The Ray and Maria Stata Center

The Ray and Maria Stata Center is a 720,000-square-foot academic building constructed for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It was designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Frank Gehry. According to the 2010 World Architecture Survey, Gehry’s works are among the most important in contemporary architecture, prompting Vanity Fair to call him “the most important architect of our age.” He is also the designer of the Louis Vuitton Foundation building in France, New World Center in Florida, 8 Spruce Street in NYC, and the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas.

On March 16, 2004, the building became available for initial occupancy. On April 25, 2004, The Boston Globe’s architecture columnist, Robert Campbell, offered a positive review of the building. Campbell wrote, “the Stata is always going to look unfinished. It also looks as if it’s about to collapse. Columns tilt at scary angles. Walls teeter, swerve, and collide in random curves and angles. Materials change wherever you look: brick, mirror-surface steel, brushed aluminum, brightly colored paint, corrugated metal. Everything looks improvised as if thrown up at the last moment. That’s the point. The Stata’s appearance is a metaphor for the freedom, daring, and creativity of the research that’s supposed to occur inside it.” Though many people love this building, and some even believe it to be one of Gehry’s best, there are many others who are less enamored with the structure.

Today, the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), the Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems (LIDS), and the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy all reside in the Stata Center.

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Location

• Address: 32 Vassar St
• Town: Cambridge
• State: Massachusetts
• GPS: Lat 42.361504 Lng -71.09058
• Parking notes: There are many street parking options near the Ray and Maria Stata Center. There is metered parking right in front of the Strata Center on Vassar Street. There is also free parking in front of the nearby McGovern Institute. If you are looking for a parking lot, the best option is the MIT Visitor Parking Lot which charges $11 for 2 hours and up to $32 per day.
• Parking directions: HERE
• Location directions: HERE