What do you seek?

Building 21 is an interdisciplinary idea lab supporting McGill students of all levels and disciplines in pursuit of bold and original research.

McGill University's Interdisciplinary Idea Lab

Who we are

Supporting unconventional research of all disciplines

Our scholars

Pursue beautiful and rigorous scholarship with us

How to get involved

180+

Scholars pursuing interdisciplinary projects

$600, 000+

Funnelled to fellowships and programs

40+

Different disciplines hosted at B21

900+

Workshops, community gatherings & speaker events

What we do

Leading scholars across disciplines to bring unconventional ideas to life.
Building 21's BLUE Program
The Beautiful, Limitless, Unconstrained Exploration™ (BLUE) approach, created at Building 21 over eight years, drives our cohort-based residencies. BLUE brings together curious individuals, offering structure, mentorship, and valuable connections.
Interdisciplinary at the core
Building 21 focuses on the process of exploration, not just results. We seek the accelerator effect of merging diverse disciplines — what new paths can we discover when philosophy tackles physics, when healthcare and music intersect, or when chemistry challenges our understanding of free will?
No credits, no grades
Our programs are driven by the pursuit of discovery. With no credits or grades, we ask bold, original questions. We seek uncharted territories of ideas, concepts, and designs. We train our scholars to think beyond  the acknowledged, the recognized and the comfortable.
Our alumni are pushing the boundaries of knowledge and creativity at these institutions

What's On

Come experience Building 21 yourself at 651 Sherbrooke Street West, Montréal.
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A event at Building 21
Visit us

Scholars

We’ve supported hundreds of McGill undergraduate, Master's, and PhD students across all disciplines in their exploration.
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Innovation in paradigms
Mathilde Papillon first bridged physics and dance as an undergraduate at B21. This led to Mathilde pioneering a new subfield of Topological Deep Learning as a PhD candidate at the Geometric Intelligence Lab @ UCSB.
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Enabling new paths
Rasha Lama piloted a series of spatial sustainability projects at B21, completely unrelated to her business degree. This contributed to Rasha receiving a graduate scholarship in Land Architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD).
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From idea to impact
Kat Kavanagh developed the ideas for a citizen science non-profit at B21 that now monitors over 5,000 waterbodies across Canada and has trained over 25,000 Canadians on how to conduct water quality tests.
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"Building 21: McGill's Interdisciplinary Lab", Finalist at the QS Reimagine Education Awards 2024, London, UK.

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"B21 is rigorous and free, radical and welcoming, at once wildly exploratory and close to home."
Isabella Chiaravallotti
PhD Plant Science, McGill University
Drawing a poster on a the floor with dogs!

Join us

We’re always looking for brilliant scholars and organizations to advance our mission.

Partnerships with Building 21

Be a partner

Join our interdiscipliary community

Be a scholar

Support our mission

Be a donor
A event at Building 21