To reimagine the Smith Center, the landscape architects worked with the architects to punctuate the building with tactical landscape interventions that fulfill Lluís Sert’s aspirations. New structural possibilities allowed the designers to cut a large glass light well through the building’s core and plant in the resulting “vitrine,” bringing natural light and views of vegetation to all spaces. Eight lush 20-foot-tall green walls, ranging from 8 to 19 feet wide, fed by rainwater filtered from the roof, and featuring native New England plants like maidenhair ferns and autumn ferns, soften the lobby. They also absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen, improving air quality. Framing the newly widened corridor, the living walls are the visual focal point of the interior, bringing it alive with year-round green. The Dunster Roof Garden provides seating and a different experience of central Cambridge.

The Smith Center demonstrates the centrality of landscape in supporting the experience of the campus environment and fortifying Harvard’s campus identity. The center brings landscape elements inside to establish a memorable and inviting common space for students, visitors, and the community. What was once an over-scaled and uninviting space to pass through is now a place to gather, stop for lunch against a backdrop wall of green, or have a group study session in the fresh air—even in the dead of the Boston winter. It is the university’s new, green front door. The Smith Campus Center demonstrates how green spaces can help adapt iconic but imperfect university buildings for the 21st century.