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Carpenter Center
Access to material may be restricted.
Access to material may be restricted.

Carpenter Center

Address19, Prescott Street, Cambridge, MA, United States of America, 02138
Site Number341
Building Root Number 04340
Architect (Original)
Land Acquired 1928
Constructed 1963
Building Acquired 1963
StatusActive
Site Name HistoryThe site is named after Alfred (1881-1974) and Helen (1886-1961) Carpenter, Oregon fruit growers and philanthropists.Historical NotesCompleted in 1963, the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts is the only building in the United States designed by noted Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier, pioneer of the Modern movement in twentieth century architecture and art. Today the building houses Harvard's department of Visual and Environmental Studies and the Harvard Film Archive. The Carpenter Center received the Harleston Parker Medal from the Boston Society of Architects in 1964 for being "the most beautiful piece of architecture, building, monument or structure within the limits of the City of Boston or of the Metropolitan Parks District". The Carpenter Center is on the parcel which was once occupied by Farlow House which was purchased from the estate of Lillian G. Farlow, in 1928, to house the expanding offices of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
Additional Information
Sert Gallery
R. R. “The Architectural Origins Of the Carpenter Center.” The Harvard Crimson, 22 May 1963, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1963/5/22/the-architectural-origins-of-the-carpenter/.
Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts. Records of the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, 1958 (1958). Harvard University Archives call number UAI 871.10, UAV 871.208
Le Corbusier Collection. Frances Loeb Library, Graduate School of Design, Harvard University.
Harvard University Archives. Construction Management Records, ca. 1953-1986. Harvard University Archives call number UAV 298.8000
“Le Corbusier, Psychiatrist.” Architectural Record, vol. 180, no. 6, 1961, p. 9, usmodernist.org/AR/AR-1961-12.pdf.
“Buildings in the News.” Architectural Record, vol. 133, no. 3, 1963, p. 10, usmodernist.org/AR/AR-1963-03.pdf.
“Le Corbusier Designs for Harvard.” Architectural Record, vol. 133, no. 4, 1963, pp. 151–58, usmodernist.org/AR/AR-1963-04.pdf.
Kamin, Blair. “Fifty Years Later, Still Scandalizing the Neighbors.” Architectural Record, vol. 201, no. 6, 2013, pp. 63–64, usmodernist.org/AR/AR-2013-06.pdf.
Maycock, Susan E., and Charles Sullivan. Building old Cambridge: architecture and development. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2016. Print. Lamont Library call number NA735.C28 M39 2016; Loeb Design Library call number NA735.C28 M39 2016.
Le Corbusier. Carpenter Center, Harvard University. May-June 1960. Artstor, library-artstor-org.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/asset/AWSS35953_35953_34610690
Le Corbusier. Carpenter Center, Harvard University. 29 June 1962. Artstor, library-artstor-org.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/asset/AWSS35953_35953_34611130
Sert, José Luis, and Frances L. Loeb Library. The Josep Lluis Sert Collection. (1952). Print. Harvard Loeb Design Library Special Collections.
"Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, Harvard." Architectural Design, vol. 33, Jan. 1963.
"Carpenter Centre, Harvard." Architect and Building News, vol. 225/1, Jan. 1964, pp. 13–16.
Curtis, William J. R., 1948-. "Honouring and Dishonouring Le Corbusier." Architectural Review, vol. 233, no. 1395, May 2013, pp. 31–31.
Greenberg, Allan. "Making Architectural Judgements." Architectural Design, vol. 62, no. 5–6, May 1992, pp. 64–72.
Campbell, Robert, 1937-. "Evaluation: Corbu’s Only U.S. Building: Carpenter Center Was a Deliberate Effort to Influence American Architecture." Architecture: The AIA Journal, no. 10, Oct. 1987, https://www.usmodernist.org/AJ/A-1987-10.pdf.
Le Corbusier. Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts. Drawings. Loeb Library, Harvard Design School, KX417, http://id.lib.harvard.edu/via/olvsite38410/catalog.
Sekler, Eduard F. "Harvard University Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts: Le Corbusier's Building." Connection Visual Arts at Harvard. December 18, 1963, no. 2, pp. 20-22. Loeb Design Library call number NA 6602 Camb-Harv H 261 1963.
Ambler, Peter. "Visual Arts Centre, Harvard University." Architectural Review, vol. 134, Jan. 1963.
Bacon, Mardges. Le Corbusier in America : Travels in the Land of the Timid. Cambridge, Mass, 2001. Francis Loeb Library call number NA1053.J4 B25 2001, Fine Arts Library call number FA2275.466.231.
Lamunière, Michelle. A New Kind of Historical Evidence : Photographs from the Carpenter Center Collection. Harvard University Art Museum, 2005. Fine Arts Library call number TR650;.C37 2005.
Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts. Tenth Anniversary. Cambridge, Mass., 1973. Loeb Design Library call number Ref H 1973, Houghton Library call number Typ 970.73.2605, Harvard University Archives call number HUF 261.173.85.
Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts. A Retrospective 1993-1963. Cambridge, Mass., 1993. Houghton Library call number Typ 970.93.2605.
The Harvard Crimson. Visual Arts Center Supplement, 1963. Loeb Design Library call number NA 6600 Har, Harvard University Archives call number HUB 1871.14.
Hoon, Kim Nam. "A Study on Le Corbusier’s Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts - Focused on Experience of Architectural Promenade." Architectural Research. Vol. 14:2, pp.67-73.
"Carpenter Center." Variety. Jul 29, 1987, Vol. 328:1, p.87.
General Information by and about the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts. Harvard University Archives call number HUB 1871.2, HUF 261.1.
Le Corbusier. le Palais des Congrès de Strasbourg : Nouveau Programme, Dernier Projet. Loeb Design Library call number NA1053.J4 K454 2011.
Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, Harvard University. Cambridge Mass., 1963. Houghton Library call number Typ 970.63.2605.
Architectural Plans for the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, 1960-1961. Harvard University Archives call number UAI 15.99.17 http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.ARCH:hua48013.
Sekler, Eduard F. Le Corbusier at Work: the Genesis of the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts. Cambridge, Mass., 1978. Available at multiple locations with various call numbers consult HOLLIS for details.
lori, Massimo. Le Corbusier: Carpenter Visual Art Center. Milano, 1998. Francis Loeb Library call number GEN 　 NA1053.J4 I67 1998.
“Oregon Couple Gives $1.5 Million To Build New Visual Arts Center.” Harvard Crimson, 19 Nov. 1957, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1957/11/19/oregon-couple-gives-15-million-to/.
Benjamin, Thomas, and Johnson, Chris. Le Corbusier in America (1964). Film. Harvard University Archives call number MPF206.1
Crawford, Christina E. "In an Extraordinary Space." Architecture Boston, 6 Nov. 2017, https://www.architects.org/stories/in-an-extraordinary-space.
Placed on the National Register of Historic Places April 20, 1978. National Register Information System ID: 78000435
1964 winner of the Boston Society of Architects Harleston Parker Medal.
This building has been designated by the University Planning Office as having a Notable Interior.
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