EDITOR'S NOTE APPENDED

Seemingly content to live in the shadow of Memorial Church for most of its life, the inauspicious Sever Hall finally got its close-up after over a century of quiet existence on the edge of the Yard.

Last Wednesday, Sever enjoyed a bit of glory when the American Institute of Architects (AIA) ranked it number 77 on its list of America’s 150 “favorite” works of architecture.

In the AIA’s poll 1,804 “randomly selected” Americans were instructed to pick their preferred choice of architecture from a list of 248 buildings prepared by an AIA panel. Sever beat famous buildings like Fenway Park (ranked 113) and New York’s Radio City Music Hall (100) to snag slot 77, standing as the only Harvard-affiliated building on the list.

“I don’t think it’s all that unexpected to have Sever ranked where it is,” said Annie T. Ardery ’10. “I mean, look at it. It’s magnificent.”

Some Harvard students, however, apparently disagreed with the AIA’s assessment.

“I find it absolutely surprising, especially given that it’s right next to something like Widener Library,” said Sean R. Tracy ’05, who was touring Sever during a recent visit back to campus. “I think anything else on the Yard, with the exception of Emerson, would be better suited for the title.” [SEE EDITOR'S NOTE BELOW]

The building does boast its share of architectural quirks.

For example, the brick arch leading into the building can act as a conduit for sound, allowing students standing on opposite ends of the arch to whisper to one another cross the empty space.

In spite of such subtleties, however, Sever has received considerable criticism in the past. As long ago as 1937, an article in The Crimson described the building as “bleak” and “depressing,” decorated with little more than “heating pipes of dubious aesthetic value.”

Since then, Sever has undergone multiple rounds of renovations, the latest taking place in 2005 to make room for the Department of Visual and Environmental Studies.

In 1970, the federal government named Sever a National Historic Landmark (NHL) for its unique design in the “well-known Romanesque style,” according to the NHL program’s website.

Henry Hobson Richardson, the architect who designed Sever in the late 19th century, also designed the more widely known Trinity Church in Copley Square. According to the NHL program’s website, his goal was to make Sever blend in with the Gothic and Federal styles of the preexisting buildings around the Yard.

EDITOR'S NOTE
The Feb. 12 news article "Sever Ranks 77 on List of Top 150 Works of Architecture" included a quote attributed to Sean R. Tracy '05 criticizing a magazine's ranking of Sever Hall as one of the best works of architecture in America. After the article was published, Tracy contacted The Crimson and said that he was never interviewed for the story. The man interviewed by The Crimson, however, provided Tracy's full name and class graduation year when asked for identification. It appears that The Crimson never spoke with the real Tracy and the quote should not have been included in the article.