Program Descriptions

Past Programs - Fall 2009

Vault N51: A Low Carbon Masonry Innovation (part of Student Night)
Friday, September 11th, 2009, 7:00 - 9:30 pm
Celebrate the unveiling of a thin brick vault, constructed by graduate architecture students at MIT, at the MIT Museum! Light refreshments and a DJ.

Part of MIT Museum's Student Night, a series of evening events at the MIT Museum designed to support student activities that align with the goals of the Museum.

The installation is inspired by Spanish architect-engineer Félix Candela (1910-1997), whose work in thin concrete shells is currently on exhibit at the Museum untill September 27. The students began their investigation of masonry designs and structural analysis under the guidance of John Ochsendorf, associate professor of Building Technology at MIT. The brick vault creates new spatial possibilities with its doubly-curved structural shell, and is built with low-carbon adobe bricks. It was designed with the aid of Thrust Network Analysis (TNA), new structural design software developed by Philippe Block (MIT PhD 2009).

To reduce its environmental impact, the vault will be constructed using unfired thin bricks donated by Stiles and Hart of Bridgewater, MA. The thin bricks minimize material use, and are locally made with reduced carbon emissions.

Vault N51 will showcase the design and construction process as well as the completed vault in the outdoor courtyard. The event will also feature work that team members collaborated on as part of a stone masonry workshop in Mallorca, Spain. Additional masonry innovations will be on display, notably work by MIT alumni Philippe Block and Michael Ramage (MArch 2006).

Additional Information: Vault construction blog | Masonry research at MIT

Innovation Sunday
Sunday, October 4th, 2009, 12:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Lend your brain to science. Explore with a 21st Century space suit. Video chat with the Martinos Brain Imaging Center and explore MIT’s MRI machine. See light get all bendy underwater. Meet the scientists making next generation solar powered devices at the cutting edge of physics and materials science. Explore the most current research at MIT through the new exhibit Sampling MIT.
Free admission to the Museum all day!

Featured Program: Workshop - Build a Solar Sculpture
Grab some feathers, wheels, tubes, holograms, and more from the Wall O' Materials to make your solar powered mechanical sculpture come alive! 45 minutes, offered at 12:00, 1:00, and 2:00. $5 materials fee. Ages 8+.

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Stay posted on all museum events by looking at the MIT Museum calendar.