Fifty years after completing his Masters in Architecture and Planning at MIT, Jeffrey Heller ’64 ’67 FAIA has been honored with the MITArcha Alumni Achievement Award. Heller received the honor at an event in San Francisco in May, hosted by the MIT Architecture Alumni (MITArchA) group.

Students and faculty from SA+P, MISTI teaching, working, and learning across Greater China

This summer, MIT professors, students, and staff are traveling across China to teach, learn from, and work with Chinese counterparts on a variety of projects. Numerous teams are associated with the MIT School of Architecture and Planning (SA+P) and the MIT International Science and Technology Initiative (MISTI).

Innovative MIT research focuses on developing systems to perceive and identify objects in their environment and understand social interactions in traffic.

Venture accelerator DesignX unleashes entrepreneurs’ ideas to transform the built environment.

What do portable desks for children in developing countries, 3-D models of underutilized Boston real estate, and devices that track opioids in city sewers have in common? They are among the products or services developed by the first cohort of teams participating in DesignX, MIT’s newest innovation accelerator.

Muscle grafts could help amputees sense and control artificial limbs.

A new surgical technique devised by MIT researchers could allow prosthetic limbs to feel much more like natural limbs. Through coordination of the patient’s prosthetic limb, existing nerves, and muscle grafts, amputees would be able to sense where their limbs are in space and to feel how much force is being applied to them.

This type of system could help to reduce the rejection rate of prosthetic limbs, which is around 20 percent.

Press' first major digitization endeavor ushers in a new era of access.

Five SA+P students received Harold and Arlene Schnitzer awards in the visual arts for excellence in a body of artistic work.

New York City event invites DUSP alumni and alumnae to reconnect and share their work.

On Sunday, May 7, nearly 100 DUSP alumni and alumnae gathered at Affirmation Arts in New York City to reconnect and to share their work and ideas. Coinciding with the APA national planning conference, “DUSPx: Connections” was attended by DUSP graduates from across the country and from the New York City area, together with current and prospective DUSP students.

Author of “Blue Skies over Beijing” links Chinese air quality and urban development.

SA+P recognizes staff that have made exceptional contributions to their academic units, the school, and the Institute.

On Thursday, May 11th, three exceptional staff members of the MIT community were honored with Infinite Mile Awards. The awards were presented at a celebratory luncheon to John F. Kennedy from the MIT Center for Real Estate, Ellen Rushman, DUSP's Academic Programs Coordinator, and Amanda Stoll from the MIT Media Lab.

Scratch Day @ MIT was one of more than 800 global events during May to celebrate the kids’ programming language and online community on its 10th anniversary.

Many of the children taking part in Scratch Day 2017 at the MIT Media Lab on May 6 were not even born when the Scratch programming language was released in 2007.

King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden toured the MIT Media Lab.

The Center for Real Estate’s Albert Saiz talks about worldwide trends affecting housing, commercial real estate, and investment in the built environment.

DUSP grad student John Arroyo honored for his service to the community; six high school and college students awarded $1,000 Memorial Scholarships.

Each year, the MIT Federal Credit Union (FCU) presents the People Helping People Award to an FCU member who exemplifies compassion, commitment to helping others, and a sense of social justice within the MIT community. At this year's annual FCU business meeting on April 26, John Arroyo, a fourth-year doctoral candidate in the MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning, was named as the 2017 winner.

Several graduate students from SA+P were recently honored at the 2017 Graduate Women of Excellence Reception. Each honoree was nominated by a member of the MIT Community in recognition of her leadership and service, dedication to mentorship and drive to improve the student experience.

In talk at MIT, Chicago mayor argues that major cities can lead on policy progress.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel laid out a case for bold action at the city level to make progress on education, inequality, climate change, and technology, in a wide-ranging talk at MIT on Friday afternoon.

“A hundred cities around the world today drive the economic, intellectual, and cultural energy of the world economy,” he told an audience of nearly 300 in the Wong Auditorium.

MIT Media Lab's Joi Ito and Ed Boyden are among 11 from MIT elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences for 2017.

Eleven MIT faculty members, including the chancellor of the Institute, are among 228 leaders from academia, business, public affairs, the humanities, and the arts elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the academy announced today.

Both fans and foes of reality TV can get behind this reality video series—In My Shoeswas created by César Hidalgo, associate professor and director of the Media Lab’s Collective Learning group, in an effort to show future scientists what the life of an academic looks like.

View the video series at www.inmyshoes.info.

MIT's Comprehensive Initiative on Technology Evaluation announces its latest product evaluations and global partnerships.

The Comprehensive Initiative on Technology Evaluation (CITE) at MIT has announced its 2017 product evaluations.

Advisor to $1.4 billion state plan sees health care as foundation for “Vital Brooklyn.”

Scholars at MIT and in Mexico collaborate on projects spanning design, technology, and art.

MIT faculty, students, and alumni consistently find creative ways to apply their knowledge to local contexts, collaborating with partners around the globe to make the world a better place. Arguably, no MIT exchange is more fertile than the one the School of Architecture and Planning (SA+P) enjoys with Mexico.

QS World University Rankings place MIT No. 1 in 12 of 46 subject areas

DUSP's Eran Ben-Joseph to become co-director of MISTI’s Israel program.

Very different cities have similar potential for ride sharing, study finds.

A newly published study co-authored by MIT researchers suggests that urban ride-sharing is feasible in a wide variety of cities around the globe — and indeed that the potential “shareability” of autos in those places is more similar, from place to place, than previously expected.

Gallery Walk showcases exhibitions in art, architecture, and design.

Building 7 is most known for the soaring four-story lobby that greets visitors who enter the campus from Massachusetts Avenue. Not as widely recognized is that the building is home to four galleries that feature regular exhibitions of art, architecture, and design.

The mix of products that countries export is a good predictor of income distribution, study finds.

In a series of papers over the past 10 years, MIT Professor César Hidalgo and his collaborators have argued that the complexity of a country’s exports — not just their diversity but the expertise and technological infrastructure required to produce them — is a better predictor of future economic growth than factors economists have historically focused on, such as capital and education.

Co-founded by DUSP PhD student Gregory Falco, the IoT cybersecurity startup, NeuroMesh placed second in MIT's 100K Accelerate competition.

The Winter 2017 issue of MIT Spectrum magazine features a broad range of stories from the SA+P community.

Read the issue online.

Professor in architecture and engineering will serve three-year term

DUSP practicum proposes new approaches to mobility and housing in urban neighborhoods.

More than 20 million people live in metropolitan Mexico City, and most spend upwards of three hours a day riding to and from work, stuck in traffic jams.

The region has one of the world’s largest urban rail (metro) systems in the world, but most passenger traffic is concentrated on a few lines that serve the city center. Stations farther out are difficult to reach on foot and offer few amenities for commuters or residents.

MIT graduate students in energy fields gain skills and advance knowledge while helping to move toward a low-carbon future.

MIT graduate students working in energy conduct widely varied research projects — from experiments in fundamental chemistry to surveys of human behavior — but they share the common benefit of gaining hands-on work experience while helping to move the needle toward a low-carbon future.

New graduate student fellowship program announced at Media Lab event celebrating the life and work of Seymour Papert.

Pritzker Prize-winning architect Alejandro Aravena will speak at MIT on January 26, 2017, in a lecture that is free and open to the public. Watch the live webcast starting at 6:30 pm.

Freshman seminar inspires students to see the world with fresh eyes.

On a crisp afternoon in early September, seven MIT freshmen set out on a campus tour with their faculty advisor, John Ochsendorf, the Class of 1942 Professor in Architecture and Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Their first stop was “The Big Sail,” the 33-ton steel sculpture by Alexander Calder that stands in McDermott Court.

Research shows how rebuilding Britain’s Houses of Parliament in the 1800s helped create clean-air laws.

Britain’s dazzling Houses of Parliament building, constructed from 1840 until 1870, is an international icon. But the building’s greatest legacy may be something politicians and tourists don’t think about much: the clean air around it.

Fund establishes a global initiative to advance artificial intelligence research for the public good.

The MIT Media Lab and the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University will serve as the founding anchor institutions for a new initiative aimed at bridging the gap between the humanities, the social sciences, and computing by addressing the global challenges of artificial intelligence (AI) from a multidisciplinary perspective.

Large-scale tests compare damage from insects and moisture using a variety of containers.

Initiative links MIT with São Paulo research centers to study affordability and accessibility.

The School of Architecture and Planning and the Norman B. Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism (LCAU) at MIT have established a long-term initiative to rethink the future of affordable housing in Brazil, which faces an estimated shortage of 7 million units.

The former MIT Media Lab faculty member explored the intersections of play, learning, design, and technology.

Edith Ackermann, who was a professor at the MIT Media Lab from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s, died in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Dec. 24. She was 70.

Swiss-born Ackermann earned all her degrees from the University of Geneva, Switzerland. She earned a bachelor's degree in experimental psychology in 1969, two master's degrees in developmental psychology and clinical psychology in 1970, and a PhD in developmental psychology in 1981.

MIT Media Lab director Joi Ito reflects on the Lab's discoveries and milestones of 2016 in response to critical global challenges.

We’ve all been witness to some trying times over the past 12 months, both in the United States and across the world. In sharing some of the highlights of the past year, we are fully cognizant of the challenges ahead, of the importance of academic freedom, and of ways we can best address some of the most critical global needs.

The green canopy is an important and integral part of urban life. Trees help mitigate extreme temperatures, provide a natural respite from traffic, noise, and congestion, and improve the quality of life for those living in urban environments. However, the average citizen is often removed from understanding the individual features of their unique environmental habitats. How, then, can citizens be better engaged in this process so that they can play a more integral role in helping to shape the green canopies in their neighborhoods?

The Media Lab has a new website: https://www.media.mit.edu/

Eight student teams join MIT’s newest entrepreneurship accelerator.

Eight student-led teams hoping to launch ventures ranging from real estate development, to urban diagnostics, to novel design solutions for schoolchildren have been selected as the inaugural cohort for DesignX, the new entrepreneurship accelerator from MIT’s School of Architecture and Planning (SA+P).

Noninvasive technique reduces beta amyloid plaques in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease.

Using LED lights flickering at a specific frequency, MIT researchers have shown that they can substantially reduce the beta amyloid plaques seen in Alzheimer’s disease, in the visual cortex of mice.

This treatment appears to work by inducing brain waves known as gamma oscillations, which the researchers discovered help the brain suppress beta amyloid production and invigorate cells responsible for destroying the plaques.

Inaugural exhibition in the newly renovated space features work from 20 MIT Arts Scholars. 

It’s a hard slog in the studio, battling with materials, suppressing self-doubts, cultivating a vision, destroying false starts, and ultimately creating something new. To emerging artists, seeing work outside the confines of one's studios and in a gallery setting is no mere frivolity; it is formative. Exhibitions change relationships to both one's work and audience.

At UN Climate Change Conference, MIT researchers share insights on implementing climate commitments.

Encapsulating molecular components in artificial membranes offers more flexibility in designing circuits.

Synthetic biology allows scientists to design genetic circuits that can be placed in cells, giving them new functions such as producing drugs or other useful molecules. However, as these circuits become more complex, the genetic components can interfere with each other, making it difficult to achieve more complicated functions. 

Samuel Tak Lee Graduate Fellow Zixiao Yin plans to serve communities back home in Inner Mongolia.

Real Estate Innovation Lab to promote the future of urban development by showing investors how it can work.

A new lab in the MIT Center for Real Estate (CRE) will link the creation of the built environment to economic impact, seeking to identify innovations in design and technology that will determine the future of communities and cities.

Four join the SA+P faculty, while seven are recognized for work in art, architecture, and urbanism.

The School of Architecture and Planning has announced that seven faculty members have been recognized by being promoted, granted tenure, or given significant new roles.

In addition, four new professors have joined the school in the Department of Architecture and the Program in Media Arts and Sciences. Their research ranges from architectural design to self-assembling materials to genetic engineering.

"SCIENTIA" is the newest addition to MIT's Public Art Collection.

San Francisco will be the next stop on MIT's Better World global tour.

On the evening of Oct. 20, more than 600 alumni and friends of MIT gathered at New York City’s Cipriani 25 Broadway to hear President L. Rafael Reif share his vision for the future of MIT.

School of Architecture and Planning will develop curriculum, courses for Dubai Institute of Design and Innovation.

MIT and the Dubai Institute of Design and Innovation (DIDI) announced today a strategic collaboration in which faculty from the School of Architecture and Planning will help launch the new undergraduate educational institution in Dubai focused on design.

MIT professors take on problem formulation in thermal science: It can be taught, and their new book describes how.

In August, Leon Glicksman, an MIT professor of architecture and mechanical engineering, and John Lienhard, a professor of mechanical engineering, published "Modeling and Approximation in Heat Transfer" (Cambridge University Press).

Study of malaria rapid diagnostic tests in Uganda assesses scalability, identifies supply chain challenges.

The World Health Organization estimates that nearly half of the world’s population is at risk for malaria, a life-threatening, but ultimately curable and preventable disease spread by mosquitos.

President Barack Obama and MIT Media Lab Director Joi Ito discuss the challenges and opportunities facing us in bringing the technology of science fiction into the real world, from driverless cars to automated jobs with Scott Dadich in the November issue of WIRED.

MIT researchers develop a decision-making tool for global classrooms looking to deploy educational technologies.

Grad student Billy Ndengeyingoma helps improve affordable-housing design in Africa.

Billy Ndengeyingoma’s time at MIT has been marked by transitions. He has moved from one continent to another, from an undergraduate program to a master’s, and from a civil engineering specialty to urban planning.

Yet no matter what is happening in his life, he has learned to always make time for self-reflection. This practice has helped him discover a great deal about himself, and has pushed him to think deeply about the impact he wants to have on the world.  

MIT, AMS Institute will collaborate to solve complex urban problems for Amsterdam with the development of autonomous "roboats."

MIT has signed an agreement to engage in research collaborations with the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions (AMS) in the Netherlands. The collaboration’s flagship project, led by researchers from multiple departments at MIT, will be to develop a fleet of autonomous boats for the city’s canals.

Professor of urban design and public policy Brent Ryan believes good architecture can help revive cities.

Most of us have looked at an ugly building and thought: I could do better than that. Brent Ryan turned that idea into a career.

New computational imaging method identifies letters printed on first nine pages of a stack of paper.

MIT researchers and their colleagues are designing an imaging system that can read closed books.

In the latest issue of Nature Communications, the researchers describe a prototype of the system, which they tested on a stack of papers, each with one letter printed on it. The system was able to correctly identify the letters on the top nine sheets.

Mobile-phone data helps researchers study an urban problem in greater detail.

What’s the best way to measure human exposure to urban pollution? Typically, cities do so by studying air-quality levels in fixed places. New York City, for example, has an extensive monitoring network that measures air quality in 155 locations.

But now a study led by MIT researchers, focused on New York City, suggests that using mobile-phone data to track people’s movement provides an even deeper picture of exposure to pollution in urban settings.

Students and faculty from SA+P, MISTI teaching, working, and learning across Greater China

This summer, MIT professors, students, and staff are traveling across China to teach, learn from, and work with Chinese counterparts on a variety of projects. Numerous teams are associated with the MIT School of Architecture and Planning (SA+P) and the MIT International Science and Technology Initiative (MISTI).

MIT has launched a comprehensive fundraising initiative that aims to raise $5 billion to advance the Institute’s work on some of the world’s biggest challenges. Learn more about the SA+P community’s commitment to building a better world in a statement from Dean Hashim Sarkis. 

MIT has named its Center for Advanced Urbanism (CAU) in honor of Norman B. Leventhal '38, a visionary developer and philanthropist at the center of Boston’s postwar revival. A life member emeritus of the MIT Corporation who died last year, Mr. Leventhal was a vital member of the MIT community for three-quarters of a century.

The center was officially named the Norman B. Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism today at a signing ceremony attended by Alan and Sherry Leventhal and other members of Norman Leventhal’s extended family.

Professor of the Practice Sheila Kennedy and her team at Kennedy Voilich Architecture (KVA), designed an innovative entryway as part of their transformation of Harvard's Tozzer Building, which was recently awarded a Best in Class prize from the Brick Industry Association of America. The entryway evokes ancient monuments while harnessing state-of-the-art computational design.

Read more about the Tozzer Building on MIT News

The Samuel Tak Lee MIT Real Estate Entrepreneurship Lab (STL Lab), in conjunction with the Center for Real Estate (CRE) and the Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP), has announced its first round of faculty research grants, awarding $1.5 million to 13 MIT researchers and their teams.

What can big data tell us about the predictability of medical conditions? A new study by MIT researchers published in the journal Scientific Reports digs into this question by looking at anonymous data from over 500,000 patients. Among the findings is that our electronic medical records contain data that is up to 90 percent predictable — although this level of predictability is only attainable in theory. However, it can guide algorithmic designers and practitioners on what is possible in principle.

Two global trends — bigger cities and more data — converged last week at MIT, where an international conference on computing and urban studies showed how researchers are harnessing more and more information in an attempt to help cities grow, improve transportation, and prepare for a changing climate and potential disasters.

Read the full story at MIT News.

Professor Eric Klopfer, director of the Scheller Teacher Education Program, and Vijay Kumar, associate dean of digital learning, have secured funding from MIT's Office of Digital Learning and the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation for a new program to aid educators in using emerging technologies called the MIT PK12 Initiative.

The program is detailed in an article by MIT News.

Celebrate Summer and Meet SA+P’s New Dean at the Haitian Embassy in DC! 

Meet School of Architecture + Planning Dean Hashim Sarkis at an SA+P cocktail reception featuring hors d'oeuvres with a Caribbean flair.

ORG was selected and appointed for the design of a territorial urban vision for the future Metropolis of Aix-Marseille-Provence. The project is of a significant national importance in France, as Marseille is the second largest city of the country. The project is considered the Mediterranean equivalent of the Grand Paris project.

http://www.orgpermod.com/content/new-project-aix-marseille-provence

The Department will host an informational open house for students to meet faculty, students and staff in the Department and ask questions about the major and other academic opportunities within the Department. 

Friday, April 17, 2015 from 11 a.m. until 12 p.m. in the Long Lounge, Room 7-429.

A tour of the Department will follow.

Refreshments offered.

All freshmen are invited.

For more information, contact Renée Caso, 617-253-7792, yammie@mit.edu

As an undergraduate, Leventhal studied civil engineering, becoming a naval architect during World War II. He founded the Beacon Construction Co. in 1946, along with his brother, Robert. He is known for several signature developments in Boston, as well as for being a "tireless benefactor." 

“He had a great interest in art and architecture,” said Alan Leventhal, noting that his father’s intellectual interests were well served by his committee work at MIT. “He had an enthusiasm that never left him.”

An Illustrated Tour of MIT Work in Urbanization

Mapdwell’s web-based Solar System, developed by SA+P’s Sustainable Design Lab, helps users design at-home solar energy systems: it visualizes the costs and benefits of installing a solar roof by layering information about tax credits and carbon emissions savings onto a topographical map of roofs, and helps determine the most efficient spots for panels. Judges were smitten by its intuitive user interface, which crunches lots of data to become usable, business-forward, and most importantly, relevant to you.

Recipients Will Work in Bangalore, Tanzania, Spain and Mexico

Nine MIT students and alumni have been awarded US Student Fulbright grants for the upcoming academic year, five of whom are from SA+P’s Department of Urban Studies + Planning.  The 2014 recipients have proposed a range of projects in countries as varied as India, Mexico, Tanzania, Brazil, Germany, Spain, Brazil and Togo.

Architectural Historian Served as Associate Dean Since 2007

Mark Jarzombek has been named Interim Dean of the School of Architecture + Planning, effective July 1; he succeeds Adèle Naudé Santos, who stepped down at the end of June.