The Library-Study Center was designed by New York architect Max Abramovitz along the general lines recommended by a trustees' committee after two years of library-visiting, and by a committee of librarians. Abramovitz's former projects include Lincoln Center's Philharmonic Hall, Columbia University's Law School and Library, and the master plan for Brandeis.

The design itself follows no established style. The standard description--that it is "reminiscent of buildings in New Orleans and Italy"--is none too definitive. Miss Porritt suggests that the building is "vaguely Italian Renaissance, although not in the same sense that Sever is Italian Renaissance." And an imaginative parent took one look at the plaster model and pegged it "houseboat motif."

Planned as the focal point of the Quad, rather than to fit in with the other buildings, the Study Center's brilliant, white surface of limestone panels and concrete will be broken by the shadows of its recessed windows. "If we had wanted the building to fit in," comments Mrs. Bunting, "we would have made it of red brick, but we didn't want the new Center to look like a dormitory."

The new structure will stand a little lower than Cabot, the tallest dorm. Its four floors above ground level will be slightly pyramiding tiers enclosing a central courtyard with shade trees and a pool. The ceilings at each level will re-emphasize the lines of outside arches. On the main floor will be the circulation desk, reserve books, and library offices, as well as reference works, periodicals, and a large exhibition area. The projection room, four conference rooms, the language lab, and the commuters' room will be located on the floor below.

Faculty Attracted

The second and third floors will be primarily for studying, with a cluster of faculty offices and seminar rooms facing the inner courtyard. Study alcoves, lining the outer edge of the building, will be broader and less deep than those in the present library. The alcoves will be furnished with various combinations of individual desks and comfortable chairs. The penthouse will include poetry room, colloquium, and music library, along with a kitchen and a coffee lounge. Its outer balcony will offer scenic Cambridge from many perspectives, and an inner terrace with tables will border the courtyard.

Outside, a narrow raised garden will surround the building, leading, in Disneyland fashion, past a small orchard and through a miniature woodland of birches and ferns. The front entrance area, facing Shepard Street, will be landscaped in grass and concrete, and enclosed by a high wall alternating sections of brick with wrought iron bars.

Rules Not Discussed

The rules under which the new Center will operate have not yet been discussed. Nor has the naming of the building. Ordinarily, college buildings are dedicated to the person who contributes roughly half their total cost. So far, more than $3.5 million has been pledged to the Study Center, including $1 million from the sale of Longfellow Hall, and the Fund Committee hopes to have the total amount--$4.5 million--pledged by the time the building opens.

Radcliffe Yard will become strangely quiet as its attractions are outshone by the new Center. The Gym will be the only building left there that is used by a large number of undergraduates--there are no plans now to re-model or move it. Agassiz will continue to serve its present functions, and a committee is now considering its renovation.

When all the moving is finished, the basement and first floor of Radcliffe Library will be taken over by the Women's Archives, which has out- grown its space in Byerly. The rest of the library will be remodelled by the Institute for Independent Study to provide offices and studies for its scholars. The Institute hopes to put in the extra floor--between the present second and third floors--that was in the original design, but was never completed.

Students know surprisingly little about the Study Center. Easily two thirds of the girls questioned last week in an informal poll had never seen the model or the plans for the building. There was a strong consensus, though, that Radcliffe Library is "musty and depressing," and most students agreed they would use a modern, well-equipped library much more. The main advantage, most of those questioned agreed, would be its closeness to the dorms.

One sophomore was particularly worried that the new library might be furnished with Holyokian purple chairs, white ladies, and red curtains. Another student predicted that the Center's completion would add decisive new ammunition to the generally dormant 'open Lamont to females' battle. With male inhabitants envious of the Center, there will be new basis for negotiation