Rethinking 90 Mount Auburn

Harvard plans to erect a new building on Mount Auburn Street beside the Fox Club (foreground).

Harvard has tapped Leers Weinzapfel Associates, Architects, of Boston, to design a building at 90 Mount Auburn Street after the original, stylistically avant-garde plan for the site by Pritzker Prize-winning Austrian architect Hans Hollein was rejected by the Cambridge Historical Commission. Associate vice president for planning and real estate Kathy Spiegelman says the new architects "have a very interesting track record of doing contemporary design but with real sensitivity to historic areas and contexts. We don't want a red brick box, so we are hoping that they can keep alive our intent to introduce innovation and modern design ideas while respecting the historic context of this small site." Harvard and its architects will be working closely with the Cambridge Historical Commission, Spiegelman adds, as they proceed with the design process.