Ames Hall
Address20, Everett Street, Cambridge, MA, United States of America, 02138
Site Number564
Building Root Number
02574
Architect (Original)
Walter Adolph Georg Gropius
Architect (Original)
The Architects Collaborative, Inc.
Land Acquired
1869
Constructed 1950
Building Acquired 1950
Constructed 1950
Building Acquired 1950
StatusActive
Site Name HistoryThe site is named for James Barr Ames (1846-1910), Harvard Law School professor and dean from 1895-1910. Ames was an innovator in the case study method of teaching law.Historical NotesAmes Hall is a Harvard Law School dormitory completed in 1950. It is part of a complex known as the "Gropius dorms" and was designed by The Architects Collaborative, one of whose founders was noted International Style architect and Harvard architecture professor Walter Gropius.Additional InformationThe Architects Collaborative. Graduate Commons Project, Harvard University: Site Improvement Plan, Harvard Map Collection call number MAP-LC G3764.C2:2H3 1950 .A7.
Graduate Center Group. General Information by and about the Graduate Center Group, Harvard University Archives call number HUB 1434.2.
Gropius, Walter. The Graduate Center [unpublished manuscript], Harvard University Archives call number HUB 1434.35.
"Harvard Builds a Graduate Yard." Architectural Forum, December 1950, p. 62-70 illus., maps, plans. HOLLIS number 002894056.
Gropius, Walter. "Tradition and the [Harvard Graduate] Center." Harvard Alumni Bulletin, vol. 53:2, Oct. 14, 1950, pp. 68-71, HOLLIS number 003157036.
Harvard Foundation for Advanced Study and Research. Tradition and Tomorrow: Harvard Graduate Student Center, 1950. HOLLIS number 000002117.
“Harvard Reaffirms an Old Tradition.” Architectural Record, vol. 104, no. 5, 1948, pp. 118–19, usmodernist.org/AR/AR-1948-11.pdf.
“University Dedicates New Graduate Dorms, Commons This Afternoon.” The Harvard Crimson, 6 Oct. 1950, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1950/10/6/university-dedicates-new-graduate-dormscommons/.
“Harvard to Build Housing for 600 Grad Students.” Cambridge Chronicle, 14 Oct. 1948, p. 1.
“Harvard to Build 7 Dormitories at Cost of $3,000,000: Quarters for 600 Men to Rise Near the Square; Work Begins in Spring.” Daily Boston Globe, 14 Oct. 1948, pp. 1–2.
“Dormitories for Harvard University, U.S.A.” Architects’ Journal, vol. 109, Feb. 1949, pp. 125–26.
This building has been designated by the University Planning Office as having a Notable Interior.
