The Stata Center at MIT is built on the site of MIT’s original Building 20; the psychological experience of being in each structure is very different.
Building 20 was constructed during the Second World War and from the moment the war ended, it seemed, MIT’s administration talked about ripping it down. Building 20 was, however, the petri dish in which many creative thoughts were grown. Since the structure was always about to be demolished, no one much cared how users modified it, as long as they didn’t endanger others. Flexibility and freedom in the building supported fantastic, clever thinking.
Building 20 was timber-framed and ugly, however. It was definitely not awe inspiring, which the Stata Center is, outside and in. As reported in Research Design Connections, scientific studies have linked being awed to greater patience and more helping of others. Being awed has also been tied to increased life satisfaction, more effective and efficient processing of cognitive information, and lower inflammation levels throughout the body. All good things.
Building 20 was a comfortable place to be. It was filled with rectilinear architectural elements, but they were modest in scale and often tempered with curving furnishings. The Stata Center is filled with striking, dramatic, often overbearing straight lines. They are not frequently tempered with curvier ones, at least in interior public spaces, so those areas are not psychologically welcoming and comfortable. A great deal of research has linked looking at curved forms to feeling comfortable and relaxed, which has also been reported in Research Design Connections. No space should ever be entirely rectilinear or curvilinear; a combination of the two creates the sort of mind set that encourages broader thinking—which supports creative reasoning, getting along with others, and physical health, for example.
MIT’s Stata Center inspires awe, but its heavy reliance on rectilinear elements means it does not do all that it might to sustain the wellbeing of its academic users.