Posted on 11/07/2007 8:36:36 AM PST by steve-b
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has filed a negligence suit against world-renowned architect Frank Gehry, charging that flaws in his design of the $300 million Stata Center in Cambridge, one of the most celebrated works of architecture unveiled in years, caused leaks to spring, masonry to crack, mold to grow, and drainage to back up.
The suit says that MIT paid Los Angeles-based Gehry Partners $15 million to design the Stata Center, which was hailed by critics as innovative and eye-catching with its unconventional walls and radical angles. But soon after its completion in spring 2004, the center's outdoor amphitheater began to crack due to drainage problems, the suit says. Snow and ice cascaded dangerously from window boxes and other projecting roof areas, blocking emergency exits and damaging other parts of the building, according to the suit. Mold grew on the center's brick exterior, the suit says, and there were persistent leaks throughout the building....
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
They had $300 Million to blow on a new building complex, yet we are told constantly about how education never gets enough money ...
LOL! Is the picture before or after it started collapsing because it looks like a bombing victim!
It is hideous!
With Gehry, you get what you pay for.
That’s not the first architectural screw-up at MIT. They put up a building on three inclined legs (in the late 50’s I think), and pretty soon the legs started moving apart.....
Isn’t MIT a world-class engineering school? Shouldn’t the preeminent scholars in engineering have been able to spot the glaring design flaws?
Didn’t Ghery have problems with another of his acclaimed works, the Walt Disney Concert Hall in LA? IIRC, the reflection of sunlight off some of the walls blinded drivers and caused some extreme micro climate temperatures.
MIT grads are very arrogant.......
Didn’t anyone from MIT check out the structural integrity of the building? I thought they were all geniuses up there.
Glaziers rule..... the window that leaks will always be in the bosses new ofice.
LOL!! Those ENGINEERING STUDENTS AND the ENGINERING PROFESSORS couldn’t find the flaws BEFORE it was BUILT??? LOL!! Gehry is like Frank Lloyd Wright.....ALL HYPE!!
Building a daring artpiece like that you get the problems you deserve and pay for.
Form over function doesn’t weather well.
>>They had $300 Million to blow on a new building complex, yet we are told constantly about how education never gets enough money ...<<
MIT is a national treasure. They do more to increase our economy than just about any other institution.
Yes, it created hotspots on the sidewalk reaching 140F and the glare was so bright that some nearby condo units had increased AC costs. They sanded parts of the scultpture down as a result.
That doesn't save them from stupid decisions.
Just curious. How?
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