This is a sponsored event by Arts at MIT.

Join us for the capstone event of the 2020 Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts at MIT honoring designer Thomas Heatherwick. This online public program will include a special address to MIT from Thomas Heatherwick filmed in his London studio, the premiere of a behind-the-scenes documentary telling the inspiring story of his design challenge for MIT students, and a Q&A between Heatherwick and Dean Hashim Sarkis, curator of the 2021 Venice Biennale of Architecture.

We will present three premiere screenings for three time zones:

Wednesday, December 9 at 5pm Eastern Time (Boston)
Thursday, December 10 at 5pm China Standard Time (Shanghai) / Singapore Time
Thursday, December 10 at 5pm Greenwich Mean Time (London)

The Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts at MIT plays a unique role at the Institute by bringing the MIT community together to support MIT’s principal arts organizations: the Department of Architecture; the Program in Art, Culture and Technology (ACT); the Center for Art, Science & Technology (CAST); the List Visual Arts Center; the MIT Museum; and Music and Theater Arts (MTA).

About Thomas Heatherwick

Thomas Heatherwick, the 2020 Recipient of the Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts at MIT, is a British designer whose prolific and varied work over two decades is characterized by its ingenuity, inventiveness, and originality. Defying the conventional classifications of design disciplines, he founded Heatherwick Studio in 1994 to bring the practices of design, architecture, and urban planning together in a single workspace.

London’s Coal Drops Yard, Singapore’s Learning Hub, Cape Town’s Zeitz MOCAA, Shanghai’s 1000 Trees, Tokyo’s Toranomon-Azabudai, and New York’s Vessel are among the many spaces created by Heatherwick Studio.

Thomas leads the design of all Heatherwick Studio projects, working in collaboration with a team of 200 highly-skilled architects, designers, and makers. Thomas’ unusual approach applies artistic thinking to the needs of each project, resulting in some of the most acclaimed designs of our time. Based in London, Heatherwick Studio is currently working in four continents. Heatherwick has been appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, a Royal Academician, and in 2004 became the youngest Royal Designer for Industry.