Hampshire College Architectural Plans

The Hampshire College Architectural Plans were written by Hugh Stubbins and Associates, Architects and Planners in 1970. Excerpts follow.

Guidelines for the Master Plan were established and recorded in The Making of a College...

"The campus design should express in every possible way the distinctive social and educational character of Hampshire College.

"The essential feature of the campus design is a combination of centralization and decentralization, both capable of substantial expansion...an inner-city or College Center, with major facilities and variegated campus-wide services and opportunities efficiently but interestingly centralized, surrounded by a series of relatively small residential-academic coeducational clusters, called Houses...

"The campus design, while helping state the distinctive identity of the College should not present the institution as a walled tower but as an `open city,' with a sense of relatedness to the surrounding world in which it exists.

"The campus design should capture some of the variety and richness of city life...some of the quality of small, coherent living communities, and some of the serenity and openness of the rural scene." (p.4)

Harold F. Johnson Library Center. Extending the traditional concept of the library as repository of printed knowledge, the Hampshire facility stresses the communication of knowledge through all available media. It provides not only a place to retrieve information but a place to experiment and a place to exchange ideas. In addition to books, it houses an Information Transfer Center, two-story display gallery, bookstore, post office, and sky-lighted kiva lounge.

Natural Science Facility. Physical facilities for the School of Natural Science are, as in the school itself, an experiment in flexibility. The intent is to provide an environment with full opportunity for study and experiment, yet without rigid barriers between fixed labels of discipline. (p.15-16)

Academic Building. The first satellite academic building is strategically located at the gateway to the southeast complex, its entrance courtyard serving as an important gathering point for students and faculty en route between college center and residential facilities. Teaching spaces range from tutorial offices to large lecture halls.

Residences/Houses I and II. Coeducational residences are organized around a series of interconnected quadrangles. Student rooms--predominently singles--are grouped in small suites with living rooms, kitchen and bath facilities for each suite. (p.18-19)