MONOPOLY

"Voted,. . . . to obtain sketches from Mr. Charles A. Coolidge for plans for replacing the wooden stands," ran in part the vote upon the Stadium question which the Corporation passed last Monday. This excerpt from the resolution brings forcibly to mind a realization of the architectural monopoly long in existance at Harvard.

No criticism of the work of Mr. Coolidge or of his firm is embodied in the question which naturally arises: is it best for Harvard to be planned by one architect in these years of material development? Harvard is so architecturally heterogeneous that any attempt to make it all Georgian in style is unnecessary and sometimes unfortunate. The architectural style of Massachusetts Hall is not naturally adapted to such large blocks of brick and mortar as Widener Library, designed by Trumbauer fifteen years ago, or the new chemical laboratory.

There is room, then, for architectural experimentation. Even where old styles are used, as now by Mr. Coolidge, adaptation is made inevitable by the uses to which the new buildings are put. The usual and the best practice in these circumstances is to advertise a competition among architects, and to adopt the best plans submitted from architects all over the country. Thus originated the plans for the beautiful Tribune building in Chicago. In the building of the Harvard Business School, the same procedure was followed, although the winning plans were slightly altered by the "Harvard achitects."

Generally praiseworthy as the productions of Coolidge, Shepley, Bulfinch, and Abbott have been, nevertheless the architectural worth of some of their Harvard buildings is a controversial subject.

The enlargement of the Stadium offers little scope for fresh ideas. Yet the time is ripe for an architectural competition, ensuring Harvard of the best plans obtainable in the United States. And the subject is also ready to hand--the new memorial chapel. First "architects' drawings" of this structure caused a storm of protest and ridicule. The site of the new chapel presents in itself a difficult architectural problem, and architects from all over the country should be given their chance to solve it.