The Loss of MIT's Lo-Slung Building

When the war ended, MIT needed space. Instead of immediately demolishing Building 20 as they had promised local officials in exchange for lax permitting, they continued using it as an overflow space. Bell Labs director Mervin Kelly guided the construction of a new home that would purposefully encourage interaction between its diverse mix of scientists and engineers. This strategy mixed with aggressive recruitment of some of the world's best minds yielded some of the most concentrated innovation in the history of modern civilization.