MIT

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, one of the nation's most beautiful and technologically advanced campuses, is the focus of this colorful cultural and architectural history. Sited along the Charles River in Cambridge, MIT has a history that spans more than a century, from its original location in Copley Square to its current home. In this two-part volume Douglass Shand-Tucci recalls the intellectual trajectory of the institution and the innovators who developed the campus, starting in 1861, including Alexander Graham Bell, William Welles Bosworth, Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., and William Barton Rogers. Tracing the legacy, Shand-Tucci provides a captivating tale of the campus that led not only to technological inspiration but also to the best collection of architectural tourism on a university campus, with masterpieces by architects including Jonathan and William Preston, Eero Saarinen, Kevin Roche, I. M. Pei, Steven Holl, and Frank Gehry. Sculptures by signi cant artists, such as Alexander Calder, Henry Moore, Louise Nevelson, and Michael Heizer, adorn the campus and are described in five walking tours.