Editing Harvard Science Center (section)

== History ==
=== Planning ===
[[File:Harvard college - science center.jpg|thumb|The building sits astride a major pedestrian passage between [[Harvard Yard]] and the northern parts of campus]]
Harvard had been interested in building an undergraduate science center in the 1950s and 1960s. However, in the midst of an economic decline, funding could not be found. No concrete plans were made until in 1968, [[Edwin Land]], inventor of the [[Polaroid camera|Polaroid "Land" camera]], made a $12.5 million donation to construct a science center specifically for undergraduates.<ref name="mag">{{cite web|last1=The Harvard Magazine|title=Reshaping the Science Center|url=http://www.harvardmagazine.com/2002/01/reshaping-the-science-ce.html|website=Harvard Magazine|publisher=Harvard Magazine|access-date=13 November 2015}}</ref><ref name="headache">{{cite web|last1=Shapiro|first1=Peter|title=A $10 Million Science Center Headache|url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1972/9/1/a-10-million-science-center-headache/?page=1|website=The Harvard Crimson|publisher=The Crimson|access-date=13 November 2015}}</ref>

Opponents of the plan feared that funding would be insufficient to complete the project, and that the building's maintenance costs would be unreasonably high.<ref name="headache" /> The Biology Department also protested the move of its undergraduate-instruction facilities far from the department's main quarters. Professor [[George Wald]] argued that this would degrade the quality of instruction. There was also dissatisfaction with cancellation of plans at that time for a new biochemistry building.<ref name=letsnot>{{cite web|last1=Nepom|first1=Jerry|title=How (Not) To Build a Science Center|url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1971/6/17/how-not-to-build-a-science/?page=1|website=The Harvard Crimson|publisher=The Harvard Crimson|access-date=13 November 2015}}</ref>

The plan called for demolition of Lawrence Hall, a laboratory and a living space built in 1848. By the time of the scheduled demolition, a commune of students and "[[street people]]" calling themselves the "Free University" had taken residence in the unused building.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Epps|first1=Garrett|title=Policemen Enter Free U.|url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1970/5/7/policemen-enter-free-u-ppolice-entered/|website=The Crimson|publisher=The Crimson|access-date=30 December 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Johnson|first1=Bruce|title=Free University Stays Without Authorization|url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1970/4/14/free-university-stays-without-authorization-pwithout/|website=The Crimson|publisher=The Crimson|access-date=30 December 2017}}</ref> The controversy was rendered moot when fire gutted the building a month later in May 1970.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Epps|first1=Garrett|title=Fire Guts Lawrence Hall; Wall Collapses on Firemen|url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1970/5/8/fire-guts-lawrence-hall-wall-collapses/|website=The Harvard Crimson|publisher=The Harvard Crimson|access-date=13 November 2015}}</ref><ref name=fire>{{cite web|last1=GoldHaber|first1=Samuel|title=Cox: Memories of Fire|url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1971/3/22/cox-memories-of-fire-pwhen-archibald/|website=The Harvard Crimson|publisher=The Harvard Crimson|access-date=13 November 2015}}</ref>

As part of the project, in 1966{{ndash}}68 the portion of Cambridge Street running along the north edge of [[Harvard Yard]] was depressed into a 4-lane motor vehicle [[underpass]], thus allowing unhindered pedestrian movement between the Yard and Harvard facilities to the north, including the new Science Center. Architectural historian Bainbridge Bunting wrote that this was the "most important improvement in Cambridge since the construction of [what would later be called] [[Memorial Drive (Cambridge)|Memorial Drive]] in the 1890s".<ref name="book"/>

=== Construction ===
Harvard commissioned architects [[Sert, Jackson and Associates]] to design and build the facility. [[Josep Lluis Sert]], who had become Dean of the Harvard School of Design in 1953, had designed a number of other Harvard buildings, including [[Peabody Terrace]], Holyoke Center (now the [[Smith Campus Center]]), and the Harvard Divinity School's [[Center for the Study of World Religions]]. These buildings were part of a modernist movement that sought to break away from the Georgian and related styles used at Harvard for hundreds of years. Thus, the Science Center is largely steel and concrete, with abundant natural light.<ref name="ny"/><ref name = "letsnot"/> Construction lasted from 1970 to 1972.<ref name = "letsnot"/>

From 2001 to 2004 a $22&nbsp;million, {{convert|32,000|sqft|adj=on}} renovation created space for the [[Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments]] and expanded other facilities.<ref name=mag/><ref name=renov1>{{cite web|last1=Vascellaro|first1=Jessica|title=Science Center to Undergo Renovation|url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2001/10/23/science-center-to-undergo-renovation-construction/|website=The Harvard Crimson|publisher=The Harvard Crimson|access-date=13 November 2015}}</ref><ref name=renov2>{{cite web|last1=Meisel|first1=Matthew|title=Science Center Work Nears Finish|url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2004/4/13/science-center-work-nears-finish-after/?page=1|website=The Harvard Crimson|publisher=The Harvard Crimson|access-date=13 November 2015}}</ref> A room-sized historic [[electromechanical computer]] built in 1944, the [[Harvard Mark I]], was displayed on the ground floor next to the central stairwell in the main lobby of the building (it has since been moved to the Science and Engineering Complex (SEC) in Allston, Massachusetts).<ref>{{cite web |last1=Powell |first1=Alvin |title=Harvard’s Mark 1 finds its new home |url=https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/07/harvards-mark-1-finds-its-new-home/ |website=Harvard Gazette |access-date=2023-08-17 |date=23 July 2021}}</ref>