The Media Arts, Data, and Design Center at the University of Chicago is a 20,000-square-foot collaborative space for inquiry and experimentation at this transdisciplinary crossroads. A partnership between UChicago Arts, the Physical Sciences Division, the UChicago Library, and the Division of the Humanities, the center supports work and research by faculty, students, staff, and community partners with cutting-edge technology.

The MADD center is a home for a number of University initiatives and activities, including:

The Hack Arts Lab (HAL), an open-access digital fabrication, prototyping, and visualization facility operated by UChicagoArts.

The Weston Game Lab, building on the work of the Game Changer Chicago Design Lab, which offers expanded and centralized resources for the study, play, and development of analog, electronic, virtual and online games. The Library’s electronic games collection will also be relocated to Crerar.

An expanded Computer Science Instructional Labs (CSIL), a Physical Sciences Division facility providing hardware and software for training and education.

The UChicago Library’s Kathleen A. Zar Room houses the Research Computing Center Visualization Lab, boasting new data visualization technology, instruction sessions, symposiums and workshops focused on research, teaching, and learning.

Also in the Kathleen A. Zar Room, the Library’s GIS Hub enables geospatial research and learning activities by providing access to geographical information systems (GIS) software and hardware and an expert GIS and maps librarian who offers consultations and training.

Expanded space and other resources for the teaching of Media Arts And Design and Media Aesthetics in the College; for electronic music in collaboration with the Department of Music; and for Virtual Reality and other courses in Cinema and Media Studies and the Department of Visual Arts. 

The redesigned first floor of the Crerar Library also contains open work and collaboration areas; an equipment help and circulation desk; exhibition and critique space for faculty and student work; and John Crerar Library Research and Teaching Services, where science librarians consult with faculty and students. The center joins the new Department of Computer Science offices and laboratories on the renovated second and third floor of the building as well as the Library’s collections and relocated Access and Circulation Desk and study spaces, now on the renovated lower level.

MADD Center Resources

Computer Science Instructional Labs (CSIL)
GIS Hub
Hack Arts Lab (HAL)
Research Computing Center Data Visualization Lab (RCC)
Weston Game Lab

MADD Center Partners
Humanities Division
Computer Science
University of Chicago Libraries
UChicago Arts