Student
Community
Helping students rest, recharge, and connect
THE HEART OF STUDENT ACTIVITY. The building pulses with students throughout the day, but the fourth floor is the vibrant, beating heart of student-led organizations and a critical area for renewal. The building underwent significant upgrades in 1988, but the plans did not include the fourth floor, which is virtually unchanged since the building opened. As a result, the space is out of step with our current students’ needs.
Our vision is to improve rooms for dance and movement activities along with other flexible spaces for student group meetings and community gatherings. Enhancements will solidify the place of artistic performance as a central aspect of many MIT students’ experiences while increasing the visibility of extracurricular activities, helping students to build connections within and across groups. The rooms are for general use, allowing students to tailor each space to their needs.
CASE STUDY: MOVEMENT & DANCE
From ballroom to hip-hop to Dragon to Bhangra, MIT students love to dance! There are nearly 20 dance groups on campus, all of which vie for rehearsal space with instrumental groups, singing groups, and other performing arts organizations. Given the paucity of space available and the increased need for dance space in particular, a group of alumni organized a drive to fund a significant rehabilitation of the fourth floor, including two dance/movement spaces. These spaces will be for general use but include features especially important to dance and movement, including:
- Sprung hardwood floors, new lighting, and acoustics for music.
- Space for changing into dance shoes and for storage of personal belongings
- A flexible, multiuse, center space that can link the two dance/movement spaces for larger events and activities.
- Natural light and views of the outdoors to make deep interior spaces more welcoming.
