Kent Larson

Kent Larson is director of Changing Places: a joint MIT Department of Architecture and Media Laboratory research consortium. He also runs the associated House_n consortium and the MIT Open Source Building Alliance within the Department of Architecture. Current research focuses on strategies for creating responsive places of living using new design/fabrication strategies, defining system level standards for an open source approach to building design and construction, and developing ubiquitous sensing/computation technologies that do useful things for people related to proactive health, energy conservation, communication, and learning. Larson's group, with TIAX, has developed a unique research facility called the PlaceLab to systematically prototype and test new technologies and design concepts in the context of everyday life.

Larson practiced architecture for 15 years in New York City in partnership with Peter L. Gluck, and more recently as Kent Larson, Architects P.C., with work published in Architectural Record, Progressive Architecture, Global Architecture, the New York Times, A+U, and Architectural Digest. His book, Louis I. Kahn: Unbuilt Masterworks was selected as one of the Ten Best Books in Architecture, 2000 by the New York Times Review of Books. Related work was selected by Time magazine as a "Best Design of the Year" project.

· Current Research

Changing Places and House_n
Change is accelerating, but the places we create are largely static and unresponsive. House_n, an MIT Department of Architecture Rearch Consortium, explores how new technologies, materials, and strategies for design can make possible dynamic, evolving places that respond to the complexities of life.

Changing Places and House_n Research Topics (pdf)
House_n Current Student Projects (pdf)
House_n Portable Research Tools (pdf)
House_n Research Group Publications

Metropolis Magazine: Living for Tomorrow (pdf, article about House_n)

Boston Globe Sunday Magazine (pdf, cover article about House_n)

The MIT Open Source Building Alliance (OSBA)
OSBA has been established to develop and test strategies (and ultimately, recommend standards) that will lead to the scalable introduction of new materials, technologies, applications, and services into the built environment.

The MIT Open Source Building Alliance Prospectus (pdf)
Open Source Building: Reinventing Places of Living (pdf)

PlaceLab
An apartment-scale shared research facility where new technologies and design concepts can be tested and evaluated in the context of everyday living.

PlaceLab Overview (pdf)

PlaceLab: Boston Globe (pdf, article)