Architects Plan Expansion Without Modern Vulgarity

A class at the Graduate School of Design has proposed a solution to the University's overcrowding problem, by replacing the tenements behind Dunster House with an eighth House composed of three modern dormitories.

The new unit, a fall term project of first-year design students, would house 600 students. In his annual report, President Pusey last week called "the expansion of the College without corresponding expansion of dormitory facilities" the University's biggest problem.

Assuming that dormitory expansion would be between Massachusetts Ave. and the river, the students planned complete redevelopment of the area. The three units of the visionary House are separate, resembling a contemporary Adams. One unit is on stilts. This solution eliminates overcrowding without contributing to what Serge I. Chermayeff, professor of Architecture, called "the vulgarity of the modern age."

The modern style construction would not clash with existing buildings, Chermayeff added, "because the essence of Harvard is not a particular style but the blending of styles." He noted "the archway entering an open area, and the view onto a closed quadrangle." There are no enclosed courtyards in the student design.

The Yard typifies the spirit which the project seeks, he said. He contrasted it to Massachusetts Ave. which "sees you dodging those*** vehicles."

The trouble with modern buildings at Harvard is not that they are modern, he feels, but that they are not integrated into what already exists. "Why should Harkness Commons be yellow?" he asked.

The project attempts to combine the modern box-like buildings with the East side of Dunster House.