Harvard Square under reconstruction

A familiar place’s new faces

Photograph of major construction projects in Harvard Square

Photograph by Jim Harrison

Returning visitors may find themselves disoriented as familiar haunts undergo major makeovers, shown here in mid November. The triangle between  JFK and Brattle Streets (foreground) is being rebuilt as a high-end retail mall. The offices over Brattle (plywooded windows to the rear), also in new ownership, are being renovated. And Out of Town News has closed.

Related topics

You might also like

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

A roundup of University news from the summer of 2026

FAS leaders say restructuring will be complete by mid-October.

Most popular

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

After a final round of layoffs, University leaders say 165 staff jobs were eliminated across the division.

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

Explore More From Current Issue

Runners compete on a track, with a Harvard athlete in the foreground and others behind.

After a historic 2025-26 season, athletes eye NCAA championships.

Three young women posed side by side against red background.

The 2026-2027 Ledecky and Summer Undergraduate Fellows

A football player in a white jersey evades a defender in a green uniform on the field.

Despite personnel losses, Crimson captain Xaviah Bascon is upbeat about the 2026 season.