Thursday, March 31, 2022 – BEFORE ROOSEVELT ISLAND DESIGNED IN CAMBRIDGE, MASS

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FROM THE ARCHIVES

THURSDAY,  MARCH  31, 2022

THE  637th  EDITION

DESIGNING AMERICA

Spain’s Imprint in the U.S.

JOSEP LLUIS SERT

Catalan architect Josep Lluís Sert was a pioneer of the Modern Movement in Spain. After the Spanish Civil War, he fled the country for the United States, where he led a very successful professional and academic career. After his arrival in New York he co-founded the architectural firm called Town Planning Associates, and later went on to direct the Harvard Graduate School of Design Department of Architecture. In the United States, Sert applied the rationalist ideals born in the 1930s Spanish groups for the promotion of Modernist architecture and thought (GATCPAC and GATEPAC).

HARVARD

Holyoke Center, Josep Lluis Sert, Cambridge, Massachusetts (1965)

Source: Frances Loeb Library, Harvard University GSD . Photograph: Louis Reens

The Holyoke Center is the main administrative building of Harvard University. When it was built, it became the first high-rise and one of the first modern buildings on the university campus, marking a turning point in its architectural style.

Hand-drawn sketch of the plan of Peabody Terrace. Harvard University, SJA (Sert Jackson & Associates), Cambridge, Massachusetts (1964)

The Peabody Terrace buildings were intended as a residence for married students at Harvard University.The building consisted of three 23-story-high towers joined at their bases and overlooking the Charles River, and partakes of Sert’s experiments in collective housing.

ROOSEVELT ISLAND

In 1969, Roosevelt Island, an island close to Manhattan which until then had been used chiefly for hospital purposes, was turned into a residential district. Sert was the architect of a large part of the operation, and this gave him the opportunity to realize a large-scale housing project incorporating experimental solutions for dwellings, public spaces, communications, etc.

THURSDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY

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WEDNESDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY

LEANING TOWER IN PISA
ANDY SPARBERG, CLARA BELLA, SUMIT KAUR, HARA REISER, LAURA HUSSEY ALL GOT IT RIGHT

FROM ED LITCHER:
The Tower of Pisa, also known as the Leaning Tower of Pisa, is one of the most iconic buildings in Italy. As its name suggests, this tower is best known for its tilt, and is perhaps the most renowned leaning building in the world. This tilt, however, was unintentional, and was the result of poor planning on the part of its architects. The city’s physical geography is also partially to be blamed for the tower’s tilt, as several other buildings in Pisa are tilted as well. While historians generally agree that building on the Tower started in 1173, they can’t agree on who actually designed it. Some evidence points to a local architect, Bonanno Pisano as the architect with construction overseen by master-craftsman, Diotisalvi.He had a habit of signing his work and as the Tower carries no signature, confirmation of this remains elusive.

Text by Judith Berdy
Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS
Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website
Edited by Deborah Dorff
All image are copyrighted (c)

Sources

DESIGNING AMERICA
SPAIN’S IMPRINT IN THE U.S.
JOSEP LLUIS SERT

FUNDING PROVIDED BY ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE GRANTS CITY COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE BEN KALLOS DISCRETIONARY FUNDING THRU DYCD

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