Green Building (MIT)
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The Cecil and Ida Green Building, also called the Green Building or Building 54, is an academic building at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was designed by noted architect I. M. Pei, who received his bachelor's degree from MIT. Cecil Howard Green received a bachelor's degree and master's degree from MIT and was a co-founder of Texas Instruments.
The Green Building was constructed 1962-1964. It is 21 stories tall, with a concrete facade that more or less matches the older limestone around it. The basement of the building is below sea level and connects to the MIT tunnel system. Three elevators operate in the Green Building. There are staircases on both the east and west sides of it. On the "Lower Level" (actually one story above ground level), is 54-100, a large lecture hall. The 2nd floor contains the Lindgren Library, part of MIT's library system. The Green Building is the tallest building in Cambridge.[1]
This is the main building for the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Science (EAPS), which is known as Course 12 by most MIT students. The department headquarters is on the 9th floor of the building. The lower floors of the building contain the Planetary Science section. The middle floors have the Earth Science section (Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry). The upper floors house the Atmospheric Science section (which also includes Oceanography and Climatology). The professors' offices face the Charles River and Boston, while the labs and graduate student offices look out on Cambridge.
The Green Building faces McDermott Court, which is graced by the "Big Sail", by Alexander Calder. Legend has it that when the Green Building was first opened, the revolving doors at the base of the building could not operate because of the strong winds coming from the Charles River. It follows that Calder was commissioned to create an artwork that would both deflect the winds and be aesthetically pleasing. Although a scale model was paced through wind tunnel tests, administrators from MIT vehemently deny these rumors, insisting that the tests were only to ensure that the sculpture would hold on the windiest days.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ Bushra B. Makiya (1999-10-05). This Week in MIT History. The Tech. Retrieved on 2006-10-15.
- ^ Benjamin P. Gleitzman (2006-09-08). List Curators Discuss Evolving Face of Public Art. The Tech.
[edit] External links
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- Satellite image from WikiMapia or Google Maps
- Street map from Multimap or GlobalGuide
- Aerial image from TerraServer
