A Contrast of Two Architectural Styles

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is known for science and engineering, but its campus is also known for some interesting architecture.

The Great Dome, modeled after the Pantheon in Rome, is probably the most recognizable. William Bosworth, who was commissioned to design the MIT campus in 1913, was part of the Beaux-Arts architectural movement with its neoclassical emphasis on order, dignity, harmony and monumental grandeur.
Graduation ceremonies are held at the Killian Court in front of the Great Dome.
In contrast is the Ray and Maria Stata Center with its “unfinished” look. It is the work of Frank Gehry, whose works (including the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao and the Dancing House in Prague) are cited among the most important works of contemporary architecture.
Up close, the angles seem random and disorderly, “a metaphor for the freedom, daring, and creativity” of the research work housed inside.
The opposing styles of these two building may be a study in contrast, but it also speaks of the diversity within the campus.

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Lens-artists: Architecture