Ray and Maria Stata Center - Lawsuit

Lawsuit

On October 31, 2007, MIT sued architect Frank Gehry and the construction companies, Skanska USA Building Inc. and NER Construction Management, for "providing deficient design services and drawings" which caused leaks to spring, masonry to crack, mold to grow, drainage to back up, and falling ice and debris to block emergency exits. A Skanska spokesperson said that prior to construction Gehry ignored warnings from Skanska and a consulting company regarding flaws in his design of the amphitheater, and rejected a formal request from Skanska to modify the design.

In an interview, Mr. Gehry, whose firm was paid $15 million for the project, said construction problems were inevitable in the design of complex buildings. "These things are complicated," he said, "and they involved a lot of people, and you never quite know where they went wrong. A building goes together with seven billion pieces of connective tissue. The chances of it getting done ever without something colliding or some misstep are small." "I think the issues are fairly minor," he added. "M.I.T. is after our insurance." Mr. Gehry said value engineering—the process by which elements of a project are eliminated to cut costs—was largely responsible for the problems. "There are things that were left out of the design," he said. "The client chose not to put certain devices on the roofs, to save money." The lawsuit was reportedly settled in 2010 with most of the issues having been resolved.