The Massachusetts College of Art + Design last week opened its new three-story, $40.4 million Design and Media Center at 621 Huntington Avenue. Gov. Charlie Baker was officially the guest of honor at the ribbon-cutting, but, unofficially, it was the building's architecture. Susan T. Rodriquez of New York-based Ennead Architects crafted out of an old gymnasium an airy, open presence for Huntington Avenue, one that the exterior intentionally and inescapably accentuates. According to an explainer from Ennead: "[T]his triple-height exterior glass envelope, supported by a series of four king-post trusses and punctuated by an entry vestibule along the eastern edge, extends into a new public plaza that blurs the distinction between interior and exterior space."
This, too, was intentional. The 40,000-square-foot Design and Media Center is the new "front door to the entire MassArt campus," connecting the school's existing buildings and providing additional classroom, gallery and studio space. The public will be welcome, too, beginning with the three-story atrium.
It's but the latest collegiate spot of construction in Boston and another project unafraid of the power of glass.
· Boston's Dorm-Construction Boom, Mapped [Curbed Boston]
· Greater Boston's Most Inescapable Architectural Trend of 2015 [Curbed Boston]
· Our Debuts archive [Curbed Boston]
[Photos by Richard Barnes via MassArt]
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