More lessons for professional practice classes

Other reports on the Gehry/MIT lawsuit reach beyond the building and into the landscape. The contractor is claiming that they tried not to build the amphitheater (pictured above) this way:

An executive at Skanska's Boston office yesterday blamed Gehry for problems with the project and said Gehry ignored warnings from Skanska and a consulting company prior to construction that there were flaws in his design of the amphitheater.

"This is not a construction issue, never has been," said Paul Hewins, executive vice president and area general manager of Skanska USA. He said Gehry rejected Skanska's formal request to create a design that included soft joints and a drainage system in the amphitheater, and "we were told to proceed with the original design."

After the amphitheater began cracking and flooding, Skanska spent "a few hundred thousand dollars" trying to resolve the problems, but, he said, "it was difficult to make the original design work."

I am sure that all parties will produce reams and reams of data before this is over. This could turn into a lesson for Pro Practice classes for decades to come; we just have to learn what that lesson is first.