Abramovitz to Design Radcliffe House

Max Abramovitz, a New York City architect with the firm of Harrison and Abramovitz, has been selected to design Radcliffe College's fourth House and library-study center, President Bunting announced yesterday.

He will visit the College frequently this spring to make preliminary plans and hold discussions with students on both buildings, which will replace the College's off-campus houses located along Garden St., between Shepard and Linnaean Sts.

Abramovitz was Deputy Director of Planning at the United Nations headquarters from 1947 to 1952. His firm designed the Law School and library at Columbia University, the student center and dormitories at New York University, and several office buildings in New York City. He has taught at Yale, Columbia, and N.Y.U.

"If things go well, the new House center will open in September, 1964," President Bunting said yesterday. She stressed, however, that the College has not yet collected sufficient funds for the buildings.

Outlining tentative proposals, President Bunting said the fourth House might include 12 units of 25 people each and a separate wing for approximately 25 Faculty affiliates. Each unit would have its own entrance, living room, and kitchen. Most of the bedrooms would be singles, arranged in four or five groups.

"In these basic units we would try to capture the feeling of a home," she explained.

The new House would also provide a dining room and several common rooms. Commenting that "you can have a much better conversation in a room not intended for it," Mrs. Bunting suggested a group study room, an art studio, a workshop, and a sewing room as possibilities.

She noted that the Radcliffe Government Association might want to set up a committee to work with Abramovits on plans for the fourth House and the library-study center.

The Heads of the three Houses now in existence are currently choosing Faculty Associates to participate in informal activities and help plan House programs. Kenneth V. Thimann, Head of East House, announced his selections yesterday.

They include William Alfred, associate professor of English; Mrs. Ralph S. Brown, Jr., instructor in History and Literature, and Mr. Brown, a Boston lawyer; James E. Haar '50, instructor in Music; and George M. Hanfmann, professor of Fine Arts, and Mrs. Hanfmann.

Other Associates

The other Associates for East House are Stanley H. Hoffmann, associate professor of Government; Manfred L. Karnovsky, associate professor of Biological Chemistry, and Mrs. Karnovsky, '55; Daniel Kleppner, instructor in Physics, and Mrs. Kleppner; and William R. Poirier, assistant professor of English.