Architect for Lou Ruvo center is focus of MIT lawsuit
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is suing renowned architect Frank Gehry, alleging serious design flaws in the Stata Center, a building celebrated for its unconventional walls and radical angles.
The Boston school asserts that the center, completed in spring 2004, has persistent leaks, drainage problems and mold growing on its brick exterior. Accumulations of snow and ice have fallen dangerously from window boxes and other areas of the building's roofs, blocking emergency exits and causing damage.
A similarly unconventional Gehry design is being used for the Lou Ruvo Brain Institute under construction in downtown Las Vegas.
The lawsuit states that MIT paid Los Angeles-based Gehry Partners $15 million to design the Stata Center, which cost $300 million to build. It houses labs, offices, classrooms and meeting rooms.
"Gehry breached its duties by providing deficient design services and drawings," according to the lawsuit, which also names New Jersey-based Beacon Skanska Construction Co., now known as Skanska USA Building Inc.
The lawsuit, which was filed Oct. 31, seeks unspecified damages.
Gehry Partners did not respond to calls seeking comment. A spokesman for MIT declined to comment because of the pending lawsuit.
An executive at Skanska's Boston office said Gehry ignored warnings from Skanska and a consulting company before construction that there were flaws in the design.
Gehry's work includes the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.
Construction of the Lou Ruvo Brain Institute began in February and is expected to last 20 months to two years.
The design features waves of metal panels arranged to give the 67,000-square-foot building a melted, dreamlike appearance. It is being built by Baltimore-based Whiting-Turner Contracting Co.
A message left for the Keep Memory Alive foundation, which is paying for the building, was not immediately returned.
Review-Journal writer Henry Brean contributed to this report.
