黑洞社区

Architect Frank Gehry and Skanska USA 黑洞社区 are being sued by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) over failures in the institute鈥檚 拢143m ($300m) Stata Center.

M.I.T. said leaks, cracks and drainage problems in the building have required costly repairs.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and was filed in Suffolk County Superior Court in Boston last week.

It accuses Gehry鈥檚 Los Angeles based firm, Gehry Partners, of negligence and breach of contract in the design of the centre, which houses laboratories, classrooms, offices and meeting rooms.

The suit says there has been 鈥渃onsiderable masonry cracking鈥� in the centre鈥檚 350-seat outdoor amphitheatre and that M.I.T. had hired a designer and contractor to repair it at a cost of more than 拢700,000 ($1.5m).

Court papers also said the institute found other problems, such as 鈥渟liding ice and snow from the building鈥檚 window boxes and other projecting roof areas, blocking emergency exits and damaging other building elements.鈥�

Gehry, whose firm was paid 拢7m ($15m) for the project, told The Boston Globe construction problems were inevitable and M.I.T. wanted his insurance. He also said cost-cutting was to blame.

A spokeswoman for Skanska USA 黑洞社区 said it looked forward to a 鈥渟peedy resolution鈥� of the matter.

Paul Hewins, executive vice president and general manager, told The Globe it was not a 鈥渃onstruction issue鈥�, and that Gehry had rejected Skanska鈥檚 formal request to revise the design for the amphitheatre.

The design of the centre features angular sections that appear to be falling on top of one another and opened in spring 2004.

In December 2004 he responded to problems with the 拢130m ($274m) Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles after a report found the building鈥檚 skin produced excessive glare.