Stata Center (Ray and Maria Stata Center or Building 32) is an academic complex designed by Price
winning architect Frank Gehry for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge. It was
opened in March 2004. The building has several auditoriums and classrooms used by the Electrical
Engineering and Computer Science Departments. Its architectural style is Deconstructivism. In 2007 The
architect as well as the Construction firm were sued for providing deficient design services and drawings
which caused leaks to spring, masonry to crack, mold to grow, drainage to back up, and falling ice and
debris to block emergency exits. The lawsuit was reportedly settled in 2010 with moat of the issues
having been resolved.
The image was created a few years ago using a Nikon D3s with the Nikkor Zoom lens 28-300 mm f/3.5-
5.6 @ 28 mm and with these settings: ISO 200, f/11 and with 5 bracketed images with various shutter
speeds and PP in Lightroom using the HDR module. The image is the full frame with no cropping.
I included two additional images labeled original 1 and 2 for illustration purposes.
This round’s discussion is now closed! 7 comments posted
Susan Albert
Isaac, These are three well composed images. The exposures are good and they are sharp. You've captured the stunning uniqueness of Gehry's work very well. Because you bracketed 5 images, were you using a tripod? Posted: 10/05/2022 19:08:12
Dr. Isaac Vaisman
No Susan, all handheld. The HDR option in LightRoom will align all the images before processing them into a HDR Posted: 10/06/2022 14:19:41
Tom Tauber
I have been watching a TV series "How did they build that?" on the Smithsonian channel which features the design and construction of amazing buildings like this one. It's only made possible by the advanced computer design software that the aviation industry (specifically and originally Dassault in France) developed that allows them to calculate the stresses in those curved surfaces and figure out how all of this fits together. As Isaac tells us, at least in the beginning it didn't solve all the problems. In the image, I like that you left in a sliver of the building on the left and how well you controlled the reflected highlights by using HDR. Posted: 10/11/2022 16:29:46
Pamela Liu
These structures are amazing. I especially like the "Original" which has excellent framing composition and a good contract to highlight the construction. Posted: 10/12/2022 06:34:30
Kathleen McCrary
Hi Isaac - Wow! What wonderful buildings! Great light, contrast, color. The people on the right and the bench in front show the scale which isn't obvious in this unusual building. We have a Gehry building in Seattle with lots of irregular reflective surfaces which reflect the nearby Space Needle in a very distorted way. I think (just guessing) that Gehry thinks of the reflections on his buildings as part of the design. Cool shot. Posted: 10/12/2022 16:04:24
Esther Steffens
(Group 3)
I lived near MIT for six years and was married in the Chapel designed by Eero Saarinen. Gehry is a favorite of mine and I will make a point of seeing this wonderful building when I am in the area. Thank you for sharing these excellent images! Posted: 10/23/2022 22:55:09
Lisa Cirincione
(Group 2)
What a beautiful building, I love Frank Gehry's work. I didn't know about this building, another stop on the bucket list! Thanks for including the other images, it's an incredible structure. The people on the right give it perspective, it almost doesn't look real without the people. Posted: 10/31/2022 21:32:18
