Every college has an iconic building or structure that symbolizes the college. My alma mater, Purdue, has the engineering fountain or the bell tower which carry stories, memories, and even fables to last a lifetime. Some say the fountain cools the school's nuclear reactor or particle accelerator found below the engineering mall or that if a student walks under the bell tower he/she will not graduate in 4 years. I'll never forget the fountain runs through the engineering fountain or sitting near the bell tower napping before my next class.
At MIT, the iconic building is Building 10. Yes, that's it... building number 10. No specific name, only that it is part of the Maclaurin buildings. Although the building name may not resonate with those less familiar with the campus, the building image typically does.
Like anyone with a sense of curiosity, I wanted to know what was in the dome! The first few weeks of school, I headed over there to find out. I was surprised to discover that a library resides in the dome! The dome itself is a large reading room. However, at the time it was under construction for repairs. Shortly after my visit, the outside of the dome has been covered by scaffolding and looks like a giant cylinder instead of a dome.
I recently ventured back to the dome, despite it's cylindrical construction appearance, to see if the interior work was done. Sure enough it was, and here is the reading room that I found.
Looking up:
Panning down just a little:
Looking straight ahead:
For everyone who has wondered what was inside the Building 10 dome, you can now sleep better knowing that it is a beautiful, large reading room. My only thought it that the room is awfully big for how few people it can truly accommodate at any one time. I guess that's the price of beauty. We'll see how crowded it gets when classes start on wednesday.
