Teenage Design Team Behind Kendall Square Installation

We were so excited to see this photo in the Boston Globe several weeks ago. The article recognized Kendall Square’s long history of innovation. If you zoom in really close - you might see a few people that you recognize. The picture was taken on June 11th, 2019 as iFp Teens were celebrated for completing the installation of the Looking Glass.

Early in 2017, iFp responded to a grant from the Cambridge Redevelopment Authority for creative interventions that improve Cambridge’s built environment. Over serval months we guided our students through the design process. The Looking Glass is the outcome. Our students will tell you that was the easy part. It would be 18 more months before breaking ground.

The Looking Glass invites visitors to look backward and forward in time. Standing on one side, you can catch a glimpse of Boston and the Longfellow Bridge, provoking memories of Boston in 1793 before the bridge was installed. On the other side, the sculpture frames a view of Cambridge and the future being created by some of the world’s most innovative companies. We love that story. However, we love the back story more so.

Unfortunately, many young people in Cambridge feel disconnected from the innovation community in Kendall. Students have shared with us that they feel invisible walking through Kendall. We explored two Cambridge parks for the installation and knew that Galaxy Park, in the heart of Kendall, would be its home. It was an opportunity to put a stake in the ground for our young people - a 5-foot aluminum stake nonetheless.

The Looking Glass is becoming an iconic symbol in Kendall. Every time we share a picture with our students, they are overjoyed. Even the ones who were not on the original design team smile with glee. They are a part of this legacy as well. Before COVID, we would sometimes hang out there and their smiles were even wider. If there is one place in Kendall that now feels like home - Galaxy Park is it.

Our biggest regret is that the picture below was not memorialized in the installation. Everyone who walks past the Looking Glass should know that it was designed by Cambridge’s next generation of innovators!

Looking Glass Design Team July 2017

Learn more about iFp Studios our Teen-Powered Design & Innovation Studio where teens in collaboration with mentors create positive impact through design, technology and storytelling on student-initiated and client-sponsored projects.