Building 20: The ugliest possible building ever!

During the summer of 1943, and while the war was playing large across the world, a rather quik decision was made at MIT to erect a temporary structure that could be brought down in 6 months. The wires were loosely pinned to the walls and drawn from one room to another. The walls could be easily broken down, and the roof could be ripped apart at ease and on need basis. The intent of setting up the building was simple - House the best of radar Engineers under one roof, and create a revolutionary advantage. The rest is history, and the saying goes - The bomb might have ended the war, but the radar won it.

The building eventually never went down. It went on to house some of the most notable inventions spanning work in physics to atomic clocks, from the first video game to early papers on cognitive science, from acoustic engineers to the invention of email. The story of creativity and innovation at Building 20 is never ending - All from a building that was desgined in half a day, built in a few weeks, and was not supposed to last for over 6 months.

So, what made this building the nest of creativity - A bunch of individuals who owned their space, and can do anything without the consultation of the building manager or "management"... A sense of randomness, where individuals from diverse fields walked the ridiculously long corridors and exchange view points... Clutter to the extent where nobody cared where they worked, what mattered was what they worked on. Steve jobs while designing his Pixar office once said - I need a workplace that has the propensity to throw people together at random. And thus, he built only one set of restrooms in his office building and near the lobby, which meant everybody had to take long walks, cross various departments and exchange greetings at random and by design.

These stories and many more, have one clear voice shouting back at us - The idea of a perfect workplace, does not exist. The idea of uniformity by offering cubicles, does not exist. Policies that limit individuals from bringing their whole self to work, have never really worked.

Building 20 was eventually brought down in 1998, and was brought down with a lot of grief from the scientific and innovators community. It still stands as a picture of unnerving resolve to create something big, something that the world has not seen as yet. And while it was replaced by a building of modern astute, it will always be remembered as the craddle of creativity.

As we slowly and steadily head back to our offices, the above story is a true reminder that it's the work that matters, no longer the workplace. It never really has mattered anyway !

#BeyondTomorrow #workplace #FutureOfWork