Massachusetts Institute of Technology

MIT’s Cogeneration Plant produces most of the power, heat, and chilled water for the campus, and has been designed to celebrate rather than disguise this utilitarian function.

The plant fills a vacant lot on a street lined with two- and three-story industrial and research buildings. Machinery is visible through three-story, horizontally gridded windows so that huge ducts appear as sculpture from the street. Between the windows, brick piers relate the building to its neighbors, particularly to the facade of the original power plant next door. Above the windows, a decorative metal cornice reconciles the differing cornice heights of the adjoining buildings. The result is industrial architecture that enlivens an otherwise dreary streetscape while honoring a tradition of architecturally significant power plants in the Boston area.