PinnedMIT Morningside Academy for Design created as a new hub for cross-disciplinary education, research, and innovationSupported by a $100 million founding gift, the academy will deepen the integration of design across the Institute and beyond. MIT President L. Rafael Reif today announced the creation of the MIT Morningside Academy for Design, a major interdisciplinary center that will build on the Institute’s leadership in design-focused education…Design6 min readDesign6 min read
3 days agoLiving the history of CairoNasser Rabbat’s new book explores the life and legacy of al-Maqrizi, Egypt’s most influential historian. A bit of turbulence in the job market can affect people in different ways. Consider the Egyptian scholar Taqiyy al-Din Ahmad ibn ‘Ali al-Maqrizi (1364–1442). In the early 1400s, after about a quarter-century of frustration…Egypt6 min readEgypt6 min read
Jan 9New research collaboration aims to tackle global societal challenges through designThe Hasso Plattner Institute-MIT Research Program on Designing for Sustainability will focus on sustainable design, innovation, and digital technologies. At a signing ceremony last week, leaders from the MIT School of Architecture and Planning, the MIT Morningside Academy for Design (MAD) and the Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI) announced the Hasso…Hasso Plattner3 min readHasso Plattner3 min read
Oct 24, 2022Developing community around designMIT Morningside Academy for Design’s inaugural fellows chart a new course. When the creation of the MIT Morningside Academy for Design (MAD) — a major interdisciplinary center housed in the MIT School of Architecture and Planning (SA+P) — was announced last spring, it promised to build on the Institute’s legendary…Design6 min readDesign6 min read
Oct 4, 20223 Questions: Janelle Knox-Hayes on producing renewable energy that communities wantNew position paper calls for getting stakeholders involved in wind power projects from the start. Wind power accounted for 8 percent of U.S. electricity consumption in 2020, and is growing rapidly in the country’s energy portfolio. But some projects, like the now-defunct Cape Wind proposal for offshore power in Massachusetts…Renewable Energy5 min readRenewable Energy5 min read
Sep 22, 2022MIT faculty participate in Mexico City’s Mextrópoli Architecture and City Festival with installation entitled Sueños con Fiber/Timber, Earth/ConcreteSueños (in English, dreams — of the past or future; a cherished aspiration, ambition, or ideal) A participatory architectural installation created with the participation of three MIT faculty is featured in the Mextrópoli Architecture and City Festival (September 21–25, 2022), one of the largest architecture exhibitions in Latin America. …Mexico4 min readMexico4 min read
Aug 22, 2022Passion projects prepare to launchMITdesignX presents ventures from the accelerator’s sixth cohort. At the start of the sixth annual MITdesignX “Pitch Day,” Svafa Grönfeldt, the program’s faculty director, made a point of noting that many of the teams about to showcase their ventures had changed direction multiple times on their projects. “Some of you…Accelerator4 min readAccelerator4 min read
Jul 27, 2022Fabric + form = a mask that uniquely fits your faceMIT Department of Architecture doctoral candidate Lavender Tessmer has advanced the process to produce textiles that can be individually customized. Form-fitting clothing is not always governed by sartorial choice. The global pandemic, for example, has underscored the need for face masks that effectively seal around the nose and mouth. But…Covid 196 min readCovid 196 min read
Jul 11, 2022Equity, Evaluation, and International Cooperation: In Pursuit of Proximate Peers in an African CityBy Gabriella Y. Carolini Introduction: From Rhetoric to Verdict on South–South Cooperation (excerpt) The newspaper article sprawling over the desk of the Brazilian Vice Ambassador to Mozambique ran across two pages of print. Its title, in large, bold font, read: O NEOCOLONIALISMO BRASILEIRO EM MOÇAMBIQUE, or “Brazilian neocolonialism in Mozambique.”…Urban Planning14 min readUrban Planning14 min read
May 6, 2022Architecture isn’t just for humans anymoreIn the remote desert of Nevada, an MIT team designs shelter for all species. In a rural valley of northwestern Nevada, home to stretches of wetlands, sagebrush-grassland, and dozens of natural springs, is a 3,800-acre parcel of off-grid land known as Fly Ranch. Owned by Burning Man, the community that…Burning Man5 min readBurning Man5 min read
