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This piece was one in a series of many whose purpose was to capture the elements of futurism present on the creative playground that is the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “Simmons Hall” represents a one-of-a-kind design that astonishes the senses with its porous structure that resembles a colorful overgrown sponge with multilevel lounges, specially designed furniture, and even rooftop terraces. “Simmons’” ingenious architecture employs soft curves and the use of basic materials to exude a futuristic atmosphere that revolves around massively open spaces that preserve simplicity in structure while presenting a delicate aura. The famous Futurists Fillipo Tomaso Marinetti and Antonio Sant'Elia declared that in constructions of the future, “Neither laws of verticality nor laws of horizontality [apply]. Buildings in the shape of the sphere, cone, pyramid, straight triangular prism, oblique square prism, scalene triangle, isosceles triangle, polyhedron, lozenge, will have an aesthetic and practical individuality, but will be subject to the dominant theme of the habitation/supplier. To people flying over this will appear as an arrow, a ring, a propeller, a crucible, a brilliant, a matrix. It will look funnel-shaped, fibro-radiated, radi-cellular, split-leveled, arborized, scaliform and blown. Special curves will encourage the floating of yellow silk reflections under the sun's rays.”***1 These ideas are expressed in numerous buildings at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, including Simmons Hall, The Ray and Maria Stata Center, and the Kresge Auditorium, and the uniqueness of the designs of these structures on campus is rivaled by that of no other institution and remains a testament to the innovative culture of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. |