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.

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.

You might also like

Three Harvard Alumni and a Former Postdoc Named MacArthur Fellows

A labor economist, an organic chemist, a physicist, and a memory researcher were honored with 2026 “genius” grants.

At Harvard’s IOP, Two Views of Diversity Get a Hearing

Professor Cornell William Brooks and Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts hold a lively debate on DEI and Project 2025.

Harvard Graduate Students Union Begins Strike Authorization Vote

Amid contract negotations, two unions are discussing a joint walkout this fall.

Most popular

Trump Administration Asks Appeals Court to Restore Harvard Funding Cuts

The government’s lawyers homed in on a jurisdictional argument for its authority to to terminate federal grants. 

Trump Administration Will Investigate Alleged Visa Fraud at Harvard

The announcement comes two days after a federal appeals court heard arguments about an international students ban.

Harvard Weathers a Year of Turmoil

The federal government has launched unprecedented actions against the University. Here’s a guide.

Explore More From Current Issue

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

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

Three young women posed side by side against red background.

The 2026-2027 Ledecky and Summer Undergraduate Fellows

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

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