Harvard Kennedy School campus construction

Building capacity, literally, at the public-policy campus

Construction work in progress at the Harvard Kennedy School

Photograph by Jim Harrison

Looking across the Kennedy School courtyard from Taubman toward Littauer

Looking across the Kennedy School courtyard from Taubman toward Littauer

Photograph by Jim Harrison

Looking toward Taubman from Littauer

Looking toward Taubman from Littauer

Photograph by Jim Harrison

Looking west toward the Charles Hotel complex

Looking west toward the Charles Hotel complex

Photograph by Jim Harrison

The Harvard Kennedy School aims to build students’ capacity for better public policy, wise democratic governance, international amity, and more. Now it is addressing its own capacity issues (as described here). In January, as seen across Eliot Street from the northeast (first image above), work was well under way to raise the level of the interior courtyard, install utility space in a new below-grade level, and erect a four-story “south building.” The project will bridge the Eliot Street opening between the Belfer (left) and Taubman (right) buildings with a new “gateway” structure that includes faculty offices and other spaces. The second and third images show views diagonally across the courtyard from Taubman toward Littauer, and vice versa. Turning west, across the courtyard toward the Charles Hotel complex (final image), affords a look at the current open space between buildings; the gap is to be filled with a new, connective academic building, including classrooms.

You might also like

Five Questions with Tien Jiang

How brushing and flossing can protect your heart

Inside Harvard’s Most Egalitarian School

The Extension School is open to everyone. Expect to work—hard.

The School of Public Health, Facing a Financial Reckoning, Seizes the Chance to Reinvent Itself

Dean Andrea Baccarelli plans for a smaller, more impactful Chan School of 2030.

Most popular

Phi Beta Kappa Speakers Call Out a ‘Deeply Troubling’ Moment

Former Harvard President Lawrence Bacow and poet Meghan O’Rourke urge graduates to focus on character and “radical attention.”

Meet Harvard’s 2026 Student Commencement Speakers

Two undergraduates and a Ph.D. candidate will address the graduating class on May 28.

AI Outperforms Doctors in Emergency Room Tasks, New Harvard Study Shows

Researchers say the technology could help physicians with triage, diagnosis.

Explore More From Current Issue

Three joyful graduates in caps and gowns celebrate together outdoors.

Your Harvard 2026 Commencement Week Guide

College reunions and Alumni Day will take place the following week

Bronze statues of three historical figures under a stylized tree in a softly lit space.

The Costly Choice Native Americans Faced

How the Revolution reshaped indigenous New England

Alene Anello smiling surrounded by four chickens in a natural outdoor setting.

This Harvard-Trained Lawyer Fights for the Rights of Chickens

Alene Anello wants to apply animal cruelty laws to birds raised for meat.