For the past 35 years, architect Harry Ellenzweig has been involved in the evolution of the MIT campus. An exhibition celebrating this partnership--"Harry Ellenzweig at MIT: A 35-Year Collaboration"--is on view at the Wolk Gallery (Room 7-338) through Sept. 20.
After participating in a 1964 master planning study of the East Campus, Ellenzweig went on to design numerous academic and research buildings, including the Dibner Institute and Burndy Library, the Sloan School of Management's Tang Center, a major redesign of the Dorrance and Whitaker buildings, and the cogeneration facility and chilled water facility expansion on Vassar Street. Ellenzweig is now at work on a master plan for the North Campus and on a new Facilities building.
"I think the basic goals of community building and connectivity outlined in that long-ago [1964] study have remained active at MIT and a central concern in all my projects," said Ellenzweig. "The campus here has changed greatly over the years; MIT is a much greener and more genial environment than it was in the '60s."
Ellenzweig's architecture demonstrates "a dialogue between specific conditions and general principles of order, simplicity and clarity," said Dean William Mitchell of the School of Architecture and Planning. "Each MIT project is distinguished by his capacity to create a coherent program out of often competing functions, and to do so with a flexibility that ensures that the building won't be outmoded in a decade."
The gallery is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call x2-2815, e-mail swicki@mit.edu.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on June 12, 2002.
