On Friday, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology officially threw open the doors to its new MIT Media Lab Complex, which is the school's most popular interdisciplinary program.

Designed by architect Fumihiko Maki and his Maki and Associates establishment, the construction of the new building had commenced in 2007. But the quest for its expansion and reconstruction was started by the Media Lab about 12 years back, as has been shared by Adele Naude Santos, Dean of the MIT School of Architecture and Planning.

While Fumihiko Maki, a winner of the Pritzker Prize for Architecture, had marked the inauguration event by his presence, he did not speak publicly. Instead, he let Dean Santos, Frank Moss, the MIT Media Lab Director, and his architectural associates share and explain the vision he, MIT, and his team had in mind while designing the building.

"They picked Mr. Maki because their thinking was that, being from Tokyo, he could design a very interesting building on a very tight site", said Mr. Santos.

Mr. Moss added, "The model is literally open collaboration between industry and academia. Research here at the Media Lab is highly creative but finds its way into the world via industry".