Harvard - Allston Campus

Globe columnist dishes to Harvard, NIMBYs on architecture:

Think outside the yard
By Yvonne Abraham, Globe Columnist | August 15, 2007

CAMBRIDGE -- Stroll west on Vassar Street and look at all of the architecturally adventurous gifts MIT has given us.

The Stata Center, the topsy-turvy Frank Gehry building, has received plenty of attention. But the limestone and glass McGovern Institute for Brain Research, as serene and minimalist as the Stata is crazy and jumbled, is no less edgy.

The new Zesiger Sports and Fitness Center blends beautifully with the still-amazing, Eero Saarinen-designed MIT Chapel, where reflections from its moat have dappled the undulating brick walls since 1955. And the gorgeous, wave-like Alvar Aalto Baker House is still incredibly striking after more than a half-century.

Farther down the street you'll find Stephen Holl's magnificent new Simmons Hall, the dorm that looks like a sponge.

Great architecture, like great art or a great burger, is a subjective thing. And not everybody loves everything MIT has done with its buildings over the years.

But like it or no, they're doing what all great universities should do when they expand: draw on the greatest minds of each generation, take risks, push the public's limits.

Are you listening, Harvard?

Over the next 50 years, the university will remake a big chunk of a city that is often allergic to architectural innovation. It's a chance for the nation's oldest university to do something brave with the 200-plus acres it owns in Allston.

But they must contend with two things MIT doesn't appear to have encountered: conservative faculty members who prefer red-brick, Georgian reproduction to real innovation and active, suspicious neighbors.

Faced with those factors, Harvard has whiffed in the recent past.

The Spangler Center at Harvard Business School, completed in 2001, is a riot of retro, a slave to that thing they did so well over there at Harvard Yard -- in the 18th century.

Cambridge neighbors scuttled a proposal to build a museum of modern art on Memorial Drive that would have been designed by one of the world's greatest architects, Renzo Piano. The museum would cut them off from the Charles, they argued. Piano made modifications. No dice. Now they're getting taller graduate housing instead.

Across the river at One Western Avenue, the university's graduate housing complex of multihued brick and irregular windows was met with scathing criticism by neighbors and architects when it opened in 2003. Harvard was stung by the reception.

Paul Berkeley, president of the Allston Civic Association, said Harvard ultimately apologized for building something so many people hated. "At meetings, the [Harvard] people said they never again wanted to present a project that would be so disliked by the neighborhood," he said.

Nobody can blame the community for wanting to keep a close eye on Harvard. Using a third party to buy up acres of Allston in the 1990s, the school didn't endear itself to future neighbors.

Those neighbors can, and should, hold Harvard's feet to the fire on open space and benefits for the community. But they shouldn't be allowed to stifle innovation.

So far, Harvard has made a great start in Allston, having chosen interesting designs for the first two buildings planned for the new campus.

Berkeley says he's OK with the edgy proposals for the new science complex, by the German firm Behnisch Architects, and for the relocated art museum, designed by Daly, Genik of California.

But the Allston activist doesn't want too edgy. No Gehry, say.

"Some of those buildings over there at MIT are just plain ugly," he says. "That one that has the curved walls coming out, I don't get anything out of it, and I don't want to see them going that far."

Sure, the Gehry building is controversial. But so were other radical-for-their-time but now-beloved buildings at both Harvard and MIT.

History should ultimately decide these things. Not neighbors.
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She's becoming a real thorn in the side of the provincial elements that have held sway over this city. I like that.
 
Demolition of the industrial buildings on Western Ave. on the Science Center site in Allston is starting this week.

I would argue that the Stata Center could have been better sited to be more appreciated.

10-9680.jpg


I think a lot of the new MIT buildings by trophy architects are in danger of forming a collage of competing styles.

Unmentioned in her essay were two recent-era Harvard buildings that, IMO, don't fit well within the campus: the Science Center, supposedly -- though the architect took umbrage at the charge -- designed in the shape of a Polaroid after its major donor; and Mather House, with its penal look.
 
She is right, at least MIT is trying new things. I personally love the Stata Center but I can't stand Simmons Hall. It is a shame Havard hasn't tried anything new, though she brings up a good point with One Western (which I also hate). I wouldn't mind something more conservative if it created a better community but I don't even know if the new Allston plan will do that.
 
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I personally love the Stata Center

Van, I totally agree. This past May, we walked around the inside of the Stata Center, up into some of the rooftop areas, and as I looked around I couldn't help but think that in 50 years or so, people will come to Cambridge to see the Stata similar to those people who travel to Barcelona to visit Gaudi's buildings. Imagine Barcelona being so progressive and forward looking (a hundred years ago!) as to allow Guadi to build his Casa Batllo and Casa Mila.

But the Allston activist doesn't want too edgy. No Gehry, say.

"Some of those buildings over there at MIT are just plain ugly," he says. "That one that has the curved walls coming out, I don't get anything out of it, and I don't want to see them going that far."

I don't like, I don't want, I, I ,I....... Who the hell appointed this guy, Paul Berkeley, the king of Allston? Are they building in this guy's back yard? I'm not familiar with this area. Are there existing buildings of architectural significance that would be possibly harmed by being situated next to innovative or cutting edge architecture?
 
atlantaden said:
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


But the Allston activist doesn't want too edgy. No Gehry, say.

"Some of those buildings over there at MIT are just plain ugly," he says. "That one that has the curved walls coming out, I don't get anything out of it, and I don't want to see them going that far."

I don't like, I don't want, I, I ,I....... Who the hell appointed this guy, Paul Berkeley, the king of Allston? Are they building in this guy's back yard? I'm not familiar with this area. Are there existing buildings of architectural significance that would be possibly harmed by being situated next to innovative or cutting edge architecture?
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There is NOTHING of architectural significance in or near the land Harvard has acquired for its expansion in North allston.

The proposed museum center -- more storage facility than gallery -- to be built on the site of a Verizon garage was objected to because a.) it was not monumental enough, b.) the visitors to the gallery section would be able to peer into the back yards of several residential houses. The museum center is to be built at Barry's Corner, currently remarkable for its gas stations.

The science complex, Phase 1, was objected to because it was too high, although it wasn't clear whose views would be obstructed, and the shadows would fall to the north, not to the south. There are objections that Harvard has not put in enough street retail into the five laboratory buildings being built, and that public access is limited, i.e., you wouldn't be able to enter the space anywhere you wanted.

Barry's Corner:
PV-Barry's_Corner.jpg


Western Ave. looking toward Barry's Corner. Harvard is currently demolishing 140, 130, and 118 Western Ave. Building in the background is Harvard-owned.
PV-WesternAvenue-VW.jpg
 
There's a diner on Western Avenue that I'd just as soon keep around; otherwise, yeah, there's nothing of real value here. With the right development around it, the diner could even become a true local landmark, like the Rosebud in Somerville or the Deluxe Town Diner in Watertown.
 
To expand on atlantaden...MIT is the one institution in this city (with the possible minor exception of the ICA) that's actually advancing Boston's reputation as a "center for innovation" through the built environment. That creates buzz - and interest - worldwide. I've taken visitors to see "the Sponge" only to hear that they already know all about it. Holl, Gehry, and Diller + Scofidio have done much more for the area than the projects that generate the most buzz on this forum - the comparatively insipid, relatively conservative skyscrapers set to rise downtown.

Should the Stata Center be in a more visible (and perhaps suitable) location? Possibly. Looked at another way, though, the Stata Center has made its current location, otherwise an unremarkable strip of boxy lab buildings, into a destination.

The world already knows Boston can build Georgian quadrangles - and blase, modern, stripped down but otherwise still "safe" variations thereof. Allston - set to be a center for science and contemporary art - should be a comment on what makes Harvard, and Boston, relevant and new.

Oh, and the "Science Center was designed to look like a Polaroid" thing is a myth propagated by Harvard tourguides. Still, the design can seem whimsical, and I think that it actually works as a nice foil for the austere Yard.
 
Nobody can blame the community for wanting to keep a close eye on Harvard. Using a third party to buy up acres of Allston in the 1990s, the school didn't endear itself to future neighbors.

So...........should Harvard have announced it's plans first, then gone to the owners with hat in hand...please sir, may I buy your property now that your know how very much we want it? One of the Disney legends in Central Florida was how Walt had numerous third parties buy up thousands of acres of land before making any announcement about Disney World. It's a good business move. The Wompanoag's down in Middleboro had already secured the land before they announced. Harvard would have been schmucks if they did it any other way. Frankly, no matter what Harvard does here in Allston, no matter how they improve the neighborhood, if they provide hundreds of jobs, retail space for restaurants, shops, etc, people are gonna complain.
 
Menino is a hypocrite

atlantaden said:
Nobody can blame the community for wanting to keep a close eye on Harvard. Using a third party to buy up acres of Allston in the 1990s, the school didn't endear itself to future neighbors.

So...........should Harvard have announced it's plans first, then gone to the owners with hat in hand...please sir, may I buy your property now that your know how very much we want it? One of the Disney legends in Central Florida was how Walt had numerous third parties buy up thousands of acres of land before making any announcement about Disney World. It's a good business move. The Wompanoag's down in Middleboro had already secured the land before they announced. Harvard would have been schmucks if they did it any other way. Frankly, no matter what Harvard does here in Allston, no matter how they improve the neighborhood, if they provide hundreds of jobs, retail space for restaurants, shops, etc, people are gonna complain.
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the city did the exact same thing when it bought the land to expand the public library in Copley Square. I'm sure this is done by lots of people but only Harvard is newsworthy.
 
atlantaden said:
Nobody can blame the community for wanting to keep a close eye on Harvard. Using a third party to buy up acres of Allston in the 1990s, the school didn't endear itself to future neighbors.

So...........should Harvard have announced it's plans first, then gone to the owners with hat in hand...please sir, may I buy your property now that your know how very much we want it? One of the Disney legends in Central Florida was how Walt had numerous third parties buy up thousands of acres of land before making any announcement about Disney World. It's a good business move. The Wompanoag's down in Middleboro had already secured the land before they announced. Harvard would have been schmucks if they did it any other way. Frankly, no matter what Harvard does here in Allston, no matter how they improve the neighborhood, if they provide hundreds of jobs, retail space for restaurants, shops, etc, people are gonna complain.
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I agree with everything you just said. As for another matter, $5.7b in ONE year?! Harvard must have one hella good School of Investing or whatver they call it.
 
The guy who invests the endowment is considered some sort of prophet on Wall Street...he left a high salary job in order to have the opportunity to play the market with Harvard's money.
 
in case it hasn't already been noted, Harvard Magazine has two interesting articles this month. one on the politics of what gets built -- and why it hasn't been considered very good lately. the other is about some of the great examples of modernist houses in New England (the Glass House, etc.)

http://www.harvardmagazine.com/2007/09/bricks-politics.html
 
This might not be exactly about the Harvard-Allston Campus, but it is some news between Harvard and Allston.

Harvard plans to redo Allston sidewalk as promised long ago
Expects city to give its approval soon


By Tracy Jan, Globe Staff | August 25, 2007

Harvard University plans to make over a weed-strewn sidewalk pocked with ditches in Allston after Labor Day, a decade after the school promised that it would spruce up the area as the campus expanded across the Charles River.


he university will fix the sidewalk on the eastern side of North Harvard Street from the river to Barry's Corner, where North Harvard Street intersects with Western Avenue. It will also replace a rusty chain-link fence that has become an eyesore with a new one, and replace the sidewalk on the northern side of Western Avenue.

In recent months, Allston residents have complained about the long delay in the work as Harvard continued with plans to build a science complex, student housing, and other facilities in the neighborhood. Harvard, like many area universities, has been in the midst of a building boom and has tussled with residents over various issues.

"We were not trying to get out of the work; we were just trying to do a more expansive project," said Kathy Spiegelman, chief planner of the university's Allston Development Group. "We thought we had a reason to delay it, but we don't want it to become a point of contention."

The university expects the city to give the go-ahead on the sidewalk work next week, pending approval of a traffic management plan, Spiegelman said. Harvard could then begin work in the first two weeks of September and wrap up most of the beautification in the fall.

The impending sidewalk work helped ease the concerns of many Allston residents, who worried that the university would continue to neglect neighborhood concerns as it moved ahead with its 50-year expansion plan.

"Better late than never," said Brent Whelan, an Allston resident for nearly 30 years who serves on a community task force studying Harvard's plans.

Harry Mattison, also a member of the task force, said that as Harvard continues to expand, it should consider donating millions of dollars to a community foundation so residents can decide for themselves how the university can best help the neighborhood. Some possibilities include creating a public park, a community center with a gym, or classrooms for tutoring residents in English.

"It's important to create something enduring that won't be subjected to the vagrancies of forces beyond our control," Mattison said. "You don't have to worry about it being 10 years later and trying to chase the thing down."

The sidewalk renovations, Spiegelman said, may have to be redone in future years as the university, which anticipates city approval for its science complex this fall, rolls out other improvements such as bike lanes.

Raymond Mellone, chairman of the community task force, said that now that the sidewalk issue has been put to rest, it's time to move on to the more significant matter of planning for the science complex.

"This is a retroactive kind of blip that doesn't amount to a hill of beans," Mellone said.


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North Harvard Street in Allston, where Harvard University promises to fix a sidewalk pocked with ditches after Labor Day. (JOSH REYNOLDS FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE)
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http://www.boston.com/news/local/ma...o_redo_allston_sidewalk_as_promised_long_ago/
 
^ O crap, I thought I forgot something! Thanks for pointing that out van
 
Harry Mattison, also a member of the task force, said that as Harvard continues to expand, it should consider donating millions of dollars to a community foundation so residents can decide for themselves how the university can best help the neighborhood. Some possibilities include creating a public park, a community center with a gym, or classrooms for tutoring residents in English.

This guy is off his medication.
 
atlantaden said:
Harry Mattison, also a member of the task force, said that as Harvard continues to expand, it should consider donating millions of dollars to a community foundation so residents can decide for themselves how the university can best help the neighborhood. Some possibilities include creating a public park, a community center with a gym, or classrooms for tutoring residents in English.

This guy is off his medication.
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No, he just represents the classic elitism that exists in Boston.
 
TheBostonBoy said:
"It's important to create something enduring that won't be subjected to the vagrancies of forces beyond our control,"
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Those confounded forces beyond our control: if they're not sleeping on the sidewalk, they're pissing on your door stoop!
 
Raze Allston, long live Roger Stern.

Georgian! Georgian!
 
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