MIT MAD
The MIT Morningside Academy for Design (MIT MAD) is an interdisciplinary hub that celebrates the transformative power of design at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and beyond. MAD exists to foster innovation, empower individuals, and reshape the way we learn.
MAD weaves in science, engineering, architecture, planning, humanities, and business to foster an environment where design acts a catalyst for positive change.
MAD Transforms Learning
We believe design initiatives can create transformative experiences for learners at MIT and beyond. Breaking away from traditional education, we foster creativity, critical thinking, making, and collaboration, exploring a range of dynamic approaches to prepare students for complex, real-world challenges.
Read MIT's Design White Paper
MAD Catalyzes Innovation
Innovation thrives at the intersection of design and diverse fields. MAD interweaves design with other disciplines — engineering, biology, urban studies, arts, health, governance, architecture… — to drive breakthrough solutions, unlock novel perspectives, and generate meaningful impact through design projects.
MAD Empowers Society
MAD inspires individuals to embrace making and design as catalysts for positive change. Our open and vibrant design community collaborate on local and global challenges through projects, fellowships, public initiatives, and participate in our design events. By fostering a sense of agency, we ignite the belief that every act can create a meaningful impact.
Support MIT MAD
Leadership
MIT MAD is housed in the School of Architecture and Planning. It connects students, faculty, and researchers throughout MIT’s five schools and the Schwarzman College of Computing.
John Ochsendorf, MIT MAD's founding director.
Class of 1942 professor; professor of architecture; professor of civil and environmental engineering; macvicar faculty fellow.
Maria Yang, MIT MAD's associate director.
MIT School of Engineering's associate dean; Gail E. Kendall professor of mechanical engineering.
Meet the team
Met Warehouse
MIT is renovating the Metropolitan Warehouse to create a vibrant interdisciplinary hub for design and education and to house the School of Architecture and Planning, a new makerspace, and MIT MAD.
This versatile space will hold research labs, design studios, lecture halls, collaborative classrooms, makerspaces, exhibition areas, and spaces to engage with the community and industry.
To understand how design can solve critical problems, we needed a place where we can incubate innovations for the built environment. The Metropolitan Storage Warehouse is on track to become a hub for design at MIT and in the world.
— Hashim Sarkis, dean of the School of Architecture and Planning
Support the Met Warehouse Renovation
Your philanthropic support will help us achieve the promise of this historic renovation project for the MIT community.
Gifts of all levels are deeply appreciated with naming opportunities starting at $100,000.
Make a donation
For more information on the Met Warehouse, you may contact:
Nick Marmor
Director of External Relations and Strategic Initiatives
MIT School of Architecture + Planning
77 Massachusetts Avenue, 7-231
Cambridge, MA 02139
O: 617.253.4108 | C: 516.987.6561
The Morningside Academy for Design was founded in March 2022 with a $100 million gift from the Morningside Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the T.H. Chan family.
A Home for Design
MAD is home to a growing set of initiatives that support design learning and practice at MIT. These include MAD Making, which provides students with access to tools, spaces, and training across campus makerspaces, and MITdesignX, which helps students and researchers turn design ideas into real-world ventures. Both programs reflect MAD’s commitment to hands-on exploration, interdisciplinary collaboration, and shaping design’s role in research, learning, and impact.