page_title: Campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
section_title: Stratton Student Center (1968)
hierarchical_section_title: Campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology / Second Century Fund (1960–1990) / Stratton Student Center (1968)
caption_attribution_description: English: The Julius Adams Stratton Student Center, also known as MIT Building W20, located at 84 Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was built from 1964 to 1968 and was designed by Eduardo Catalano in the High Brutalist style. It was originally to have been designed by Eero Saarinen, who had designed the nearby MIT Chapel and Kresge Auditorium, but Saarinen's design was not approved because of both objections to the design and its high cost. (Sources: AIA Guide to Boston and MIT: An Architectural Tour
context_page_description: The campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is located on a 168-acre tract in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The campus spans approximately one mile of the north side of the Charles River basin directly opposite the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts.
  The campus includes dozens of buildings representing diverse architectural styles and shifting campus priorities over MIT's history. MIT's architectural history can be broadly split into four eras: the Boston campus, the new Cambridge campus before World War II, the "Cold War" development, and post-Cold War buildings. Each era was marked by distinct builds representing neoclassical, modernist, brutalist, and deconstructivist styles which alternatively represent a commitment to utilitarian minimalism and embellished exuberance.
context_section_description: Walker Memorial had originally served as the home for many student activity groups for several decades, but the growing post-war student population required the construction of a new and larger building. The first proposals originated in 1955 after the opening of Kresge Auditorium and Chapel had firmly planted MIT's presence on the other side of Massachusetts Avenue. Saarinen was again retained to design the new structure, but was dropped after his proposal met with resistance from faculty and donors.
  Professor Eduardo F. Catalano replaced Saarinen in 1961 and proposed a structure that would house meeting and practice rooms as well as commercial areas like a post office, tailor, barbershop, book store, and bowling alley. The proposed building was a monumentally imposing structure representing a high form of brutalism and included large glass windows, balconies, and terraced staircases. The building was approved in 1963 and dedicated to outgoing President Julius A. Stratton in 1965. Although initially well received, the complex design of the interior, a lack of storage space, heavy use by students, and austere exterior led to a major renovation in the late 1980s.
  A strip of stores and offices was on the site of this building until it burnt down in 1961.  WGBH's first offices and studios were there, as well as many businesses that catered to MIT students.
caption: Stratton Student Center in 2017
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