Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
Created by Studio Joseph, Weiss/ Manfredi, and Höweler + Yoon, the MIT Museum Exhibitions is a 56,000-square-foot facility designed to provide visitors with a dynamic journey through MIT’s contributions to science, technology, and culture, with a focus on interactive and visually immersive installations.
Housed for over two decades in a converted warehouse, MIT’s Museum’s educational mission, collections, and community programming had outgrown their facilities.
The construction of a new campus in Kendall Square provided the opportunity to create a new multifaceted cultural institution.
The project has been awarded a 2024 International Architecture Award from The Chicago Athenaeum and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
MIT Museum’s new exhibitions serve its educational imperative towards community engagement and broader support of learning as a critical part of social equity.
Public misinformation about science and technology has reached new heights. Environmental issues, overpopulation, human disease, AI safety, and genetic manipulation are primary targets.
The museum design is, inside out, meaning that the new facility is front-facing and transparent so that residents and visitors from near and far are part of the dialogue.
The exhibition design delivers science-based experiences that serve everyone, from the experts to the children.
Over 25,000 square feet of galleries, located on two floors, consider accessibility throughout with multi-sensory interfaces.
The museum supports a high standard of sustainable principles that led to material selections that are robust for long life expectancy and made with recycled or renewable resources.
Choreographed for maximum impact, the quality and diversity of materiality and spatial design bring the visitor through complex themes in an accessible, playful way.
The architects approached the user interface by rendering cutting-edge technology more accessible.
Each gallery has its curatorial narrative, respective display system, and visceral quality.
Each has a flexible armature that is technically and programmatically adaptable.
The materiality and formal language of assembly vary, but together, they knit into a singular, highly charged visceral experience. In addition to the displays, there are large wall-mounted circular, glowing audio cones that invite visitors to hear scientists speak about their personal history, why, and what they do.
The physio-digital interactive experiences required numerous rounds of prototyping. The team was dedicated to accessibility in the fullest sense, providing experiences with sound, touch, and haptic modes so that everyone is a participant.
As the precedents for science museums are almost exclusively for children 5-12, the architects invented opportunities for adults and children to learn together.
Sustainability is a core MIT Museum value and is central to both the content of the exhibition and the design strategy.
The architects set standards during initial planning and kept to those goals through fabrication, ensuring that material, curatorial intent, and resource allocation follow strict ecological principles.
The entry gallery is organized into a series of discrete podiums. The triangulated forms of perforated metal with internal lighting tesselate to include artifacts, graphics, and interactive media.
An immersive white display with a series of curvilinear panels showcases the mechanized robotics of Arthur Ganson. The sculptures seem to float about a reflective surface, creating an ethereal effect.
An armature of tubular metal steel integrates lighting, vitrines, and graphics. The planning is orthogonal with clear circulation paths, but from an angle, there is a collage echoing the curatorial narrative of collaboration between humans and AI.
Large, wall mounted audio cones engage with the visitor on a personal level. As one hears a scientist explaining why they are interested in a particular topic, and what that their discovers mean to them and to society.
Project: MIT Museum Exhibitions
Architects: Studio Joseph
Lead Architect: Wendy Evans Joseph
Building Architects: Weiss/ Manfredi and Höweler + Yoon
Graphic Designers: Pentagram
General Contractor: Kubik-Maltbie Inc.
Client: MIT Museum
Photographers: Alex Fradkin
