Housing

Next House was designed by world-famous Spanish architect Josep Lluis Sert, and was completed in 1982. The house's architectural themes are sun and community, conveyed by the dorm's colorful living spaces, solar rooms with floor-to-ceiling windows, a bright dining hall, and a beautiful courtyard over which many of the rooms look. Next House offers a balance of private and community spaces in its eight wings, each of which has its own atmosphere and culture.

Next house has four floors of housing to house almost 350 students, and is co-ed. Typically, students room with other students of the same gender. However, gender-inclusive housing (GIH) is a policy that provides MIT students with the option to live in residences with whomever they choose, regardless of biological sex, gender, or gender identity. Any resident is welcome to participate in GIH. For more information about GIH, please visit the Housing website. If you do not opt in to GIH, you are guaranteed to live with someone of the same gender.

We also have friendly janitors who clean each floor regularly. Each floor is divided into two wings - one in the east, and the other in the west. If you were a bird with x-ray vision looking down at Next, you'd be able to see this division:

Each wing has a large lounge with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Charles River and Boston, a TV connected to MIT cable, large whiteboards, and counter space for cooking. In addition to the large lounge, each wing has smaller lounges, including bike lounges for bike storage, and mini-lounges for hanging out and studying.

Bathrooms in Next House are also co-ed, although the bathrooms are private with separate locking doors for each shower and toilet. Each bathroom has two shower rooms, two toilet rooms, a large counter area with two sinks, and cubby holes for residents to store their bathroom items (i.e., shower caddy, toothbrush, contact lens, etc.). Generally about seven to ten people share a bathroom, and since people shower at all hours of the day (literally!) there's usually no trouble finding an open bathroom.

Rooms @ Next

Next House has singles, doubles and triples - all of which are large compared to some other dorms on campus. On average, singles are about 125 square feet, and doubles are about twice that size. The largest rooms in Next House are the solar singles and doubles, named for their floor-to-ceiling windows. Most freshmen will live in doubles and triples, although there are usually a few singles open in the Fall.

Typical Double:

Typical Single:

Each resident will be provided with a bed, desk, bookcase, dresser, trash can, Ethernet connection, cable connection, and closet space in their room. While rooms vary in shape in size, all of the rooms in Next House are large compared to other undergraduate dorms. Rooms on the river-side of the dorm will have gorgeous views of the Charles River and Boston. Rooms on the opposite side have a great view of the athletic fields and Simmons Hall.

Layout & Floorplans

The top four floors of Next House are where people live. The first floor has the dining hall, our Tastefully Furnished Lounge (TFL) - a large lounge used for dorm-wide study breaks and Next Act, an Athena cluster, and weight and exercise rooms. The basement has a spacious lounge area with pool and ping-pong tables, our large country kitchen for cooking, a laundry room, and student storage space. For more information on these facilities, please see the facilities page.

Here are the floor plans for each floor of Next:

Basement | First floor | 2nd Floor | 3rd Floor | 4th Floor | 5th Floor

Housing Lottery

Rooms are chosen via the aptly-named housing lottery. Selection of a room is based on a random lottery number. The upperclassmen housing lottery is held in the Spring. Each class has a separate lottery, starting with the incoming senior class. The freshmen housing lottery is held during orientation in the Fall.

If you are considering a double or triple for your freshmen year, you will need to find a prospective roommate or roommates during your week of orientation before you move into your permanent rooming assignment.