Harvard Business School, Baker Lawn and Centennial Hall

Boston, Massachusetts

Firm

Pressley Associates, Landscape Architects

Client

Harvard University

Area

100,600 sq.ft.

Total Cost

$380,000

The Harvard Business School’s (HBS) most iconic images feature Baker Library and its expansive, riverfront lawn. Following the school’s 100^th-anniversary celebration, which largely took place in a massive, building-like tent on Baker Lawn, the architect was engaged to design a restoration and improvement strategy for this beloved landscape. Special attention was paid to protect the mature deciduous trees by minimizing grading in their root zones.

In the same year, HBS returned a historic church bell to Russia that had been rescued from destruction at the hands of Stalin and stored carefully in the cupola of Baker Library. The Link of Times Foundation and the Danilov Monastery presented the school with a replacement bell and a replica. These gifts commemorated both the service of HBS in protecting Russian heritage and the school’s centennial. The Centennial Bell replica is sited prominently at Baker Lawn, along with a plaza and inscribed pedestal befitting of the gift.

The reconstruction of Baker Lawn and the design of the bell exhibit proved to be an ideal way to commemorate Harvard Business School’s centennial.