Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Design and Media Center
Heralded as an institutional game changer, MassArt’s new Design and Media Center creates a welcoming threshold for the College along Boston’s “Avenue of the Arts,” unifying its adjacent buildings and providing greater accessibility to campus.
A new transparent face to the city forms the College's new primary campus entry. This project, as it breathes new life into an underutilized structure, becomes a vital intersection of art and design on campus and in the city.
Located at a critical intersection of campus and city on a dense and stylistically-varied block, the new Center connects the College to its surroundings with the transformation of a long-unutilized brick gymnasium.
MassArt’s spirit of design innovation and cross-disciplinary curriculum are translated into a four-story flexible system of studios, galleries and shared technical spaces.
Marking the entry to the building, a double-height lobby creates a memorable focal point upon arrival. A choreographed sequence of stairs and ramps improves internal circulation and ushers visitors to the major public spaces within, including a triple-height public atrium that serves as the central exhibition space.
On the foundations of the 1930s structure, a new monumental volume has been created, its glass façade a counterpoint to the opacity of the original building and a visual portal to and from the city, effectively revealing MassArt’s activity and creative curriculum.
The design of this building was an opportunity to take traditional practice and blend it with innovative thinking, and lay out the groundwork for what the future of art and design practice will be for the twenty-first century. That is the heart of MassArt and the focus of this building, and we are all very excited about moving forward as this promise materializes.
Details
- Year
- 2016
- Location
- Boston, MA
- Size
- 72,000 GSF
- Program
- Exhibition Hall, 150-seat Lecture Hall, Gallery and Critique Space, Lighting and Sound Studios, Wood Shop, New Fabrication Lab, Two Large Studio Spaces, Product Development Laboratory, Project and Installation Rooms
- LEED Silver (pursuing)
Team
- Ennead Design Team
- Susan T. Rodriguez, Don Weinreich, Joanne Sliker, Charles Brainerd, William Clark, Kori Camacho-Onal, Justine Cheng, Nicholas Hunt, Paul Keene, Christina Long, John Majewski, Kenneth Namkung
- Photography
- Richard Barnes, Matthew Melrose/LERA, Peter Vanderwarker, Don Weinreich/Ennead Architects
Press
- 2018
- 2016
- Baker, Charlie. “MassArt Opens New Design and Media Center” (bostonmagazine.com 1/25/2016)
- Incollingo, Joe. “New Media Center makes statement for MassArt” (Boston Globe, 1/22/2016)
- Johnson, Sara. “Massachusetts College of Art and Design Design and Media Center” (architectmagazine.com, 1/20/2016)
- Roberts, Cameron. "Media Center Connects College To Neighborhood: Campus And Community Intersect on Huntington Ave" (Banker & Tradesman, 4/2/2016)
- Shanahan, Mark. “MassArt opens new $40m Design and Media Center” (bostonglobe.com, 1/20/2016)
- Shea, Andrew. “A Transparent Look for MassArt’s New Huntington Building” (artery.wbur.org, 1/19/2016)
- Wolcox, Kevin. “MassArt Building Experience Metamorphosis” (asce.org, 2/2/2016)
- “Massachusetts College of Art and Design / Ennead Architects” (ArchDaily, 2/3/2016)
- “New Design and Media Center Game Changer for Massachusetts College of Art and Design” (artdaily.com, 3/3/2016)
Awards
- 2016
- 2017
- Chicago Athenaeum Award for American Architecture
- SARA NY Design Award