Gund Hall

The home of the Harvard Design School, the poured concrete Gund Hall features a distinctive stepped, trussed glass roof that covers a vast drafting space inside, arranged on a series of terraces descending to the rear facade. As if paying respect to Memorial Hall (NY1), the mass of the building rises to meet its older neighbor. The covered arcade of the Quincy Street facade offers shelter to the pedestrian, and the windows opening onto the reading room of the Loeb Library further connect the building to the street. In the entrance foyer and corridors, architectural exhibitions are regularly installed, although the open conditions are less than satisfactory. Nonetheless, the light-filled cafeteria, overlooking a courtyard, is a cheerful setting that has become a kind of crossroads where visiting architects (and architectural historians) from around the world encounter each other.