Projects

Flores & Prats were finalists alongside the architectural studios of Barkow Leibinger, Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Snøhetta, from an initial long list of 15 for this highly transformative project at the MIT campus.

MIT introduced the project asking the participants how a 21^st century school of architecture can engage the world. Flores & Prats responded by focusing the answer on the building itself. The outcome would set a radical standard of resourcefulness, and a layering of history with technological innovation of the future.
Rather than providing a concept proposal, the Flores & Prats bid was based on a methodology of process. The starting point was seeing the building, client and architect as three separate voices that learn from each other through dialogue.
Key themes of the Flores & Prats approach were:

Grafting Architecture
The qualities of the existing building are seen as a means to inspire a more symbiotic relationship with MIT and its environment.

Building Communities
By distinguishing the many different communities at play in the project, the design would focus on where exchange between users and visitors could be facilitated by a relational aesthetic.

Engagement
The proposal for the design and construction process maximized the exploration and use of the existing building with students, stakeholders and the public. A temporary working studio of Flores & Prats was proposed in the disused building while events, workshops, 1:1 scale lighting experiments and fabrication prototypes occupy other spaces.