Hayden Library / Kennedy & Violich Architecture

Hayden Library / Kennedy & Violich Architecture - Exterior Photography, Windows, Facade, CourtyardHayden Library / Kennedy & Violich Architecture - Interior Photography, Windows, FacadeHayden Library / Kennedy & Violich Architecture - Interior Photography, Table, Chair, WindowsHayden Library / Kennedy & Violich Architecture - Interior Photography, ChairHayden Library / Kennedy & Violich Architecture - More Images+ 16

  • Design Team: Sheila Kennedy FAIA, Design Principal Frano Violich FAIA, Managing Principal Ned Goodell AIA, Project Architect Ben Widger AIA, Daniel Sebaldt AIA, Nick Johnson, Hannah Liechty, Danniely Staback Rodriguez, Kevin Marblestone, Toshiki Niimi, Lynced Torres, Greta Wong, Jess Jorge, Chris Weaver, Mark Bavoso, Daniel Marshall, Clarence Lee, Julian Geltman
  • Client: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Heating, Ventilation: Buro Happold
  • Building Envelope: Simpson Gumpertz & Heger
  • Code & Accessibility: Jensen Hughes
  • Cost Estimation: Vermeulens
  • City: Cambridge
  • Country: United States
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Hayden Library / Kennedy & Violich Architecture - Exterior Photography, Windows, Facade, Courtyard
© John Horner

Text description provided by the architects. The re-design of MIT’s Hayden Library transforms the 1951 modernist repository for post-WWII collections into a dynamic and inclusive learning space for collaboration and innovative research. The ‘Research Crossroads’ concept highlights the potential for new modes of thinking at the intersection of digital and analog collections and analysis.

Hayden Library / Kennedy & Violich Architecture - Interior Photography, Chair
© John Horner
Hayden Library / Kennedy & Violich Architecture - Interior Photography, Windows, Facade
© John Horner
Hayden Library / Kennedy & Violich Architecture - Image 17 of 21
Plan - First Floor

A pair of two-story pavilions—one glass and one wood—introduces a mediating scale into the undifferentiated volume of the original reading room. Where the pavilions cross, a new sculptural stair and elevator establish z-axis, breaking through an existing floor slab to provide a direct vertical connection to all levels.

Hayden Library / Kennedy & Violich Architecture - Interior Photography, Stairs, Chair, Glass, Windows
© John Horner
Hayden Library / Kennedy & Violich Architecture - Interior Photography, Table, Shelving, Chair, Windows, Beam
© John Horner
Hayden Library / Kennedy & Violich Architecture - Image 18 of 21
Plan - Second Floor

The 24-hour accessible ground floor includes a cafe and flexible event space as well as digital collaboration rooms, intimate study spaces, and digital tools housed in a glass and wood volumes. Translucent curtains, digital screens, movable furniture, and whiteboards encourage students to ‘hack’ the library, reconfiguring spaces to fit their needs. The reimagined second floor builds on existing building strengths to create a restful, quiet space with privileged river and skyline views.

Hayden Library / Kennedy & Violich Architecture - Interior Photography, Closet, Shelving, Windows
© John Horner
Hayden Library / Kennedy & Violich Architecture - Image 19 of 21
East Looking Section
Hayden Library / Kennedy & Violich Architecture - Interior Photography, Chair
© John Horner

The redesigned Lipchitz Courtyard—disused for decades due to inaccessibility and exposure — establishes a dynamic central green space and extends library activity out into a shaded and intimately scaled indoor/outdoor space, bounded by natural plantings, curving wood benches and carefully sited sculptures.

Hayden Library / Kennedy & Violich Architecture - Image 21 of 21
Axonometric Diagram
Hayden Library / Kennedy & Violich Architecture - Exterior Photography, Facade, Windows
© John Horner

A new three-season pavilion connects to the Courtyard Café and completes a fully accessible cloister around the courtyard. Custom-milled wood panels incorporate acoustic control and extend the courtyard’s katsura tree canopy patterns across the pavilion ceiling.

Hayden Library / Kennedy & Violich Architecture - Exterior Photography, Windows, Chair, Courtyard, Patio
© John Horner

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Project location

Address:Cambridge, MA, United States

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About this office
Cite: "Hayden Library / Kennedy & Violich Architecture" 29 Aug 2022. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/988056/hayden-library-kennedy-and-violich-architecture> ISSN 0719-8884

© John Horner

MIT 麻省理工学院海登图书馆 / Kennedy & Violich Architecture

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