Project out of the MIT Media Lab uses biosensors and machine learning to optimize the sensory experience in individual work environments.

The atmosphere of a given space — the light, sounds, and sensorial qualities that make it distinct from other spaces — has a marked, quantifiable effect on the experiences of the people who inhabit those spaces. Mood, behavior, creativity, sleep, and health are all directly impacted by one’s immediate surroundings.

An analysis from Architecture’s Les Norford and MIT researchers points the way to energy-efficient systems that take a location-specific approach to cooling and dehumidifying places where people live and work.

Siqi Zheng studies the economics of China’s urban explosion.

Machine learning network offers personalized estimates of children’s behavior.

Children with autism spectrum conditions often have trouble recognizing the emotional states of people around them — distinguishing a happy face from a fearful face, for instance. To remedy this, some therapists use a kid-friendly robot to demonstrate those emotions and to engage the children in imitating the emotions and responding to them in appropriate ways.

Through research on U.S. - Mexico hydrocarbon drilling rights negotiation, Bruno Verdini provides insights on how to resolve conflicts through proactive collaboration.

CITE and D-Lab study finds evaporative devices show promise for helping small-scale farmers, market vendors, and families store and preserve vegetables.

Artist and scholar cited for her “immeasurable impact” in pioneering the integration of performance art and new media.

“Since my time at MIT, I have become passionate about being a pioneer in Puerto Rico who can integrate communities into post-disaster reconstruction,” Jean Carlos Vega-Diaz is one of five Puerto Rican undergraduates invited to take classes at MIT this spring in the wake of the devastating 2017 hurricane. After he graduates this summer, Vega-Diaz will return to the Urban Risk Lab, where he's been working this semester, as a research scientist for a year, while also working on a design portfolio for his graduate school application.

Interdisciplinary undergraduate program combines urban planning and computer science. 

Ranked at the top for the seventh straight year, the Institute also places first in 12 of 48 disciplines.

Jordan's new Prime Minister Omar al-Razzaz
DUSP alum Omar al-Razzaz MCP ’87 was appointed the new Prime minister of Jordan. Al-Razzaz is a member of the SPURS international advisory board. He will deliver a keynote the SPURS 50th anniversary this fall. Reuters.

Award honors top collegiate inventors in the United States.

School of Architecture and Planning professors receive national recognition for excellence, innovation, and impact through design.

Exhibitions tackle global questions with research-based approaches.

A number of SA+P professors and researchers are offering short courses and digital programs through MIT Professional Education. 

Learn more about SA+P faculty-led courses which include:

Advances in Imaging: VR-AR, Machine Learning, and Self-Driving Cars
Ramesh Raskar, MIT Media Lab

Media Lab's Boyden is among 19 top scientists selected from across the nation.

ACT alum awarded Herb Albert Award in the Arts

Spring books on architecture and design from Metropolis
An anthology of essays centered around New York City, What Goes Up: The Right and Wrongs to the City from Architecture alum Michael Sorkin MArch ’84, tops the list of top picks. Metropolis.

So much more than a swing set: Coryn Kempster receives the 2018 Architectural League Prize

Make the Breast Pump Not Suck hackathon at the Media Lab emphasizes social and political issues over engineering.

Before code, beyond speech
Architecture alumna Lucy Liu SMArchS ’17 writes on drawing as an optimist form of communications. Are.na.

The Comprehensive Initiative on Technology Evaluation teams up with the Technology Exchange Lab to produce a toolkit for technology evaluation in global development.

Alumna’s mini-lab kits include all necessary tools and materials for anyone to start engineering microbes.

Ambitious new piece in his “City Symphony” series features the birthplace of American democracy.

SPURS Fellows serve as agents of change in international development.

The Plugin House initiative
Easy to assemble, the Plugin House from Architecture alum James Shen SM ‘07 demonstrates the possibilities of smaller and sustainable living, providing opportunities for infill of vacant areas and additions in backyards to address the housing crisis. A prototype will be exhibited at Harvard Yard during the Arts First Festival, April 26-29 and at Boston City Hall Plaza, May 4-13. 

Garment factories, palm oil suppliers mapped for end-to-end traceability
Media Lab spinoff Sourcemap from alumnus Leonardo Bonanni MArch '03, SM '05 (MAS), PD '10, PhD '10 (MAS) is taking on the challenge of tracking supply chains for clothing and palm oil, two of the world's most difficult-to-track industries. Learn more.

Your sea wall won’t save you

Earlier this month, MIT women came together for a weekend of inspirational talks, story sharing, and advice, focused around themes of collaboration and action. Among the 75 alumnae who spoke at the inaugural MIT Women’s unConference were several from SA+P including Ann Beha MArch ’75; Mary Jane Daly MCP ’83; Catherine D'Ignazio SM '14 MAS; Cristina Dolan SM '94 MAS; Judith Donath SM '86, PhD '97 (SMarchS ’86, SM ’82 MAS, PhD ’97 MAS); Barbara Fields MCP ’85; Soyoung Kang '96 (ARCH); Paige Parsons '90 (ARCH); and Lynne Sagalyn PhD '80 DUSP.

As tuition expenses rise across the nation, graduates of the MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning bear the burden of increasing student loans in order to make meaningful and lasting contributions to society through their chosen professions. The Excellence in Public Service Awards recognize outstanding public service achievements by DUSP graduates. These awards aim to encourage and inspire the pursuit of public service careers, providing a financial award of up to $10,000 to offset debt incurred by pursuing their graduate degree at MIT.

What happens when citizens are empowered to crowdfund their cities?
Jase Wilson MCP '08 is innovating a new approach to investing in municipal bonds through his start-up, Neighborly. Neighborly democratizes and simplifies the investment process, so individual investors can finance critical public projects. OZY.

With a new multimedia website, landscape architecture professor Anne Whiston Spirn makes a secret garden public and explores how ideas create form.

QS World University Rankings place MIT No. 1 in 12 of 48 subject areas

For the fourth year in a row, MIT has been named the top university in the world for “Architecture/Built Environment” in the subject rankings from QS World University Rankings for 2018. In “Art and Design,” the Institute ranked No. 4 globally.

NewCity’s Designer of the Moment
"Even in the most seemingly mundane or boring task of capital-A architectural practice, say, drawing a wall section detail, there’s politics, economy, ecology." Architecture alumna Ann Lui SMArchS HTC '15 has been named Designer of the Moment. Read a profile at Newcity.

An Institute-wide effort including DUSP's Jason Jackson and MIT Media Lab's Iyad Rahwan will study the evolution of jobs in an age of technological advancement. 

Fluorescent sensor allows imaging of neurons' electrical communications, without electrodes.

Digital archive features never-before-published image of MIT's first black woman student.

Artistic collaboration between MIT, German-Jordanian University is designed to reduce trauma for refugees in the Al Azraq Camp in Jordan.

The new connector helps faculty, students, and alumni launch startups in China.

Lawrence Bacow ’72, professor emeritus in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP), has been named the next president of Harvard University.

Bacow, who received an undergraduate degree in economics from MIT, began his academic career when he joined the DUSP faculty in 1977. Bacow left MIT in 2001 to become the president of Tufts University, but has remained on the SA+P faculty as professor emeritus. Read a full MIT News story on his appointment to Harvard and career at MIT.

In MIT talk, prominent philosopher urges self-reflection to keep academic institutions vital and fair.

Smart furniture transforms spaces in tiny apartments into bedrooms, work spaces, or closets.

Imagine living in a cramped studio apartment in a large city — but being able to summon your bed or closet through a mobile app, call forth your desk using voice command, or have everything retract at the push of a button.

The Media Lab Space Exploration Initiative shares results and next steps from its first zero gravity research mission.

What happens when 20 researchers conduct 14 projects from entirely disparate fields of research over the course of 90 minutes — while floating in zero gravity? Thrills, learning, magic — and results.

ACT alumna wins biannual $50,000 Calder Prize
Jill Magid SM ’00, the narrative-oriented conceptual artist based in Brooklyn, New York, has won the seventh edition of the Calder Prize, a grant issued biannually to a living artist by the Calder Foundation. Art News.

DUSP alumna appointed New MassHousing chief
Chrystal Kornegay MCP '97 has been tapped as the new Chief of MassHousing. Kornegay will be the first woman and first person of color to lead the billion-dollar, quasi-public agency that drives investment in affordable housing across the state. The Boston Globe.

MIT professor’s new book calls for a more pluralistic, democratic vision of the city.

Computational method improves the resolution of time-of-flight depth sensors 1,000-fold.

MIT’s Janelle Knox-Hayes studies the cultural issues behind climate policy.

Online game uses hypothetical choices and real cash prizes to educate people on how to make their most of their generosity.

It’s the holiday season, which to many people means a season of giving — to loved ones, colleagues, public radio and television, or to any number of the countless charities seeking support. Nearly a third of all annual charitable giving occurs in December, and many nonprofits raise as much as half of their annual funds from this year-end burst of giving.

Architecture's Sheila Kennedy was awarded a 2017 Bose Grant for a joint project using nanotechnology to build plants that provide lighting for buildings and cities.

Since 2014, the Professor Amar G. Bose Research Grant has supported MIT faculty with innovative and potentially paradigm-shifting research ideas, and this year is no exception: With Bose funding, six research teams composed of nine MIT faculty members will pursue projects ranging from nanoengineering a light-emitting plant to developing solid-state atmospheric propulsion technology for aircraft.  

MIT-designed tool lets people test realistic changes to local transit networks.

Judith Barry has been appointed professor in Art, Culture and Technology in the Department of Architecture in the MIT School of Architecture and Planning. Barry will join the faculty on January 1, 2018.

“Windows of History” at Haas-Lilienthal House

New urban studies program to spur research and innovation in China.

Expert in social policy and social reform, especially the welfare state and retirement policy, was a longtime MIT professor.

An interactive sculpture that transforms your text messages
SA+P alumni Justin B Manor ’00, SM ’08 (MAS); John Rothenberg ’02, SM ’07 (Arch); and Eric Gunther ’00, MEng ’02 of Sosolimited have unveiled ‘Colorspace,’ an interactive sculpture that transforms any text message into a breathtaking animation of colored light. Installed in the mezzanine of 200 Clarendon Street in Boston, MA, the piece was commissioned by Boston Properties. 

Five join the SA+P faculty, while 10 are recognized for work in art, architecture, urbanism, and design.

Inside Silicon Valley's new non-religion
MIT Media Lab alum Mikey Siegel SM ’09 (MAS) is bringing engineering to enlightenment through Silicon Valley's consciousness-hacking movement. Wired.

Health in the Segregated City
An essay from DUSP’s Mariana Arcaya MCP ’08 focuses on residential segregation and its impact on public health. Arcaya’s essay leads the NYU Furman Center’s latest discussion with insights on how segregation contributes to neighborhood health disparities, how it creates inequities in access to quality healthcare, and how disparities in health may also heighten segregation. The Dream Revisited.

Energy-efficient construction is key to lowering urban emissions, study finds.

MIT Energy Initiative seminar examines the role of the humanities, design, and aesthetics in catalyzing a fairer, more diverse energy future.

What does energy have to do with art, literature, and happiness? In a recent MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI) seminar, Imre Szeman, a professor of communication and culture at the University of Waterloo, addressed this question and engaged in a discussion of what he calls “petroculture” with MIT faculty of architecture and humanities, arts, and social sciences.

Using Bitcoin's blockchain technology, the Institute has become one of the first universities to issue recipient-owned virtual credentials.

Boston-area volunteers gather at MIT to help identify post-hurricane conditions in the territory

Ingestible devices could diagnose gastrointestinal slowdown or monitor food intake.

Why MIT’s Gediminas Urbonas helped produce a new book about art and public space.

Human Dynamics research group earns high marks in new scientific collaboration to improve the lives of disadvantaged American children.

DUSP student Wan Chantavilasvong won the MISTI Better World media contest for a 

Fifty years after its founding, the vision of CAVS and founder György Kepes lives on in the Program in Art, Culture and Technology.

At a day-long event on global food and water security, DUSP's Erica James presented "Leverage Points," a J-WAFS-funded project to identify opportunities to increase food production and security in the developing world.

Unplug and play: Kim Smith’s Learning Beautiful
Learning Beautiful from DesignX member Kim Smith SM ’17 (MAS) creates beautiful wooden toys to teach children the basics of coding. Quartz.

Schools of Architecture and Planning; Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, and several centers are home to the arts and humanities at MIT.

Lynne Sagalyn’s "Power at Ground Zero” revisited

Via social media, residents can contribute to public map that increases safety and helps response planning.

Stranded in Houston by hurricane floodwaters, an MIT associate professor sees firsthand how design and policy decisions affected the storm’s impact.

Success rate is comparable to that of highly trained scientists performing the process manually.

System could save retailers billions lost through faulty inventory records.

Radio frequency ID tags were supposed to revolutionize supply chain management. The dirt-cheap, battery-free tags, which receive power wirelessly from scanners and then broadcast identifying numbers, enable warehouse managers to log inventory much more efficiently than they could by reading box numbers and recording them manually.

Study: Commercial parks have boosted growth, created new urban centers.

Mary Otis Stevens ’56: The flux of human life
In a recent reprint of a 2013 interview, architect Mary Otis Stevens ’56 talk about the stages of her life and her design, with MIT professor Tom McNulty, of the landmark Lincoln House. Read the interview at Domus.

Vineet Gupta on car-free zones for Boston
In the wake of snarled traffic due to the Commonwealth Avenue Bridge project, WBUR recently aired a conversation featuring Vineet Gupta AR ’88 MCP ’88, the director of policy and planning for the Boston Transportation Department, on whether Boston should have more car-free zones. Listen to the broadcast.

Metropolis editors selected Boston as one of the top cities around the globe for progressive design and good living, calling out the academic community at MIT SA+P as a leader of innovation and experimentation. “I’ve always believed that the primary driver of design is industry,” SA+P Dean Hashim Sarkis tells Metropolis. “Here in Boston our biotech and high-tech industries are offering designers incredible opportunities to express their creativity. This is not just a place where design is happening.

Students recognized for their leadership in fostering intergenerational connections within their communities.

Graduate student Alpha Yacob Arsano wants to bring natural ventilation to the forefront of modern architecture.

New app lets patients work alone or with others to prevent, monitor, and reverse chronic disease.

Expanding tissue samples before imaging offers detailed information about disease.

MIT and Harvard Medical School researchers have devised a way to image biopsy samples with much higher resolution — an advance that could help doctors develop more accurate and inexpensive diagnostic tests.

Adam Savage’s ‘Tested’ visits the Center for Bits and Atoms
Adam Savage, the former host of ‘Mythbusters,’ took a tour of the MIT Center for Bits and Atoms for his website, Tested. He was guided by CBA founder Neil Gershenfeld and Media Lab alum and current post-doc Nadya Peek SM ’10 PhD ’16. See a video of the tour.

A novel thesis in the form of a podcast gives voice to issues of security and identity in New York and Paris.

Density of highly educated residents, rather than income or ethnic composition, predicts revitalization.

Four years ago, researchers at MIT’s Media Lab developed a computer vision system that can analyze street-level photos taken in urban neighborhoods in order to gauge how safe the neighborhoods would appear to human observers.

Holobiont, the latest issue of the Journal of Design and Science, suggests that when we look at the connections — as opposed to what’s connected — a new structure of the world is revealed. For this issue, a small group of researchers, designers, and other practitioners were invited to contribute work that speaks to this idea of symbiotic exchange.

Involving local farmers in tackling a problem can provide long-lasting benefits.

An interdisciplinary team of MIT graduate students, including SA+P's Alpha Arsano, Anran Li, and faculty advisor Caitlin Mueller, were recently honored at NASA's Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts-Academic Linkage Design Competition Forum. The challenge involved designing a commercially enabled habitable module for use in low Earth orbit that would be extensible for future use as a Mars transit vehicle. The team’s design won first place in the competition’s graduate division.

Texting-based surveys from Architecture alum Kenfield Griffith PhD ’12 capture purchasing and behavior data from people living in remote areas.

Hilary Ballon, PhD ’85 in History, Theory, and Criticism, and a dear friend to the School, passed away on June 16, 2017, at age 61. Ballon was a university professor and professor of architecture and urbanism at New York University, and deputy vice chancellor of NYU Abu Dhabi, which she played an instrumental role in founding.

New open-source website features blueprints for lab-on-a-chip devices.

Apple CEO urges graduating class to “work toward something greater than yourself.”

Tim Cook, the renowned CEO of Apple, spoke to MIT’s Class of 2017 on a beautiful sunny morning in the Institute’s Killian Court, urging the graduates to search for a direction and purpose that extends beyond their own lives.

MIT professor wants public health advocates to think big about future trends.

Electrodes placed on the scalp could help patients with brain diseases.

Nine new Director’s Fellows bring their diverse experiences to a global network empowered by technology created at the MIT Media Lab.

The Graham Foundation has announced over $560,000 in new grants to individuals around the world that engage original ideas in architecture. Five of this year's seventy-two funded projects were from members of the SA+P community including: Architecture's Rania Ghosn and El Hadi Jazairy; DUSP PhD candidate Suzanne Harris-Brandts; Caitlin Berrigan SMVisS ’09; Daniel Cardoso Llach SMArchS ’07, PhD ’12; and Nathan Friedman SMArchS ’15.

Sheets of gelatin transform into 3-D shapes when dunked in water; could save food shipping costs.

“Don’t play with your food” is a saying that MIT researchers are taking with a grain or two of salt. The team is finding ways to make the dining experience interactive and fun, with food that can transform its shape when water is added.

Ventilating flaps lined with live cells open and close in response to an athlete’s sweat.

A team of MIT researchers has designed a breathable workout suit with ventilating flaps that open and close in response to an athlete’s body heat and sweat. These flaps, which range from thumbnail- to finger-sized, are lined with live microbial cells that shrink and expand in response to changes in humidity. The cells act as tiny sensors and actuators, driving the flaps to open when an athlete works up a sweat, and pulling them closed when the body has cooled off.

DUSP PhD student Rebecca Hui and her Roots Studio team win top prize for the most promising arts-focused startup at the Institute.

Student teams develop technology-based tools to address racism and bias.

DUSP's Bish Sanyal is among 10 principal investigators from MIT to receive grants of up to $200,000 per year for two years, overhead free, for innovative research on food and water challenges.

Brandon Clifford, assistant professor in the Department of Architecture, has been awarded The Founders Rome Prize fellowship for 2017-2018 from the American Academy in Rome. Open to U.S. citizens, the Rome Prize is awarded each year to approximately 30 scholars, artists, writers, and composers.

Five teams from SA+P are among the winners of this year's IDEAS Global Challenge. Congratulations Nesterly, Kumej, BioBot Labs, JORO, and Pukuni Community House!

Junior faculty members from Masdar Institute reflect on working with MIT professors, including DUSP's Alan Berger and Media Lab's César Hidalgo.

Technology developed at the MIT Media Lab could enable faster, cheaper, more adaptable building construction.

The list of materials that can be produced by 3-D printing has grown to include not just plastics but also metal, glass, and even food. Now, MIT researchers are expanding the list further, with the design of a system that can 3-D print the basic structure of an entire building.

When some 45 MIT alumni and friends met April 2 for a private tour of the newly renovated East Wing of the National Gallery in Washington, they were doing more than celebrating the 100th birthday of I.M. Pei. ’40. True, Pei remains one of the world’s most influential architects and the building is one of his  masterpieces.

An entrepreneur who co-founded Wise Systems, Layla Shaikley SMArchS ’13 may be better known for her viral video created to combat media stereotypes of Muslim women.

New supplement for Domus curated by DUSP Professor Carlo Ratti explores architectural innovation today. Read the issue, featuring interviews and work from faculty and researchers from across our School. 

MIT’s Kristel Smentek studies art, collectors, and commerce in new ways.

New technique greatly reduces the number of exposures necessary for “lensless imaging.”

Compressed sensing is an exciting new computational technique for extracting large amounts of information from a signal. In one high-profile demonstration, for instance, researchers at Rice University built a camera that could produce 2-D images using only a single light sensor rather than the millions of light sensors found in a commodity camera.

MIT Media Lab event, Beyond the Cradle, launches a new initiative to explore the final frontier

MIT Media Lab supports new ways of harnessing responsible, ethical Disobedience aimed at challenging our norms, rules, or laws to benefit society with a $250K prize. Learn more and explore a brief history of disobedient role models through the ages. Nominate a person or group engaged in extraordinary acts of disobedience for public good.

We are pleased to announce the launch of a new platform for sharing faculty, student, and alumni perspectives on innovative design research, teaching, and practice. On Medium we will post illustrated stories that encompass news, first-person narratives, publication extracts, and reviews of exhibitions, books, and projects—from all parts of our diverse School. More at Medium.

Architecture lecturer Jessica Rosenkrantz writes programs mimicking processes in nature to "grow" objects that can be digitally fabricated.

School of Architecture and Planning lecturer Jessica Rosenkrantz’s career in design began somewhat as an accident and was sparked by a random comment by a graduate classmate at the Harvard University School of Design.

Study of post-harvest storage technology use in Uganda assesses potential for farmer adoption, identifies supply chain challenges and solutions.

For his MIT residency, the Grammy-winning artist collaborates with over 150 student musicians to stage the monumental concert, "Imagination Off the Charts."

On January 31st, 2017, the MIT Club of New York and the MIT Architecture Affinity Group (MITArchA) hosted a Course IV Alumni Social event in New York City. The event was held at WeWork Charging Bull, located in New York’s Financial District, and was hosted by Melissa Marsh, M.Arch ’04, MITArchA’s Vice President of Membership.

Urban Planning Alums Establish Fund for Doctoral Student Research

A new fund will provide vital financial support to doctoral candidates in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP). Established by and named in honor of two of the department's alumni, the “Lynne Sagalyn and Gary Hack DUSP Fund” will provide grants up to $20,000 per student to enable research leading to doctoral dissertations; funds may be used for travel, data acquisition, student stipends, and other research expenses.

Startup brings solar-powered, phone-charging park benches and digital signs to cities worldwide.

Announcing the first Building 7 Block Party and Gallery Walk!

Start the spring semester with an evening of art, conversation, and community in the first-ever Building 7 Block Party and Gallery Walk on Thursday, Feb. 16, from 5 – 7 PM.

MIT researchers are helping architects optimize both design and energy efficiency.

Media Lab graduate student selected from over 7,300 entrants, awarded $50,000 scholarship in contest inspired by the film "Hidden Figures."

“The Food Lab” is the Twitter handle of J. Kenji López-Alt ’02 as well as the title of his new book. But there was a time when it hardly seemed likely that López-Alt would be closely associated with lab work.

As an MIT student, he swore off labs for good, switching his major from biology to architecture. “I spent my summers in high school and the summer after my freshman year working in labs. I got disillusioned with it,” he says. That’s how he ended up in the kitchen.

Introducing DesignX, MIT's newest entrepreneurship accelerator. DesignX is an entrepreneurial accelerator for student ventures that aims to transform the built environment, media, and design.

Among the students, faculty, staff, and alumni honored in "the most definitive gathering of today’s leading young change-makers and innovators," is Hasier Larrea SM ’15 (MAS), foudner of Ori. “[Ori] allows for a number of configurations, from bedroom to office to living room, and back again, all controlled from one control panel.”
Read the full article at MIT News.

A look back at 2016 from the MIT School of Architecture and Planning.

This video features a selection of our most prominent stories from the MIT home page. From innovative startups, to groundbreaking research, to pushing the frontiers of architecture and design, it's been another remarkable year of work from our faculty, students, and alumni.

The STL Lab celebrates the first 2 years of its mission to create a new generation of socially responsible entrepreneurs and academics in the fields of architecture, planning, and real estate.

The Global Grid, a service focused on delivering daily news on “localized and unique architecture, engineering, landscape architecture, urban planning,” has named Archnet one of the Top 20 Architecture Websites for 2016.

Fifth annual MIT Water Summit brings together interdisciplinary panelists to give multiple perspectives on major issues surrounding the water sector.

Veterans of civil rights movement urge students to join ongoing battle against injustice.

Awards recognize exemplary student research and writing by master's degree candidates.

Grant continues support for the Global Architectural History Teaching Collaborative. 

MIT professor explains how “productive neighborhoods” can remake cities.

Retrospective documents 15 years of Aga Khan Program

A retrospective of posters for the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at MIT, designed by José Luis Argüello, is on display now in Rotch Library.

MIT and Uber team up to study the potential for shared rides and vehicles to reshape urban mobility.

Hong Kong will be the next stop on MIT's Better World global tour.

“Morphing” wing could enable more efficient plane manufacturing and flight.

The Engine will provide funding, space, and expertise — powering a network of innovation networks.

Today MIT President L. Rafael Reif announced the creation of The Engine, a new kind of enterprise designed to support startup companies working on scientific and technological innovation with the potential for transformative societal impact.

President Reif made the announcement at an evening event at The Engine’s Central Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts, headquarters attended by entrepreneurs, business leaders, investors, and members of the MIT community.

MIT team awarded U.S. Department of Energy grant to investigate cost reductions in solar energy systems.

New library proposals meant to enhance “meaningful access to knowledge.”

Combining cellphone data with perceptions of public spaces could help guide urban planning.

New DesignX accelerator speeds innovation at the School of Architecture and Planning

PhD student Lily Bui works with communities around the world to gather data from the bottom up.

Words from the editors

The editors of Experience: Culture, Cognition, and the Common Sense, Caroline Jones, David Mather and Rebecca Uchill, describe the unusual material features, artistic interventions and intellectual provocations that make this book object something more than a typical codex.  

“Electome” project charts the national conversation in unique detail.

MIT architecture jumps to No. 2 spot in annual survey.

The professional master's of architecture program at MIT has tied for second in the nation in the latest DesignIntelligence rankings, a jump from fifth position last year. MIT's architecture program has consistently appeared among the top 10 in this annual assessment of nationally accredited graduate programs.

Samuel Tak Lee Building filled with light and life after summer renovations.

Last year, the Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP) and the Center for Real Estate (CRE) gathered to give Building 9 a new name: the Samuel Tak Lee Building. This week, they came together again to celebrate the extensive summer renovations that have given the building a new look and rejuvenated spaces.

Megan Smith ’86, SM ’88 and other thought leaders offer advice to students on how women in STEM fields can develop skills for navigating life and work.

MIT–Tsinghua collaboration grapples with urban issues in China.

This winter, China released its 13th “Five-Year Plan,” a socioeconomic blueprint for designing the country’s future. Alongside measures to improve per capita income, life expectancy, air and water quality, innovation, and other initiatives to build a healthier and more prosperous society, the plan also calls for “new-type urbanization.”

Funding supports the development of a “virtual museum” from an archive of experimental works.

A number of SA+P professors and researchers are offering short courses and digital programs through MIT Professional Education.

Learn more about SA+P faculty-led courses which include:

Advances in Imaging
Ramesh Raskar, Camera Culture, Media Lab

Hot off the presses, the latest publication from SA+P Press showcases over ten years worth of MIT/DUSP studios, practica, and workshops.  In these 128-pages you can read about student work around the country and around the globe – from the neighborhoods of Boston to the streets of Beijing, from Maine to Manila, from the Salton Sea to Singapore.er of print copies as well if you need them.)

Future of Suburbia [Conference] is introduced by Eric Bender in Moving Beyond Suburban Legends. The conference is designed to appeal broadly to professionals involved in urban planning and development, and will explore how suburbs and their metropolitan areas may be made more sustainable and livable through better design and planning. The gathering will build on a two-year research effort by CAU, which has sought to go beyond traditional analyses of urban lands

Archinect's Paul Petrunia and Amelia Taylor-Hochberg sat down with Dean Hashim Sarkis to hear his perspective in comparing architecture education and practice.

"Our interview revolves around the same questions we ask in our Deans List series – how architecture education and practice are changing, how to address student needs, MIT’s particular take on how to cultivate exceptional architects, and the culture of the school in a global urban context."

The MIT Center for Real Estate (CRE), hosted a meeting of the Architectural and Engineering Council of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Managers (NAREIM), to help make connections between MIT researchers and developers in order to modernize construction practices.