Part of the architecture school at MIT, the Real Estate Innovation lab will apply new data-driven rigor to buildings and technological innovation. In a smart city age, it’s become that much easier to apply rigorous analysis to our built environment, and by studying the economic impact of proposed innovations, MIT academics hope to speed up the transition from rendering to reality. Working with real estate industry partners, such as JLL, as well as the school’s own design-focused architecture accelerator, DesignX, this new initiative wants to get innovative, economically feasible projects under construction as soon as possible, and demonstrate the value of 3-D printing, modular construction, and new design innovations.