Kent Larson is an architect and a professor who leads the City Science group at the MIT Media Lab. He grew up in Utah and spent over a decade as an architect in New York City. Kent is also the author of the fascinating book Unbuilt Masterworks. In it, he brought to life the unrealized buildings of the legendary architect Louis Kahn using computer-generated images—this was 25 years before generative AI! Back then, architects usually built models by hand, so Kent's work was truly revolutionary.
At MIT, Kent’s vision extends beyond just buildings; he's on a mission to design the cities of tomorrow! He heads a dynamic team that includes architects, engineers, computer scientists, and other innovative minds. Together, they dream up new ways to make our cities more enjoyable, sustainable, and fair for everyone.
His group works on cool projects like self-driving bicycles and tricycles, robotic homes, and LEGO-based city models to teach us how to better plan cities. He has also created a network of Labs in different countries like Mexico, Chile, Germany, Taiwan, and Spain, where people from around the world work together to make cities better for everyone.
Kent enjoys playing the guitar, riding his e-bike to work, and he has a big white dog named Ana who loves chasing squirrels! Plus, he grows his own lettuce and tomatoes right at home. How cool is that?