ONLINE FORUM: Aalto's Woodberry Poetry Room

The Woodberry Poetry Room in the Lamont Library at Harvard University (1949) is one of only four extant designs in the United States by the great Finnish architect, Alvar Aalto. Aalto designed the room and, working with his wife, Aino, its furnishings. The planned renovation of the space and its fittings is currently underway and has inspired a lively exchange of views among members of the architecture, design and preservation communities. DOCOMOMO US has offered to serve as an electronic forum for this debate. Included below you will find: Project statements from Harvard University and its Renovation Architect; correspondence between Harvard University Libraries, the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and the design and preservation communities; reactions from the public; and links to press coverage. DOCOMOMO on the Poetry Room (pdf)DOCOMOMO US Woodberry Statement (pdf), 09-20-2006DOCOMOMO US to Editor of Boston Globe, 10-13-2006HARVARD UNIVERSITY LIBRARY PROJECT STATEMENTS: Harvard University Libraries Website Announcement, 06-12-2006 Architect's Scope of Work, 07-03-2006 (pdf)STATEMENTS AND RESPONSES:Frederic Schwartz and Toshiko Mori Email Statement with McCarty and Stubbs Letter, 06-29-2006 (pdf)Allen to Cline (pdf), 06-29-2006Mori to Cline email (pdf), 06-30-2006 Mori to Cline (pdf), 07-03-2006 Cline to Mori (pdf), 07-03-2006Sekler to Cline (pdf), 07-05-2006GSD Faculty Statement (pdf), undated Aalto Foundation to Mori (pdf), 07-05-2006Architectural Record Editors to Cline (pdf), 07-07-2006Stubbs to Cline (pdf), 07-07-2006Zung to Cline (pdf), 07-13-2006AIA NY Interiors to Cline (pdf), 07-17-2006Aalto Symposium to Cline (pdf), 07-25-2006WEBSITE LINKS TO ARTICLES, BLOGS, AND GENERAL INFORMATION: