Mar 10Where do stolen bikes go?An experiment in Amsterdam reveals how pilfered bicycles are put to use. Amsterdam is one of the most bike-friendly major cities in the world. That also means the city is a happy hunting ground for thieves, who steal tens of thousands of bikes per year — a substantial chunk of…Amsterdam5 min readAmsterdam5 min read
Feb 21Blue-sky thinking and the 150-year chairMIT students studying advanced product design explored sustainable chair manufacturing and showed their work in a community exhibition space in Venice, California. A major aspect of sustainability — a core component in many MIT School of Architecture and Planning (SA+P) courses — is considering the future effect of any given…Sustainability7 min readSustainability7 min read
Feb 2Learning Beautiful brings MIT’s “mind and hand” ethos to early childhood educationSpun out of a MIT Media Lab project, the startup offers materials that help children explore computer science concepts through hands-on learning. People at MIT know “mens et manus,” or “mind and hand,” as the school motto. But it’s also a good framework for early childhood education. Kids often learn…Computer Science6 min readComputer Science6 min read
Jan 24Living 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
