Tag: Hugh Stubbins

Modern Monday – Continental Terrace at 29 Concord Avenue

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Constructed in 1960 and designed by Hugh Stubbins & Associates, Inc., Continental Terrace at 29 Concord Avenue is an apartment building that maximized space while providing natural light throughout. The 8-story brick building consists of 103 apartments and features distinctive white balconies for every unit.

View of Continental Terrace with central front entrance descending below grade. City of Cambridge.

The design encompassed 81,690 square feet organized around a galleried central well.  Stubbins was able to add an 8th floor by dropping the ground floor a half level below the sidewalk, providing more units while staying under the 65-foot height limit as measured from the sidewalk. The building has a single loaded system and one elevator which opens out onto a light-filled atrium furnished with couches. Since the building is single loaded, each corridor is adjacent to the open atrium, making the space feel larger and more pleasant.  Stubbins provided residents with access to daylight from most parts of the building.

Architect’s rendering of 29 Concord Avenue. Francis Loeb Library, Harvard Graduate Design School.

The design of the lobby and the single elevator fostered interaction among neighbors creating a sense of community.  Since the building was designed a half story below grade, to reach the vestibule one descends between two garden terraces into what feels like a private area, deterring strangers from wandering inside.  This is also the location of the mailboxes, and according to one former resident people often linger there to check mail, further contributing a sense of security.  Residents were also known to spend time in the lobby which has views of the upper corridors.

Article in Architectural Forum showing floor plans as well as a view of the atrium from above. Architectural Forum, June 1961.
View of atrium in Architectural Forum, June 1961.
Architect’s first floor plan illustrating the lobby and arrangement of units with patio/gardens. Francis Loeb Library, Harvard Graduate Design School.

In the apartments, the living room receives natural light from a floor to ceiling, wall-to-wall window while the bedroom has one narrow tall window. The interior layout is very open, and spaces flow easily with minimal doors and walls, but does reduce opportunities for privacy. Each unit has a private balcony which also makes the unit feel larger. Basement level apartments also have gardens.

Article in Architectural Forum with photographs of interior units. Architectural Forum, June 1961.

Architect: Hugh Stubbins & Associates, Inc. Landscape Architect: John L. Wacker. Structural Engineer: Goldberg & LeMessurier. Mechanical Engineer: Delbrook Engineering, Inc. Electrical Engineer: Fred S. Dubin Associates. Acoustical Consultant: Bolt, Beranek & Newman. Contractor: John F. Griffin Co.

Sources

Pierson, Caroline (former resident), “Why Design Matters: The Effect of Architecture on Living Experience.” March 2010.

“Apartments Around a Well,” Architectural Forum, June 1961.

Modern Monday: Pusey Library at Harvard University

Posted on by cambridgehistoricalcommission

Exterior image_Architectural Record_09-1976_Edward Jacoby Photographer
1976 image included in Architectural Record 09-1976. Edward Jacoby photographer.

Pusey Library Current_Full view steps_HOLLIS
Pusey Library as seen from Widener Library steps.

The Pusey Library in Harvard Yard was conceived from a 1960 report by Harvard, which outlined the needs for future expansion and growth for the university. The potential for expansion of facilities within Harvard Yard was surveyed between 1968 and 1970 by Hugh Stubbins, who examined the 22-acre area for circulation and the possibility for additional structures. Three years later, Stubbins was commissioned to design a new library in Harvard Yard.

IMG_2320
Harvard University: An Inventory for Planning, 1960. Copy in CHC Library.

Pusey Library Current_Full view_HOLLIS
Pusey Library viewed from Harvard Yard.

The new library was to be named after Nathan Pusey, president of Harvard University from 1953-1971. President Pusey oversaw one of the largest building programs in Harvard’s history (second only to President Lowell). In 1957, Pusey announced the start of a program for Harvard College, a $82.5 million effort that raised $20 million more and resulted in three additions to the undergraduate House system: Quincy House (1959), Leverett Towers (1960), and Mather House (1970). During the 1960s, the Program for Harvard Medicine raised $58 million. In April 1965, the Harvard endowment exceeded $1 billion for the first time. Pusey left Harvard in June 1971 to become the second president of New York’s Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Nathan Pusey_1964 portrait, HOLLIS.jpg
1964 portrait of President Pusey. Courtesy of Radcliffe College Archives.

Hugh Stubbins believed that an above-ground library would be too constricted in the Yard and he began plans for a subterranean structure. From the beginning, the proposed library was envisioned as an interconnecting link among three existing libraries – Widener, Houghton and Lamont, all within close proximity. Its roof serves as a link as well, with paths and landscaping reinforcing the existing circulation network in the yard. From the exterior, the Pusey Library is a slanting grass-covered embankment only visible from some areas in Harvard Yard. Its roof is a stone-rimmed platform of earth containing a lawn, trees and shrubs.

Floor plate plan of Pusey Library_Arch Record 09-1976
Plan of Pusey Library.

First Floorplan of Pusey Library_Arch Record 09-1976
Site plan and level one plan of Pusey Library.

The main entrance to the library is built into the slope of the hill with a broad band of brick paving at the ground level which forms a moat between the berm and the window wall. The moat allows for light to reach the interior on the perimeter walls without completely disrupting the landscape. Alexander Calder’s “The Onion” sculpture marks the main entry to the library.

Pusey Library Current_Entrance art1_HOLLIS
Current view of “The Onion” by Alexander Calder.

Exterior artwork_Architectural Record_09-1976_Edward Jacoby Photographer
1976 image included in Architectural Record 09-1976. Edward Jacoby photographer.

Construction of Pusey Library. Courtesy of Radcliffe Archives.
Construction of Pusey Library. Courtesy of Radcliffe Archives.

At the center, a two-story light well between Houghton and Lamont is apparent seemingly to only those who look for it. Sunk down two floors into the ground, the well is home to a Japanese Maple tree, which just peaks out from its subterranean home providing a clear statement of presence for the library.

Pusey Library Current_courtyard and tree_HOLLIS
Interior sunken courtyard with large maple tree.

Stubbins even designed the interior spaces, using a very 70’s design aesthetic. Nylon carpeting was used throughout except in bookstack areas. Most of the furniture was made of oak, as was the trim work. Walls were covered with a textured vinyl fabric with a flat off-white, non-reflective surface to reduce sound reverberation and create a sense of warmth in the otherwise bunker-like building. The interior spaces have since been modernized to meet current needs for the library.

Interior image1_Architectural Record_09-1976
Interior design by Hugh Stubbins’ office. Photographed by Edward Jacoby, 1976.

Pusey Library Current_interior hall_Hollis
While underground construction is not needed or desirable in every location, it was brilliantly executed at the Pusey Library. Former Director of the Cambridge Historical Commission and historian, Bainbridge Bunting has said, “No other building has added so much to Harvard Yard yet disturbed its integrity so little”. We could not agree more!

 

 

 

 

Sources:

Architectural Record. September 1976, pages 97-102.

HOLLIS Images http://id.lib.harvard.edu/images/olvsite32606/catalog

Nathan Marsh Pusey, Biography. Harvard University. https://www.harvard.edu/about-harvard/harvard-glance/history-presidency/nathan-marsh-pusey

Radcliffe Archives, Pusey Hall under construction. Images.

Modern Monday: Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle Street

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Exterior of Loeb Drama Center_Radcliffe College Archives

Completed in 1960, the Loeb Drama Center at 64 Brattle Street stands as one of Cambridge’s greatest examples of Modern Architecture. The structure is human-scaled, made of regional materials and is a sensitive addition to its residential and commercial neighbors along Brattle Street. The scale of the building was reduced to blend in with adjacent heights and the use of New England waterstruck brick is a nod to the Harvard and Radcliffe buildings nearby. Exposed concrete serves as a sort of frame to the delicate ornamental grille which provides a lace-like effect, enhanced further at night when the light from inside the building shines through.

Exterior View of Loeb Drama Center_night_Radcliffe College ArchivesExterior View: Harvard - Loeb Drama Center, 29 Brattle Street

Architect Hugh Stubbins wanted the theater to be architecturally exciting, while still serving as a backdrop to the purpose of the building, the arts. Stubbins was quoted as saying, “the auditorium should please the imagination in such a way as to release it, not captivate it” and later went on to reference examples of recent museums and art galleries erected by architects to overshadow the art within them.

Interior View of Loeb Drama Center_Radcliffe College ArchivesView of Loeb Drama Center setbuilding_Radcliffe College Archives

The building opens right off the sidewalk of Brattle Street by the way of deep setbacks off the first floor, forming a porch-like or arcade feeling. The sides of the building open to a garden court on one side and a spacious terrace on the other. The travertine flooring in the lobby extends gracefully to the brick-paved courtyard, contained by a red brick serpentine wall.

Exterior courtyard Loeb Drama Center_Radcliffe College ArchivesExterior View of Loeb Drama Center (2)_Radcliffe College Archives

The theater was unveiled as a mechanical marvel as the first fully-automatic and flexible theatre in the United States. The audience’s position in relation to the stage, along with the position and shape of the stage itself could be altered between three main configurations: theater-in-the-round, proscenium, and arena seating, all possibly during the same performance. Yale’s noted stage technician and theater design engineer, George C. Izenour worked with Stubbins to integrate lighting, rigging and staging into an automated and hydraulic lift system, which could be altered and staged by just two people in mere minutes.

Courtesy of Architectural Forum, 10-1960.
Courtesy of Architectural Forum, 10-1960.
Courtesy of Architectural Forum, 10-1960.

The Loeb Drama Center is now home to The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University, which collaborates with artists around the world to develop and create work in new ways. To learn more about A.R.T. and their upcoming shows and events, check out their website at: https://americanrepertorytheater.org/

1960 color photo_CHC_LOEB
Color slide courtesy of CHC Staff.

Historic photos courtesy of Radcliffe College Archives and CHC slides.