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November 6, 2007
MIT sues Gehry, citing leaks in $300m complex
Blames famed architect for flaws at Stata Center
The Boston Globe
By Shelley Murphy
While we spent our day in reverie, trying to imagine a life without developer Bruce Ratner, starchitect Frank Gehry and eminent domain abuse, the following story was sent to us by several hundreds of NoLandGrab readers.
When it rains it pours:
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has filed a negligence suit against world-renowned architect Frank Gehry, charging that flaws in his design of the $300 million Stata Center in Cambridge, one of the most celebrated works of architecture unveiled in years, caused leaks to spring, masonry to crack, mold to grow, and drainage to back up.
The suit says that MIT paid Los Angeles-based Gehry Partners $15 million to design the Stata Center, which was hailed by critics as innovative and eye-catching with its unconventional walls and radical angles. But soon after its completion in spring 2004, the center's outdoor amphitheater began to crack due to drainage problems, the suit says. Snow and ice cascaded dangerously from window boxes and other projecting roof areas, blocking emergency exits and damaging other parts of the building, according to the suit. Mold grew on the center's brick exterior, the suit says, and there were persistent leaks throughout the building.
NoLandGrab: Window boxes in the same style as those mentioned above are depicted in four of Laurie Olin's Atlantic Yards sketches — at least Brooklynites and Ratner have been forewarned.
Posted by lumi at November 6, 2007 9:14 PM