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Tonight at the Harvard COOP, Blair Kamin will be offering the complete, never-before-told story of the twenty-five gates that form portals to Harvard Yard, this beautiful gift book recounts the aesthetic vision for America's preeminent university, developed by renowned architecture firm McKim, Mead & White.
Curbed Magazine fantastic description of the book, wrote โIn the flurry of architecture and activity that greets those entering Harvard Yard, itโs easy for visitors to miss the 25 gates that ring the university grounds. But as Chicago Tribune architecture critic Blair Kamin examines in his new book Gates of Harvard Yard (Princeton Architectural Press), there is so much more to these 25 gateways in Cambridge, Massachusetts, than their roles as ceremonial entrances and exits.
โTo see these gates is to appreciate hat gateways arenโt something out of the dim architectural past," says Kamin. "They should be part of the present and future. Thereโs always a human desire to demarcate and declare that this space is mine, and that wonโt go away. They key is having those structures and expressions make a contribution to the public realm and not merely be utilitarian eyesores. Harvardโs gates set a standard. Theyโre made for a private institution, but have a public purpose, announcing youโre entering into a unique place with incredible artistry.โ"