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Eastman and McDermott Courts

In the 1930s at MIT, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the now-legendary architect I.M. Pei’s dorm room overlooked a large parking lot. He returned in the 1960s and completely redesigned the space and several iconic buildings, creating the remarkable open space on the MIT campus that remains almost entirely intact today. CivicBrand along with our partners Mikyoung Kim Design are tasked with engaging students and staff to develop a vision for the next 60 years that meets the needs of twenty-first-century open space users while respecting the twentieth-century modernist design heritage.

Experiential

To help spark imagination, we first created a distinct project brand that integrates into the overall MIT brand but allows our project to stand out among all the other campus-wide initiatives. We designed and fabricated experiential engagement signs (which we thoroughly enjoyed watching people walk through and engage with!) and placed them around campus, along with printing custom die-cut flyers. The window cut-out attracts passersby and invites them to envision the future of the space.

Walkshops

We conducted multiple ‘walkshops,’ which are walking focus groups where we shared historical architectural facts about the site while gathering feedback from students on their ideas for evolving the space. Conducting a focus group and placemaking audit of the space while physically standing within it offers a whole new perspective to consider how the built environment feels at different points within the space.

Pop-Ups

We designed and fabricated immersive environmental graphics and pop-up installations that turned the spaces themselves into engagement tools. Strategically placed across campus, the installations created highly visible moments of curiosity and participation, inviting students and staff to stop, interact, and imagine what Eastman and McDermott Courts could become.

Digital Engagement

At CivicBrand, we believe that equitable engagement involves a well-rounded approach that offers different tools and channels for individuals to engage on their own terms and good balance of in-person and digital. Therefore, we developed a project website with project information, an online survey, and an interactive mapping exercise so that individuals can provide feedback from their own devices, on their own time. And because digital accessibility is a priority of both CivicBrand and MIT the website is fully accessible and ADA, Section 508, and WCAG 2.1 compliant.

Ready to Engage and Activate Your Public Spaces?
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Background
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Experiential
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Walkshops
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Pop-Ups
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Digital

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