Architecture

For Archinect, reporter Niall Patrick Walsh spotlights how the full archive of architect and alumnus I.M. Pei ‘40 has been donated to the MIT Museum. “Among the materials are drawings and documents from some of Pei’s best-known works, including the Louvre Museum modernization project in Paris, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland,” writes Walsh. “The archive also contains records relating to four buildings designed by Pei on the MIT campus: the Green Building, Dreyfus Building, Landau Building, and Wiesner Building.”

The archive of the renowned architect and alumnus I.M. Pei ’40 - including 1,500 rolls of architectural drawings, 50 models, and 1,000 linear feet of manuscripts – will be coming to the MIT Museum, reports Mark Feeney for The Boston Globe. “This landmark donation marks the homecoming of I.M. Pei to MIT,” says MIT Museum Director Michael John Gorman. “The MIT Museum is thrilled to steward his legacy and, together with MIT’s School of Architecture and Planning, establish a global hub for the study of I.M. Pei.”

Fast Company reporter Nate Berg spotlights how the full archive of architect and alumnus I.M. Pei ‘40  will be housed at the MIT Museum, noting that the collection will be the largest single repository of works by Pei. “I think there’s something really fascinating about architectural projects that are not necessarily burdened by the realities of building,” says Jonathan Duval, assistant curator of architecture and design at the MIT Museum. “Those are moments where you can really see what an architect’s priorities and intentions might have been.” 

During a live interview in the GBH studios with Curiosity Desk host Edgar B. Herwick III, Research Scientist AJ Perez shares his work developing a new method to reuse recycled plastic to 3D print construction-grade materials for home building, which could help reduce home construction costs. “This all started with the idea of trying to build the roughly one billion homes the world needs,” says Perez. 

Donlyn Lyndon, a former MIT professor who also served as head of MIT’s Department of Architecture and was known for his work designing an icon of modern architecture on a bluff in Northern California, has died at age 90, reports Penelope Green for The New York Times. 

According to the 2026 QS World University Rankings, MIT has been earned a No. 1 global ranking in 12 subject areas, including chemical engineering; chemistry; civil and structural engineering; computer science and information systems; data science and artificial intelligence; electrical and electronic engineering; engineering and technology; linguistics; materials science; mechanical, aeronautical, and manufacturing engineering; mathematics; and physics and astronomy, reports Michael T. Nietzel for Forbes.

Researchers at MIT have “developed a housing concept that challenges how long homes can last and evolve through time,” reports Soo Kim for Newsweek. “Known as the Heirloom House, the project is designed to last for a millennium while remaining flexible enough to adapt to daily use, shifting climates, and generational change,” explains Kim. 

Designboom reporter Kat Barandy spotlights how a new video “traces the technical process behind ‘Remembering the Future,’ the woven work by Janet Echelman at the MIT Museum.” The piece, which was developed during Echelman’s MIT Center for Art, Science and Technology (CAST) residency in collaboration with Prof. Caitlin Mueller, “uses braided fibers to translate climate data into a suspended artwork.” The MIT Museum operates, in the words of Museum Director Michael John Gorman, as “a playground for ideas, as a living lab.”  

Researchers at MIT have used “recycled plastic to 3D-print construction-grade beams, trusses, and other structural elements,” reports Soo Kim for Newsweek. The new design method “could offer a lighter, modular, and more-sustainable alternatives to wood-based framing,” explains Kim.  

Researchers at MIT have made “recycled plastic into floor trusses for housing,” reports Rima Sabina Aouf for Deezen. The researchers “3D printed a functional, construction-grade element using a composite material they developed from recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) plastic – mostly derived from discarded drinks bottles – mixed with glass fibers,” explains Aouf. 

MIT researchers have developed a system that uses recycled plastic to 3-D print plastic trusses, reports Alex Knapp for Forbes. The trusses could "support more than 4,000 pounds—exceeding typical building standards," Knapp explains. "The bonus? This took less than an hour to manufacture."

Researchers at MIT have “found a way to transform a flat sheet into a functional 3D object with a single pull of a string,” reports Luis Prada for Vice. “The team developed a computational method that lets users design three-dimensional objects that can be fabricated as flat grids and then deployed almost instantly with a single tug,” explains Prada. 

Researchers at MIT have developed a new type of material that can transform into a 3D structure with the simple pull of a string, reports Gayoung Lee for Gizmodo. The new material could “have an impressive range of applications, from transportable medical devices and foldable robots to modular space habitats on Mars,” Lee explains. 

Writing for Bloomberg, Prof. Carlo Ratti explores how street configuration and design can help reduce traffic speeds. “In studies we have conducted at our Senseable City Lab, we found that the posted speed limits often have little effect on how fast people drive,” writes Ratti. “Instead, the policies that work involve the design of the street itself.” 

Prof. Caitlin Mueller has been named Innovator of the Year by Architectural Record for her work advancing a “vision for building design and construction that unites these disciplines with computation to create structure that are sustainable, high performing, and delightful,” reports Architectural Record. “Her group develops computational design and digital fabrication methods that integrate efficiency, performance, material circularity, and architectural expression,” Architectural Record notes. “This work spans robotic assembly of optimized trusses, fabrication of low-cost earthen and concrete systems, and algorithmic strategies for reusing salvaged wood and reassembled concrete parts.”