New Harvard Economics building

[RandomWalk]

The new Economics building located between the Littauer Center and Austin Hall, near the Science Center, has started construction. It is slated for completion in 2027.

Major funding was provided by Penny Pritzker, so it will probably end up with Pritzker in the name.

 

[stick n move]

Is there a name, address, and any documents about what its going to look like?

 

[Stlin]

Is there a name, address, and any documents about what its going to look like?

They've been playing it super close to the chest. As far as I'm aware the only render that has been published was as part of the 2024 Town-Gown report and presentation, released in February.

 

[RandomWalk]

Harvard’s construction mitigation page for the project is also quite opaque.

 

[Equilibria]

Well, you have to have that kind of secrecy around whatever time travel secret you used to steal that design from 1966...

 

[Charlie_mta]

Well, you have to have that kind of secrecy around whatever time travel secret you used to steal that design from 1966...

Agreed. That design does look totally 1966.

 

[stick n move]

Paging Robert Stern!

Hes built a few beautiful brick buildings around Harvard that nobody knows are relatively recent unless youre super deep in the weeds. No reason he couldnt deliver another one here.

Those new buildings in Allston yards are not exactly a glaring beacon of a warm, welcoming, human scaled, addition to the campus. Theyre not exactly on a roll lately. They should just keep with the collegiate gothic… well in Harvards case collegiate federal? You really cant go wrong. Literally everybody loves that style and its been successful for hundreds of years. Does anyone on planet earth not like federal style architecture? Harvard is world renowned for it, why deviate from that so much? That thing above isnt completely horrendous, but they can for sure do much better imo.

 

[RandomWalk]

Grafton Architects appears to have heard economics and recycled their London School of Economics project.

 

[bdurden]

Paging Robert Stern!

Hes built a few beautiful brick buildings around Harvard that nobody knows are relatively recent unless youre super deep in the weeds. No reason he couldnt deliver another one here.

Those new buildings in Allston yards are not exactly a glaring beacon of a warm, welcoming, human scaled, addition to the campus. Theyre not exactly on a roll lately. They should just keep with the collegiate gothic… well in Harvards case collegiate federal? You really cant go wrong. Literally everybody loves that style and its been successful for hundreds of years. Does anyone on planet earth not like federal style architecture? Harvard is world renowned for it, why deviate from that so much? That thing above isnt completely horrendous, but they can for sure do much better imo.

The schools out there that have leaned into the collegiate revival look seem to go more gothic over federal (Yale, Vanderbilt, BC etc). I’m sure there are some great examples out there of neo-Federalist architecture but too often it’s a misfire.