Post Date: August 4, 2004
Harvard Law School has chosen Robert A.M. Stern Architects as the principal design firm to prepare a planning framework for the Law School campus and to provide the architectural design for the initial development on the School’s northwest corner.
“We are fortunate to be working with a brilliant architect and a superb team, whose creativity, understanding, and sensitivity to our needs will help us to expand and upgrade our campus to serve the Law School community,” said Dean Elena Kagan. “We need to be visionary in our thinking about site planning and both thoughtful and creative in our approach to building design. We want this project to respect the varied architectural styles of our campus and fit appropriately in our neighborhood while adding exciting new elements to our campus. We are delighted to have Robert Stern and his talented firm help us to shape the future face of Harvard Law School.”
The Law School is embarking on an exciting phase in its development history. As a result of a feasibility study conducted in 2003, the Law School is beginning a long term development program that will dramatically improve the student experience and address the School’s significant space needs in the coming decades. Initial development will include new student meeting spaces, classrooms, and faculty offices.
“We look forward to working with Harvard Law School and the School’s Cambridge neighbors to create a new identity for the Law School at this important gateway to the University, capturing the spirit of this great institution and honoring its diverse architectural heritage from the time of H.H. Richardson forward,” said Robert A.M. Stern, founder and senior partner at Robert A.M. Stern Architects. “With Elena Kagan and her colleagues at the Law School we will help create the sense of place now so needed by the Law School, developing both landscaped areas and new buildings, the first of which will be a campus center for all members of the Law School community.”
The selection of Robert A.M. Stern Architects was made after an extensive process in which more than 30 firms from all over the world submitted initial qualifications. Robert A.M. Stern Architects is a 140 person firm of architects, planners, landscape architects, interior designers and supporting staff. Over its 35 year history, the firm has established an international reputation as a leading design firm with wide experience in residential, commercial, and institutional work. As the firm’s practice has diversified, its geographical scope has widened to include current projects in Europe, Asia, South America, and throughout the United States.
The firm maintains an attention to detail and commitment to design quality that has earned international recognition and numerous awards and citations for design excellence, including National Honor Awards of the American Institute of Architects. The firm has substantial experience with the design of buildings on historic college and university campuses, including buildings at the Harvard Business School, Dartmouth, Columbia, Princeton, Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, Rice, and Stanford.
Robert A.M. Stern is a practicing architect, teacher, and writer. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, and received the AIA New York Chapter’s Medal of Honor in 1984 and the Chapter’s President’s Award in 2001. Mr. Stern is currently dean of the Yale School of Architecture.