EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
Leah Talatinian
Senior Officer for Marketing and Communications
In 1945, towards the end of World War II, Germany’s ten most accomplished scientists were taken captive by the allies and confined to Farm Hall, a villa in the English countryside outside of Cambridge, UK. The group included three Nobel … Continued
“Making Art for Scientists: Materials, Processes, and Information Relay” Hannah Munguia Flores is a third-year student at MIT working on a double master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering and Technology and Policy. On most days she studies the carbon cycle, and … Continued
TeleAbsence by the Tangible Media research group Since the invention of the telegraph, humans have been able to communicate across great distances in real time. Today, we can choose among myriad technologies—radio, telephone, video conference platforms—to connect with colleagues … Continued
Jaffer Kolb and his collaborators are working to turn architectural waste into shared community infrastructure When Jaffer Kolb, a lecturer in the Department of Architecture at MIT, refers to himself and his collaborators as “garbage people,” he’s talking about the … Continued
A new AI video installation dramatizes the technology’s potential to influence memory, desire, and the perception of history What makes a memory? And how might that memory affect what it is possible for an individual to think, to feel, and … Continued
Through his research at MIT, Vlavianos has sought to understand how people respond to their environments, and how creating digital twins will revolutionize architecture. As a scholar in the field of architecture and computational design, Nikolaos Vlavianos has always been … Continued
Arts, fashion, determination, and community culminate at an event by student-run Infinite Magazine A gallery of art by independent creators, creations from classes on campus, and a runway where MIT models strut, displaying designers’ work, were all showcased at MIT … Continued
Get to Know Kidist Adamu, Cici Mao, Tristan Shin, and Tianyuan (Margaret) Zheng Each year, the Laya and Jerome B. Wiesner Student Art Award is presented to four honorees—either students or MIT groups—for exceptional artistic contributions to the Institute community. … Continued
Combining digital technology with the human voice, Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts at MIT winner Pamela Z creates layered music from everyday life In the mid-eighties, artist Pamela Z was working at Tower Records on Columbus Street in San … Continued
Theresa Clare McHugh ’23 has always known that music is their greatest passion. A classical soprano, McHugh has been studying voice since the fifth grade, and redoubled their dedication to the craft at MIT. Singing is more than an extraordinary … Continued
The 2023 Harold and Arlene Schnitzer Prize in the Visual Arts at MIT recipients: Manar Moursi, Reina Mun, and Karyn Nakamura What happens when technologies fulfill their mission? What happens when they fail, or decay, or when the need for … Continued
Nell Breyer’s installation “Where Lines Converge,” on view in Manhattan’s Central Synagogue, asks what it means for bodies to convene and perceive themselves as a collective. The artist Nell Breyer ‘02 has long been fascinated by the relationship between … Continued
One of the beauties of art—of all creative endeavors—is that it cannot fully be quantified. Statues and films and stories all have value. But apart from a few high-flying market makers, it’s hard to assess their actual worth. The difficulty … Continued
Visiting musician Clarice Assad applies her inclusive approach to a new project about the Amazon The accomplishments of Brazilian-American composer, vocalist, and pianist Clarice Assad are many. She has won accolades, earned prestigious residencies, and her work is performed … Continued
One student confesses that motors have always freaked them out. Amy Huynh, a first-year student in the Technology and Policy Program says “I just didn’t respond to the way electrical engineering and coding is usually taught.” Huynh and her fellow … Continued
With her one-of-a-kind musical style, Distinguished Visiting Artist Iva Bittová helps students make music that is authentically their own On a weekend in September, a group of students from MIT’s Vocal Jazz Ensemble visited CAST Distinguished Visiting Artist Iva … Continued
A new opera by MIT music lecturer Elena Ruehr turns the real-life inventors of modern computing into crime-fighters Over the course of her career, the composer Elena Ruehr has found inspiration in very different writers and very different worlds: … Continued
Architecture students address the urgent need to reframe the relationship between design and time How would we design and build differently if we learned to live at multiple time scales? How would human communities respond to global challenges if the … Continued
An MIT residency unlocks the dreamlike world of dance-theater piece The History of Empires I’ve thought about it before, living in the country…it seems to me, if you’re out there alone, maybe with a farm and fields and trees and … Continued
The digital artworks of Tamiko Thiel ’83 expand perception of our immediate environment Imagine walking in an urban setting, conjuring a spontaneous rewilding of the world around you; metro stations are dominated by native species, exotic invasives self-seed in … Continued
Sketch a doodle of a drum or a saxophone to conjure a multi-instrumental composition. Look into a webcam, speak, and watch your mouth go bouncing across the screen—the input for a series of charmingly clunky chain-reactions.
A contemporary reinterpretation of an 18th century ballet at MIT reveals the fragility of orientalist fantasies A faraway island. An evil magician. A prince transformed into a teapot. A princess on a rescue mission. When the first performance of … Continued
An exhibition at the Wiesner Student Art Gallery invites visitors to contemplate the intelligence embedded in living systems “When we attune ourselves to the multiple intelligences of nature, we recognize that the technology is already there. It’s just about … Continued
Lupe Fiasco spoke with Okayplayer about his new album Drill Music in Zion, his forthcoming MIT course, rappers catching RICO cases, his friendship with Virgil Abloh, and more.
The city has been a hub of discovery and scientific breakthroughs for four centuries. A walking tour seeks to tell that story.
