The updated floor signage installed outside of the elevators serves two functions, informing visitors about what research groups reside on each floor of the Lab, and providing a visual interest reflecting the Lab’s unique, unorthodox, and playful character. Some floors are more straightforward, and some more idiosyncratic; floors four and five reference MIT historical designs. 

One

Floor one is the most straightforward, welcoming visitors, and reflects the original designs created by Pentagram.

Two

On floor two, the numeral “2” appears fractured into cubes, suggesting movement and synthesis, and nodding to the Lab's grid-centered visual identity. It may be viewed as either scatter or convergence: a large idea being broken down into smaller details for close inspection, or its inverse, many disparate parts coming together to form a whole. This mirrors the fusing of different ideas and areas of research that makes the Lab so special. 

Three

Floor three playfully shows “2” sinking into the floor, and “4” rising into the ceiling. 

Four

The fourth floor design is a visual riff on a historically significant piece of graphic design by Dietmar Winkler for the MIT Black Student Union. 

Five

The fifth floor was likewise inspired by another poster by MIT designer Jacqueline Casey, for an art show at the Hayden Art Gallery. This felt both visually interesting due to the inventive use of negative space, and historically connected to the Lab. The Hayden Gallery opened in 1950, and was the first contemporary visual arts center on MIT’s campus. In 1985, the gallery was formally renamed and established as the List Visual Arts Center, sharing a home in the Wiesner Building (E15) with the MIT Media Lab.

Six

The design on the sixth floor plays with legibility and scale, showing a gigantic “6” sinking below and rising above the floor. 

The shared visual language of these six different typographic treatments enables each to differ from one another, nodding to the Lab’s playful character, while still clearly belonging to one coherent design system.