Public art opportunity for Harvard in Barry's Corner

Harvard professor Preston Scott Cohen is the designer of "one of the best new works of architecture in New York... an angular glass canopy over an obscure but busy pedestrian street". This raises the interesting question about what type of art and architecture Harvard will bring to Allston with its pending Barry's Corner housing/retail development.

I've written before about MIT's Percent for Art program that designates as much as $250,000 for public art at every major MIT renovation or building project and how a similar approach would help Harvard to make good on its promise to transform Western Ave and Barry's Corner.

The Dean of  Harvard Business School said that he couldn't afford public art on Western Ave as part of Harvard's Innovation Lab. But somehow Goldman Sachs, whose New York headquarters are next door to Cohen's canopy, found the money and decided that trying to create a great public space was worth the expense.

As details emerge about Barry's Corner over the next few months, it will be interesting to see which route Harvard and its developer want to take.