Arthur M. Sackler Building
Address485, Broadway, Cambridge, MA, United States of America, 02138
Alternate Address38, Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA, United States of America, 02138
Alternate Address1750, Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA, United States of America, 02138
Site Number340
Alternate Names
Sackler Museum
Building Root Number
00100
Architect (Original)
Sir James Frazer Stirling
Land Acquired
1892-1975
Constructed 1985
Building Acquired 1985
Constructed 1985
Building Acquired 1985
StatusActive
Site Name HistoryThe site is named for Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987), a New York physician, entrepreneur and philanthropist.
Historical Notes485 Broadway was built as the Arthur M. Sackler Museum to house Harvard's collections of Asian art, ancient Mediterranean and Byzantine works, Islamic ceramics, and works on paper from Islamic lands and India. The building was designed by noted British architect James Stirling and opened in 1985. The building is named for Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987), a New York physician, entrepreneur and philanthropist. The Sackler collection moved to 32 Quincy Street in 2014.In 2019, designLAB architects of Boston completed a major building renovation. The Sackler Building now provides academic space for the Faculty of Arts & Sciences, classrooms and offices; and the Graduate School of Design; studio space.
The museum sits on the site formerly occupied by the Walker House and then the Allston Burr Lecture Hall.Additional Information
Harvard University Archives. General Information by and about the Harvard Art Museum. Harvard University Archives HUF 861.1000.2 and HUF 861.1000.2 pf
Harvard University. Art Museums. Photographs of the Harvard Art Museum. 1927-2001. (1927). Harvard University Art Museum Archives call number HC 22
“Two U.S. Projects by Pritzker Prize Winner James Stirling.” Architectural Record, 1981, p. 42, usmodernist.org/AR/AR-1981-07.pdf.
“The Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University.” Architectural Record, vol. 174, no. 3, 1986, pp. 112–23, usmodernist.org/AR/AR-1986-03.pdf.
Miller, Michael W. “Corporation to Review Plans for Fogg.” Harvard Crimson, 20 Nov. 1980, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1980/11/20/corporation-to-review-plans-for-fogg/.
Mirviss, Laura G. and Rosenman, Evan T.R. “Sackler Museum’s Future Uncertain After Fogg Renovation.” Harvard Crimson, 25 May 2011, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2011/5/25/sackler-art-future-fogg/.
Hays, K. Michael. "Cambridge: Stirling’s Addition to the Fogg Museum." Express, vol. 2, no. 1, Jan. 1982, pp. 10–10.
Sorkin, Michael, 1948-2020. "The Big Man on Campus [James Stirling and Michael Wilford]." Architectural Review, vol. 175, no. 1046, Apr. 1984.
"The Stirling Approach to Bridging the Old and New [Arthur M. Sackler Museum]." GSD News / Harvard University. Graduate School of Design, vol. Dec., Nov. 1983, pp. 7–7.
“Putting a Wry Face on Adversity: Sackler Museum, Harvard, James Stirling.” Architecture: The AIA Journal, vol. 75, no. 1, Jan. 1986, pp. 46–51.
Dennis, Michael, 1937-. “Sackler Sequence: Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.” Architectural Review, vol. 180, no. 1073, July 1986.
Rowe, Colin, 1920-1999. “Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University [Cambridge], 1979-84.” Architecture and urbanism, Nov. 1986, pp. 71–90.
“Best Laid Plans: The Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts; James Stirling Michael Wilford and Associates.” Architectural Record, vol. 174, no. 3, Mar. 1986.
Merkel, Jayne. “Beyond Harvard Yard: James Stirling’s Sackler Museum Foregoes Contextualism along Harvard’s Northwestern Edge.” Landscape Architecture, vol. 77, no. 2, Mar. 1987.
“Fears over Stirling’s Harvard Gem.” Architects’ Journal, vol. 233, no. 19, May 2011, pp. 12–12.
Spens, Michael Patrick. “James Stirling’s Sackler Museum Now under Threat in the Groves of Academe [Harvard University].” Architectural Review, vol. 229, no. 1371, May 2011, pp. 20–22.
“Harvard to Dedicate New Seckler Museum in 1985.” Cambridge Chronicle, 22 Nov. 1984, p. 13.
This building has been designated by the University Planning Office as having a Notable Interior.
