MIT Office of the Arts 
by Lynn Heinemann, Office of the Arts
(Tech Talk 5/8/1996)
Professor Emeritus of Architecture Eduardo Catalano has left his mark in MIT's lecture halls as well as on its landscape. In addition to his academic responsibilities, Professor Catalano, professor of architecture from 1956 until his retirement in 1977, designed the Stratton Student Center, Eastgate Married Students Housing and the Hermann Building (E53). That Seed that Grows a Tree that Gives a Fruit, an exhibition that examines Professor Catalano's design work from conception to exploration to fruition is currently on view at the School of Architecture and Planning's Wolk Gallery (Bldg 7, 3rd floor).
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Professor Catalano pioneered the architectural development of shell structures, first seen in his own home, Raleigh House, built in 1954 after arriving to teach at the School of Design in Raleigh, NC. "It is refreshing to see that the shelter, that is the most important element in domestic architecture, has been so imaginatively and skillfully treated as in this house by Eduardo Catalano," Frank Lloyd Wright said in the August 1956 issue of House and Home.
In seeking harmony in science, technology and the visual arts, Professor Catalano's work spans a broad design field, from architectural designs for landmark buildings to landscapes to the creation of a special visual language called "stereo-images." An independent architect who closed his practice in late 1995, Professor Catalano's latest work incorporates new technology using glass as a structural material. The exhibition presents two large-scale computer-drawings to illustrate these innovations, showing spaces covered by cylindrical glass vaults and hanging roofs and surfaces which Professor Catalano describes as "transparent structures that geometricize the sky."
Other buildings highlighted in the show include the US embassies in Buenos Aires, Argentina and in Pretoria, South Africa and the Juilliard School of Music at New York City's Lincoln Center. Professor Catalano's urban proposal for Naples, Italy creates buildings with multiple functions that perform as mini-cities.
The exhibition, curated by Kimberly Shilland of the MIT Museum Architectural Collection, also includes plans submitted for competitions, including his National Peace Garden (Washington, DC) project which received the First Prize among 936 entries in 1989. Five books published by Professor Catalano are also on view - from his first, published in 1941 when he was a student, to his latest, "La Constante" (The Constant), published in 1995. "La Constante" is based on a dialogue between an architect and a mathematician covering topics ranging from philosophy, aesthetics and history to geometry, structure and space.
Exhibition texts go beyond description to offer a deeper understanding of the designer's process and attitudes. In September, Professor Catalano will conduct several sessions for MIT and Harvard students to examine the issues provoked by the exhibition.
That Seed that Grows a Tree that Gives a Fruit will run through October 15, 1996. The Wolk Gallery is open weekdays, 9-5pm. Information: 258-9106.