by MIT of all people.
Want to see a great MIT building - go to Simmons Hall.
Want to see a better Gehry building - go to http://en.wikipedia.or... and tell me the Stata isn't the weakest of the lot.Listed in: Spend Your Billions... Boston…
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Review from Hana T.
Boston, MA
1/26/2007
Very mod, at the cost of $285 million! (Almost 3x as originally planned.)
Wasted structural material for functionless forms and poorly designed for everyday use.
Great design is a collaboration of form and function, not just an odd-looking "eclectic" building, just for the sake of it. Contrary to the advancement of technologies, buildings will stay around for a long time; hence it's better to make it timeless and elegant.
Simplicity, elegance, and beauty, as well as easy to use- that's my design philosophy.
The colors inside remind me of fruit loops.
OK, now I want cereal. But not fruit loops, too artificial. -
Review from Kate S.
Brighton, MA
10/11/2007
The Stata Center sucks and here's why.
1) It's freezing
2) It's ugly outside and inside
3) There's never anywhere to sit down that's comfortable
4) The wireless never works
5) There's no place to sit and comfortably study
I hate this place. -
Review from Mike K.
Newton, MA
10/25/2006
Don't understand all the people who can't stand this building.
Finally, Boston (well, Cambridge), has a fancy colorful avant-garde building; by Frank Gehry no less! At least we didn't get one of his endless "Look What I Made Out Of Tin Foil, Mommy!" buildings.
Now, sure, it looks like it came out of a Chagall painting, but it adds a highly appropriate whimsical quality to the MIT campus, like a permanent IHTFP.
T info:
Red Line - Get off Kendall, and walk north. It will be on your left, you CAN'T miss it. Trust me. -
Review from Pete S.
Somerville, MA
10/6/2006
Has a good publicist:
http://www.doonesbury.... -
Review from Lalin A.
Durham, NC
1/26/2007
Funky looking but ugly.
Very dark and pessimistic internal design. Feels like a random high school. -
Review from John L.
5/8/2008
It's a weird building. It kind of looks like a weird futuristic city built into the middle of MIT. It's also a little weird to go through if you've never been there before, as there's so much going on and so many different entrances and exits.
I like it primarily because my primary gym is here (the Alumni Center), and I can easily work out midday without any wait for a machine.
There is a lot of construction going on outside of it, so the parking's decreased, and I don't know what they're building there (maybe a building that looks like a futuristic park or something...) -
Review from Frank L.
Honolulu, HI
5/8/2008
I actually agree with Tom E and Ligaya. With so much space, Gehry could have produced a much more impressive work. I have seen what he's done in Prague and it flows beautifully for a small lot.
I'm still going to give it 5 stars though because I think that everyone should go and see it. Whether you like architecture or not, the beautiful thing is that you'll have a strong opinion of the Stata Center. And MIT likes to show it off staffing an information desk inside for visitors.
In addition it's inner design is supposed to flow like a street, and it flows like a crowded one.
LOOK UP! If you look up you'll see two old MIT hacks, a replica MIT Police car and a steer. Both have been up on the great dome at one time. One other thing that's cool is that the building houses a lot of MIT's world renowned Elec. Eng. and Comp. Sci. department.
Go and explore the perimeter and first floor, then figure out whether you love it or hate it. -
Review from Erik M.
Somerville, MA
3/29/2007
I work next to and walk through this building every day. Each time I notice little nuances that I hadn't the day before.
It's an awesome building, there's a lot of light coming in and it keeps the imagination going around every corner. -
Review from Crooked T.
Seattle, WA
3/28/2007
Boston needs more buildings like this. They've cornered the market on old and brick so it's nice to see new and bizarre added to the repetoire.
The best part of visiting the Stata is walking all around its odd footprint. There are many nooks and crannies to explore so bring a camera. Just before sunset is perhaps the best time with the building's many shiny surfaces throwing off some neat reflections.
Three cheers for M.I.T. shelling out the bucks for this (and boy were those bucks big). Architect Frank Gehry makes me smile and so does his Stata Center.
Crooked Terror says, "Check it out." -
Review from Ben C.
New York, NY
1/3/2007 1 photo
Much of the MIT population loves to dis the Ray & Maria Stata Center (founded Analog Devices, which has its own building just around the corner) and Frank Gehry. I love the originality of the outside, there's nothing that looks like it. The inside will blow your mind too - remember that all the strange angles on the outside lends to the undulating shape of the interior.
Most of the CSAIL (Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab) students that the Stata Center houses can't get past that it looks like it's falling down. However, there are several odes to New England architecture motifs, such as the use of brick and steeple-like towers. Wildly innovative, but raised on the shoulders of the past, it represents the spirit of what MIT is all about.
Tied for my favorite building in Cambridge with the Kresge Auditorium, and beats the pants off anything Harvard has. -
Review from Claudette B.
New Haven, CT
1/3/2011
Def a cool site to see on MIT's campus. Reminiscent of an 'Alice in Wonderland' whimsy thought, Strata brings some color to MIT's concrete and steel, glass biotech jungle. Inside, its comfy and interesting as there are some public art displays to MIT pranks of past and some vistas to be see from upper level balconies open to the public (Gerhy is fond of raised public gardens, see the Disney Concert Hall in LA).
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Review from Ligaya T.
San Francisco, CA
12/3/2007
This seemingly haphazard jumble of buildings could be sheer structural brilliance but you'd never know by looking at it. It totally lacks Gehry's amazing ability to make metal appear fluid and in motion. The layout is strange and odd design seems purposeless. I've heard that the angles of some rooms are too acute to utilize the space, perhaps justifying MIT's $300m dollar lawsuit. Yet it is captivating and unique enough to warrant a detour through the campus on my bike rides to Boston for a quick head turn. Be sure to get a view of the cartoony Southeast face.
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Review from Allison T.
Allston, MA
10/25/2006
Love the architecture--also love sneaking in here to have lunch. Bad layout, but lots of options and decently priced.
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Review from michelle p.
Philadelphia, PA
10/6/2006
I have a crush on this building.
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Review from Ronald L.
MA
2/15/2007
Love it, Love it, Love it!
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Review from emily s.
San Francisco, CA
8/5/2010
modern but weird. that pretty much sums it up.
