The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), based in Cambridge, MA, USA, is one of the top universities in America, if not the world. For all it has given the world academically, it also commissioned what I regard as one of the best student accommodation in the world. While the students here in the UK usually get small, aging rooms, or at best, historical accommodations such as the Christ Church of Oxford University, the Americans have this aesthetically original, structurally advanced Simmons Hall. Designed by an American architect Steven Holl in collaboration with Perry Dean Rogers Architects in 2002, the ten-storey,350-bed residence with 5000+ windows has won numerous awards, most notably, it was the winner of the American Institute of Architects Honour Award for Architecture in 2003.

  As Sir Paul Smith says, ‘you can find inspiration from anything', according to the architect himself, the façade of this building was partly inspired one morning by his bathing sponge, resulting in the building's nickname ‘the sponge'. He compared a sponge's ability to soak up vast amount of liquid without changing its appearance to how cast glass 'seems to trap light within a space with its material.

  Structurally, engineers bought the heavy structure to the exterior by building rigid frames from pre-cast concrete and created the ‘Prefcon' system. It is fundamentally ‘a bearing wall that allows regular patterns of windows on a small scale and large openings/cantilevers on a larger scale', which is perfect for this particular project given it has over 5000 windows in total.

  The sponge concept was taken on further through the arrangement of its interior space. Each floor is linked vertically at various areas to create a more fluid movement of human traffic in relation to how the liquid move in a sponge. Chance meeting and unexpected human interactions have been increased under such urban settings, almost like meeting someone new on the street every day. In terms of facilities, it has what most, if not all, students in the UK would love to have within their hall of residence. Apart from the usual computer room, laundry area, study and group lounges, it also houses a 150-seat theatre, a night café and a street-front restaurantwith outdoor tables and special canopy.