Andrew Sacher

Frank Gehry has inspired me for years. His new Ray and Maria Stata Center for Computer, Information and Intelligence Sciences "embodies the intellectual daring and innovation — the joy of invention, as William J. Mitchell, the architectural adviser to Mr. Vest, described it — that goes on inside M.I.T.'s featureless laboratories. Just as Mr. Gehry talks about his delight in starting new projects without a road map, so the building, which had its official opening on Friday, is intended as a metaphor for the questions and exploration that drive the scientists who occupy it."

"Every week I'm in this building, I feel happier than the week before," said Victor Zue, co-director of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, who moved in at the end of March. He beamed as he stopped to talk amid the bustle of the two-lane interior "student street," the meandering main corridor, with its bright red, blue and yellow walls. What makes him happy, he said, even more than the whimsical design, the ultramodern laboratories and the natural light pouring through the skylights and huge windows, is that he can retreat to his office for privacy but then emerge to commune with his fellow geeks on the student street and in the other abundant communal spaces."

full New York Times article