MIT Sues Architect Frank Gehry for Design Flaws in Stata Center

Renown architect Frank Gehry is accustomed to being in the spotlight, but not like this: the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has filed a negligence suit against Gehry, claiming his design of the Stata Center in Cambridge caused sprung leaks, cracked stones and mold. Digital Journal — The suit says MIT paid Gehry Partners $15 million to design the celebrated Stata Center, but sooner after its completion in 2004, the building didn’t live up to expectations: the outdoor amphitheatre began to crack because of drainage problems, mold grew on the building’s exterior, and persistent leaks dotted the Center. The Boston Globe reports on the cost of fixing these mistakes: "The suit says it cost MIT more than $1.5 million to hire another company to rebuild the amphitheater, with new bricks, seats, and a new drainage system." The suit alleges Gehry provided deficient design services and drawings, but it also named construction company Skanksa USA as another offender. An executive at Skansa shifted the blame to Gehry, telling the Globe: "This is not a construction issue, never has been… Gehry rejected [our] formal request to create a design that included soft joints and a drainage system in the amphitheater, and we were told to proceed with the original design." According to architecture experts, design flaws in a Gehry building shouldn’t come as a surprise. Architect Robert Campbell believes unconventional buildings like the Stata, which has weirdly angled roofs and windows, come packaged with a host of problems. He told the Globe: "It looks like something out of a Disney cartoon. It's really quite pleasurable and people like it, but it does involve some risks in that it's impossible to keep it from leaking. You know if you hire Frank Gehry there are going to be new kinds of problems. [But clients accept the risks because] they'll get a building like no other building." Judging by Gehry's track record, his buildings are indeed well-received. He worked on the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles; and the recently completed IAC/InterActive Corp headquarters in New York. He is also lead architect on an expansion at Toronto's Art Gallery of Ontario.