Client: 
Hutchins Center for African & African American Research
Location:
Cambridge, MA
Program:
Gallery and Adminstrative Offices
Area:
2,300 sq.ft.
Construction Budget:
$1.2 M 
Completion Date:
Summer 2014
Role on Project:
Project Architect

Adjaye Associates

Ethelbert Cooper Gallery is situated off of Harvard Square in Cambridge Massachusetts, the heart of public life where the University and local population intersect. The site is approx. 2,300 sq.ft and was formerly a storefront financial services center. The space was acquired by the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research, directed by Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., which “supports research on the history and culture of people of African descent the world over and provides a forum for collaboration and the ongoing exchange of ideas”. The project scope involved relocating the existing gallery hidden away on the upper level to the ground level, in order to increase visibililty from the street, and to strengthen engagement with surrounding community. 

The gallery is made up of a sequence of volumes that house various exhibitions that connect the main entrance at Mt. Auburn St. to the secondary entrance at Winthrop St. The administrative offices were also relocated to the ground floor in order for personnel to have a more direct relationship with the viewing public. At each entry there is a ceremonial timber pavilion that marks the threshold between the exterior and interior where one can pause and contemplate ones experience and impression of an exhibition.