Architecture & Design | October 20, 2015

Josep Lluís Sert's International Style icon is updated

Josep Lluís Sert’s International Style icon gets a half-century exterior toning and face lift.

From The November-December 2015 Issue

Photograph of Smith Campus Center exterior renovation — Photograph by Stu Rosner

As planning proceeds for the conversion of the former Holyoke Center into the Smith Campus Center, Josep Lluís Sert’s International Style icon, built from 1962 to 1967, gets its half-century exterior toning and face lift—a formidable challenge in the tight confines of Harvard Square. Stage One is the staging itself: here, the Dunster Street scaffolding in the first week of autumn.

Published in the November-December 2015 print issue under the headline “Under Wraps,” in the John Harvard's Journal section.

Related topics

University News

Architecture & Design

You might also like

Several people are holding a large ribbon for a ceremony outside a modern building.

Phase A of the Allston project includes a hotel, residences, and a two-acre greenway.

Aerial view of modern high-rise buildings surrounded by greenery and city skyline.

In a sea of red brick, the Science Center and Peabody Terrace make their mark.

Star-filled night sky with the Milky Way arching over a rocky silhouette.

There’s a growing movement to curb light pollution. It starts on your front porch.

Most popular

A woman with long hair stands confidently with crossed arms next to a pickup truck.

All That’s Unseen charts the Harvard graduate’s uneasy journey from Appalachia to Cambridge and back.

Two laboratory researchers, one seated and one standing, in a scientific lab with equipment.

The stakes are high for this husband and wife: one of them will die if they don’t find a cure.

A busy classroom filled with students working at computers, colorful decor, and a bright atmosphere.

In 2004, a frenzy spread across Harvard Yard in days. Four billion users later, we are only just catching up.

Explore More From Current Issue

Modern building with large glass windows, surrounded by greenery and pedestrians.

University News

A roundup of University news from the summer of 2026

Colorful word cloud with various emotions and ideas related to learning and reflection.

But it can’t replace human connection.

Caricature of a young man in front of red doors, wearing a green striped sweater.

Harvard History

In 1954, Gregory Corso moved into Eliot House. How he stayed there is a literary legend.