ruminations about architecture and design

Monday, October 25, 2010

robert campbell on newton north high school


This is Newton North High School. Part of it anyway.









This is actually not Newton North High School, it is only a rendering. they probably built a model also.






Robert Campbell had a typically excellent review of the new high school in the Sunday edition of the Boston Globe. He was critical of what he perceived to be a lack of coherent visual organization on the outside of the building, but was impressed with the way architect Graham Gund handled interior circulation. Campbell chided critics of the $200 million price tag, correctly noting that a lot of factors drove the cost up and Newton was ultimately happy to get such an impressive investment in the future of education.
I think they got a pretty good deal. Maybe the architect could have saved a few dollars by using some more right angles, but so what? The students who go there will probably have a marginally better experience than they would have had at the old high school. We can devote our resources to things like this, or endless wars in faraway lands.



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