Framingham, MA 1963-1969 by Desmond and Lord
In the 1960s, Framingham State saw unprecedented growth for what had begun as the first of the commonwealth’s public schools for teachers in 1839. The beginning of the decade saw the introduction of liberal arts degrees and masters programs as the school was renamed from Framingham State Teachers College to just the State College at Framingham and in 1964 they began accepting men for the first time. These changes kicked off an explosion of development of new classrooms and dormitories. The school emerged from this decade with another name change in 1968 to Framingham State College and a year later, the crowning achievement of this transformation would open atop Bare Hill as the Henry Whittemore Library.
The library was designed by storied local architects Desmond and Lord and takes advantage of the campus’s steep terrain to create a monumental interior space with a more intimate grand entrance. The interior steps down the steep hillside to create a massive concrete atrium with brick accents and light from two clerestories four stories above. A red brick palette outside references the many historic brick collegiate buildings on campus while the stark geometric forms and concrete framing invoke a distinctly modern structure in line with the earlier collegiate work of Paul Rudolph. The firm’s relationship with Rudolph was blooming during design and construction of the Whittemore. In 1962, Desmond and Lord had selected Rudolph to be the master architect of the Southern Massachusetts Technological Institute (now UMass Dartmouth) and would also work with the architect on the Lindemann Mental Health section of the iconic Boston Government Services Center.
Sources:
Carden, Christopher, Previte, Colleen “FSU History” Framingham State University, 2015.
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