The Cult of The Link

Readers be warned. The author won't be obscuring, for the sake of journalistic objectivity, his passion for the subject of this article. The Link deserves oodles more praise than any impartial, lifeless news story could ever provide. From the rooftops (or, even better, from its rooftop), he will shout whooping praises for The Link, Harvard's most recent and most intriguing building project. Not often has one structure satisfied so many with such intelligent design.

The Link connects two science buildings, Mallinckrodt and Hoffman, and house offices and high-tech laboratories. It links two architectural eras and two related departments. A better reporter might subject the building to a hard-nosed critique, but this one, dear readers, treats it as a structure worthy of reverence. Call him crazy. Call this the Cult of The Link. Call it whatever; but first, get to know his totem.

Form and Function

From Oxford Street, The Link's limestone facadestrikes the passer-by as delightfully atypical,and its beige hue contrasts the abundant red brickof the buildings it connects. Set back from thestreet, its presence is subdued, yet sublime.

The Link's supple shape was what initiallyattracted this subjective--nay, thrilled--reporterto the scene. A deep archway is cut into therectangular, three-story building's center,allowing pedestrians unhindered access to thescience complex beyond and a glimpse into thelaboratories within. The passageway is long andwide and lined with glass. "Oxford Street is amajor circulation space," says Jim Collins, Jr.,the principal architect. "It seemed inappropriateto build a building that would wall off that wholelength."

Crowned by a geometric lattice, The Linkmanages to exploit the site, a negligible patch ofland between two mammoth buildings, to itsaesthetic potential. "In some places, buildingsthat link other buildings can be designed in a waythat helps define residual space or creates newspaces," says Collins. "If that's donesensitively, then those buildings can not onlyphysically link programs, but they can actuallybring a new amenity to the campus that didn'texist before."

The Philosophy of Linkage

More than a mere aesthetic wonder, The Linkaccomplishes two interrelated functions. Byconnecting Mallinckrodt and Hoffman physically, itjoins their two disciplines conceptually. Thecorridor that links the Chemistry Department toEarth and Planetary Sciences (EPS), then, is morethan just a walkway. It's an idea. The Link is onemomma step for science-kind.

Like MIT's Infinite Corridor, which connectshundreds of offices, labs, and classrooms, andseems to stretch forever, The Link connects anumber of science buildings in what we might callHarvard's 'Finite Corridor.' "One of the reasonsthat they wanted to put the physical link betweenHoffman and Mallinckrodt is that it gives us anuninterrupted physical path [indoors] from thefarthest reaches of Organismic and EvolutionaryBiology, through to the University Museum, the EPSdepartment, Chemistry, and all the way to theFairchild Biochemistry Building," says Alan Long,director of the chemical laboratories.

A New Home for Anderson

The Link will house three academic units: thescientific groups of James Anderson and CynthiaFriend, and another, still unnamed team on the topfloor.

Anderson, Weld Professor of AtmosphericChemistry, is main occupant of The Link. Tenuredin both Chemistry and EPS, he is renowned forairborne expeditions over Antarctica, where he andhis crew study atmospheric ozone levels. The grouphe oversees will occupy two floors. "One of thebiggest motivations for constructing The Link wasthat the major occupant, Jim Anderson, provides anintellectual link between the two departments,"says Long.

Jerry Connors, assistant director of thechemistry laboratories, says Anderson is the idealoccupant for The Link. "He's currently up thestreet [in the Engineering Sciences Laboratory]but he really belongs down here. It's where hiscolleagues are, where the students are, wherethere's more interaction. That's what this placeis about."

"There's a certain elegance of linking thedepartments through his research group," saysJeffrey Cushman, capital project manager for TheLink. Throughout the Faculty of Arts and Sciences,administrators are relocating their humancapital--artists and scientists alike. "One of thethings we are trying to do is rationalize thephysical locations of people in our departmentswho do similar things," says Long.