`They Don't Look Like Harvard'

We all know The Harvard Style.

Red brick, first and most important. Hardwood floors. Carved-metal staircase rails. Subtle lighting. And, of course, an impression of age, of well-seasoned stateliness that befits the name Harvard, a university founded almost a century and a half before the Revolutionary War.

Tell that to the residents of Mather Tower.

For some, notorious spurts of new construction during the 1960s and 1970s has meant a Harvard experience encased in a realm of concrete, carpeting and metal window frames.

It was then-President Nathan M. Pusey who in the mid-1950s first broke with tradition when he introduced the "Program for Harvard College."

Amid rapid postwar growth, Harvard was in danger of bursting at the seams. In response, Pusey initiated a "bold plan for improvement of all phases of undergraduate education," according to Harvard: An Architectural History, compiled by Margaret Henderson Floyd.

The program called for some serious fund raising, with proceeds divided between books and new professorships, and building renovations and new construction.

Pusey managed to raise $82.5 million over two years, far outstripping all Harvard fundraising efforts to that date. Some of the building funds went into renovating the Yard dorms, Boylston, Emerson, Harvard and Lehman Halls.

Renovations provided housing for married students and for undergraduates, art facilities, new classrooms, new labs, a theater and a new health center and infirmary.

And the rest of the funds--well, take a quick look upriver.

Poured and Pre-stressed Concrete

The individual designs of the new buildings run the gamut from the functional (i.e.. Currier and Holyoke Center) to the absurd (Science Center, a.k.a. the world's largest camera, and the Carpenter Center). But each building, however, clearly marks a break from the traditional Harvard Style.

"For the first time Harvard use[d] high-rise structures...Open land was running out, and the school was encountering some opposition in attempts to acquire additional land," says Architectural History.

Financial considerations was the other culprit that determined these new looks.

"To perpetuate the elaborate wooden trim and complicated roof structure of Lowell's time, with towers and many dormer windows, was economically impossible," says Architectural History. "Buildings thus came to be constructed of prefabricated elements, of poured and prestressed concrete..."

For the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), 1960 saw the completion of the Leverett Towers and Library, New Quincy and Jordan J, K and W. From 1962 to 1964, Holyoke Center, Carpenter Center, the Hoffman Labs, the Engineering Sciences building, Peabody Terrace and William James Hall were built by FAS. Radcliffe built Hilles Library in 1965.

The 1970s, not to be outdone, made a few other notable additions. Currier House was finished by Radcliffe in 1970, the same year Harvard finished Mather House. The Science Center followed soon after in 1973, Canaday Hall in 1974 and Pusey Library in 1976.

While Pusey was not directly responsible for all new buildings built at the University during this time, Harvard's frugal, space-saving outlook would dominate most other considerations during this period of intense development that ended around 1977, when the Kennedy School of Government was built.

'Miracle Materials'

As a result the revamping of the newer buildings, began a few years ago, poses a different set of problems than that of the older buildings, according to those involved.

While the renovation of the first-year dorms has received the most attention, several other buildings are also going under hammer and nail.

Leaks, for example, have plagued several of the newer buildings since their construction. Part of the problem can be attributed to the flat roofs that were widely used during their construction.

"Flat roofs will always leak. It's just a question of when," said McKay Professor of Mechanical Engineering Frederick H. Abernathy at a recent discussion on environmental policy at Harvard.

But the original roofs themselves at times aggravated the problems. William James Hall leaked constantly from the time it was opened until a few years ago, when a new roof was installed, according to Dean R. Gallant '72, assistant director for the center of behavioral studies.

And Canaday, where residents have come to expect falling plaster and ceiling cracks, will have to have a new roof put on during its renovation this summer, says Project Manager Alana M. Knuff.

"I'm looking towards copper," she said. "The original roof is turncoated steel--not, in my opinion, the best type of material. And it wasn't put on properly."

In some cases the flashing, the layer of material between a building's outer walls and inner walls used to keep out precipitation, has deteriorated. While all flashing wears down over time, most of the older buildings used more durable materials, usually lead-coated copper, that lasts for about 100 years, says Michael N. Litton, acting director of the Office of Physical Resources for FAS.

"The 'miracle materials' in the 70s didn't hold up," Litton says.

The leakage has affected more than plaster roofs and inhabitants' nerves. Over the years, the water has warped the metal window frames common to buildings of the 60s and 70s, leading to drafts.

"We could pull the windows, but it wouldn't solve the problem," says Professor of the History of Religion and Islamic Studies William A. Graham, master of Currier House. "It's a bigger job than just the windows."

And a little rain is not the only thing designers and students must worry about.

Occasionally, the design of the building itself adds to the problems with air flow. The long corridor of shops on the first floor of Holyoke Center can act as a wind tunnel, according to Harvard Real Estate officials.

And William James can, says Gallant, act like a "chimney."

"If the weather is right, the front doors can be blown open or held shut by the wind. We had to install heavy-duty door closers and safety chains," he said. "It's important to try to ensure the balance of air between the inside and the outside is maintained."

The drafts compound another problem for the administration: energy efficiency. Most of the newer buildings were built in an era of cheap energy, with an emphasis on open space and glass. This `modern' style, however, is now proving to be a headache in terms of conserving energy.

The Science Center, which opened just as the first energy crunch hit, has been trying to improve energy efficiency for its entire operating life, says Nona D. Strauss, director of the Science Center.

"We've turned off the reheating coils in the air conditioning system," she said. "Our system doesn't remove humidity as much as it did before...All classroom [lights] are on motion sensors."

Strauss said the building is also being recaulked to reduce energy loss, and that she hopes to address the leaks in the building soon. "We've had all the problems that a 20-year-old pre-cast concrete building has," she said.

Still, these 20-plus year old pre-cast concrete buildings do have their advantages, according to those who deal with them daily.

For instance, energy-inefficient open space provides more room to move than the smaller rooms of most of the older Harvard buildings. The Mather tower may be "large, harsh and fundamental," according to Architectural History, but it also provides its residents with single rooms, a privilege denied to many undergraduates until senior year.

And while Currier's design may not be what first-years envision as their ideal, its numerous singles and airy floor plan encourage socializing, according to its masters. "It's easier to zip around if you don't have to worry about going outside," says William Graham. "The living arrangement here is really quite nice for bringing people together...The combination of general personal space and a lot of public space seems to work well."

In fact, all of the undergraduate housing built between 1958 and 1970--Currier House, Leverett Towers, New Quincy and Mather House--has hallways, instead of the entryways of the older houses. The open space and lighting found at the Science Center also makes it a popular studying place.

And many of the newer buildings are more accessible to the disabled. The elevators necessary for high-rise buildings, as well as ramps often included in the original design, provide more freedom of movement than the numerous staircases of older buildings.

"If you can get up the ramps at the first floor, you can get anywhere in the house," says Associate Director for Administration and Programs in the Harvard University Library Barbara S. Graham, Currier House co-master.

Of course, the elevators also spend a great deal of time carrying able-bodied students, staff and administrators who prefer riding up to walking up--for many, one of the more agreeable features of the modern additions.

Concrete Constructions and When They Were Completed:

Leverett Towers--1960

New Quincy--1960

Holyoke Center--1962

Carpenter Center--1963

William James Hall--1963

Peabody Terrace--1964

Hilles Library--1965

Currier--1970

Mather--1970

Science Center--1973

Pusey Library--1976

Canaday--1974