Word: sert
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Some months ago my wife and I came to Cambridge after an absence of three years. Just before we departed, driving on Mount Auburn St., we saw the new building by Sert. I stopped the car and looked the building over, not with the eye of a professional architect, but of a person who takes an interest in his surroundings. The building appeared to me a very good one indeed. It was exciting, full of movement, possessed vitality and reflected not the vision of Christopher Wren or Thomas Jefferson but of our own time and our own temper. At that...
Fortunately, the latest editorial criticizing Dean Sert's buildings cannot be taken seriously, not because it was flippant but because it was whining, irresponsible, and ignored pertinent facts. It stated unreasonable opinions in the manner of a college senior who should be past adolescence. The editorial annoyed me not because I am a disciple of Sert, or any other architect, but because it did not state relevant architectural facts...
...careful perusal of the following information reveals Dean Sert's consideration for pedestrians, parking, sun, trees, and space...
...Holyoke Center does not belong to Dean Sert and is not in his back yard; it is on the property of a University one of whose aims is the education and civilization of Mr. Weil, among others. If the Holyoke Center were a low four stories Mr. Weil would like its height, but would probably complain that is was not airy enough since it pushed him into the street. So he would again write an editorial requesting "something spacious and airy" and "uncluttered" which presumably means a vacant parking lot of 85,600 sq. ft. adjacent to Harvard Square...
...WEIL REPLIES: What I wrote was not an editorial, but the expression of my personal views. I do not question the ingenuity of some of Dean Sert's ideas--such as diffused light--or the value of such things as parking, trees, and space. I only ask if a building cannot take care of these things and still be attractive...