Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

The iconic Green Building, designed by I.M. Pei, and its insular simplicity, precise placement, and formal symmetry at first seem to resist alteration, especially by addition.

Yet engaging these very qualities offered opportunities for intervention and interpretation, inspiring possibilities beyond the boundaries of this pivotal architectural moment on the MIT campus.

Tina and Hamid Moghadam Building (Building 55) by AW-ARCH, received an 2025 International Architecture Honourable Mention from The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design.

The Tina and Hamid Moghadam Building, with its focus on climate science education and community engagement, plays a significant role in both MIT’s campus and the broader conversation around sustainability.

The architectural strategy for this building draws inspiration from both natural and technological innovations to create a structure that not only serves as a beacon of education but also exemplifies the very principles it seeks to promote.

A newly planted grove of trees leads visitors to enter a ground level bound by glass walls that maintain visual connections to campus, the Charles River, and the City of Boston.

 Jointly programmed by three academic departments sharing the space, it features art commissioned specifically for the addition.

Above, classrooms and conference rooms give onto the first floor’s double height space and lead to a newly renovated lecture hall.

The Tina and Hamid Moghadam Building engages the MIT community around a dynamic expression of the earth, atmospheric, and planetary sciences.

Project: Tina and Hamid Moghadam Building (Building 55)
Architects: AW-ARCH
Design Team: Alex Anmahian, Mazen Sakr, Emily Whitbeck, and Alfredo Pimentel
Landscape Architects: Reed Hilderbrand LLC.
General Contractor: Barr & Barr Inc.
Client: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Photographs: Courtesy of the Architects