MIT Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science

MIT's Building 20: The Magical Incubator 1943 - 1998

Building 20 was constructed during the Second World War, and initially served as the home of the Radiation Laboratory. After 55 years of service, it will be torn down in 1998 to make way for the new Stata Center, a complex of buildings to house MIT activities in computer, information, and intelligence systems.

This building cast a spell over those who worked in it. Many former occupants have noted the magical power of the building to bring out the best from those in it, and the very real feeling that this was a special, even a unique, place. At the same time it served as a breeding ground, or incubator, of many research areas, of new organizations, and most importantly of new ideas in the minds of its students. Many MIT laboratories and centers had their origins in Building 20, or else were formed by people who had spent years there.

Former denizens of Building 20 were encouraged to share with others their feelings about the building, or an anecdote, or a story about some of its colorful characters, or in general how their experiences there have helped shape their later years.

You can read the stories that they have contributed.

The reminiscences submitted are posting on this Web site, and were distributed to those who come to a commemoration to honor the building, at MIT, March 26 - 27, 1998.

About this commemoration:
Invitation. | Registration form. | List of those already registered. | Program.

Reminiscence Submission Form

It is too late to submit new reminiscences, so the form which previously was here, and which you may be seeking, is gone.