We were in Cambridge, an area I do not know well. The client
offices were on the MIT campus and during the 20 minutes I had to myself I took
a close look at the Frank Gehry-designed Ray and Maria Stata Center. The Stata
Center houses MIT’s Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science Labs. I’m a
fan of Gehry in general and this building is especially interesting. It looks
as if it's about to collapse. Columns tilt at scary angles. Walls teeter,
swerve and collide in random curves and angles. Materials change wherever you
look: brick, mirror-surface steel, brushed aluminum, brightly colored paint, corrugated
metal. Everything looks improvised, as if thrown up at the last moment. It’s a
metaphor for the freedom, daring and creativity of the research that's
supposed to occur inside it.
It was a mild summer day with temps in the 70s so it seemed that
everyone in Boston with an urge to exercise outdoors was doing it along the
river.
The MIT campus is beautiful, a mix of old and new architecture and
grassy open spaces. I kept hoping that the older, more historic buildings would
be labeled so I’d know more about them without having to resort to Google
later. This wasn’t the case.
Every time I come to Boston I remember how much I like it and hope one
of our kids will go to school there. And then I remember that it’s 2,500 miles from
where we live and that I’d miss them. It’s a good thing that I don’t get to
make these decisions for them.
We had two amazing working dinners – the first at The Red Lantern,
where the wait staff seemed to push the drinks more than the seafood-heavy Asian
food – and the other at Al Dente, traditional, heavy Italian dishes in the
North End.
On the way home I caught an earlier flight and the gate agent even
waived the change fee as they were in a rush to close the doors and depart.
