The Campus & Cambridge

In 1916, MIT packed up the laboratories and classrooms scattered across Boston’s Back Bay and crossed the Charles River to its newly constructed campus in Cambridge. The vision was to create a set of contiguous spaces that would bring scientists and engineers together under one roof. And it was a big roof—the largest single building in the United States at the time. The vast concrete and limestone complex of the Cambridge campus went on to serve as a dynamic launching pad for one hundred years of MIT invention.

_{Photo: AboveSummit with Christopher Harting}

MIT Campus on the riverside; photograph by AboveSummit with Christopher Harting

An Evolving Frontier

In the century that followed the move to Cambridge, MIT pioneers in science and engineering, in the humanities and social sciences, in music and the visual arts changed the way the world works. Find out how the campus evolved to meet the demands of those inventors and the global challenges they faced. More

_{Photos courtesy of the MIT Museum and Wilson Architects}

Historic MIT Campus Map; MIT Institute Archives and Special Collections

Killian Court in 1916; photo courtesy of MIT Museum

MIT Nano Building; courtesy of Wilson Architects

Voices of Cambridge

Hear the first-person narratives of MIT’s partners in the City of Cambridge. These stories form a kaleidoscope of business, collaboration, and friendship. More

_{Photos: Daderot (via), Tim Pierce (via), Eric Kilby (via)}

Cambridge City Hall, By Daderot (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Kendall Square; By Tim Pierce (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Timeline

Explore a century of history and highlights on the MITstory timeline. More

_{Photos courtesy of MIT Museum; Andy Ryan}

Building 13 rendering; courtesy of MIT Museum

MIT Infinite History

It takes a revolutionary to drive meaningful change in the world. To improve systems and quality of life. To enlighten attitudes and advance knowledge. MIT’s Cambridge campus has served as a think-and-do tank for these change-makers—and you can meet many of them here. More