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.

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

University Hall exterior with ornate windows and greenery.

College staff whose jobs will be changed or eliminated were notified this week.

Stone building with tall columns, steps leading up, and a flag atop under a cloudy sky.

The University will compensate families of those whose remains were sold and establish a scholarship to honor anatomical donors.

John Singleton Copley’s <i>A Boy with a Flying Squirrel,</i> 1765

Harvard art historian Jennifer Roberts teaches the value of immersive attention

Teaching students the value of deceleration and immersive attention

Explore More From Current Issue

A flooded office scene with computers, a woman working, and a pink sunset backdrop.

Undergraduate Column

A College student’s attempt to recapture the romanticism of the workplace.

Smiling woman stands beside a large skull in a display cabinet.

Faculty

From competing in youth gymnastics to studying tetrapods, the Harvard curator has always chased her curiosity.

University Hall with steps and the John Harvard statue, surrounded by trees and a grassy lawn.

University News

Long-discussed reorganization includes layoffs and the end of the Dudley Community.