Page 125 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide 2017 - Boston

three guided w alks  123

A 45-Minute Walk on the MIT Campus

Perhaps best known for its advances in science and
engineering, the Massachusetts institute of technology
has embraced cutting-edge art and architecture as surely
as it has pioneered artificial intelligence and robotics.
this walking tour samples some of the best of Modern
and Post-Modern sculpture and buildings located
around the campus. these highlights represent
the institute’s innovative use of unconventional
materials and techniques. 9 The Stata Center designed by
Frank Gehry
From the Kendall/MIT “T” station, right onto Ames Street at the to the walkway that leads into the
walk to Main Street and turn right. Media Lab Extension building. heart of the campus. Set at the
Take the second right down Next door, the sleekly banded edge of the sidewalk on the left
Wadsworth Street to the corner white box with dark windows is is a complex sculpture of curves,
of Amherst Street, then head to the List Visual Arts Center 3, angles, and twisted planes commis­
the back courtyard of the Arthur where galleries display changing sioned in 1975 from sculptor
D. Little Building, where exhibitions of innovative, con­ Louise Nevelson. Although
Pablo Picasso’s temporary art. Note Alexander painted, Transparent Horizon 6

MAIN S TREET

MIT
VASSER STREET AMES STREET CHARLOTTE’S Kendall/ HAYWARD ST REET WADSWORTH STREET
WAY
9 CARLETON STREET
5 AMHERST STREET 2 1
4
8 6 AMES STREET 3

7 0 meters 200
0 yards 200
Key
Walk route Calder’s was constructed of non­rusting
intermediate corten steel. Continue past the
model for his sculpture, Nevelson and look to the left for
Figure Découpée 1 from 1963 The Big Sail, in the lobby 4. In a view of Alexander Calder’s fully
stands in a small garden. the central atrium, Kenneth realized, 40­ft­(12­m)­high sculp­
Cross the intersection to the Tang Noland’s 1985 Here-There 5 ture, The Big Sail 7. Turn right to
Building, where Frank Stella’s 1988 carries the minimalist abstraction enter the Whitaker Building, where
abstract wall relief of acrylic and of the List building to its logical a projection screen in the ground­
enamel on aluminum, Heads or artistic extreme in a four­story level corridor shows experimental
Tails 2, fills the wall at the base interior wall mural. film and video. The Media Test
of the staircase atrium. Continue Join the students rushing to Wall 8, as the installation is
down Amherst Street and turn classes as you cross Ames Street called, is emblematic of the
school’s commitment to tech­
Tips for Walkers nology in the arts. Cross through
the Whitaker building for a view
Starting point: Kendall/MIT “T” of the south side of the Stata
Length: 0.8 miles (1.3 km). Center 9. Frank Gehry’s metal­
Stopping-off points: Amelia’s sheathed com plex constitutes
Trattoria (111 Harvard St.) serves a research and teaching village
gourmet pizzas and pasta dishes. devoted to computer, information,
Visitor information: See page and intelligence sciences. Walk
111 for museum opening hours. 5 Here-There mural (1985) by mini malist past the center to return to
artist Kenneth Noland Main Street and the “T” station.
For keys to symbols see back flap

122-123_EW_Boston.indd 123 13/11/14 11:47 am