Roots: Our Origins

Kirkland Architecture.

As a senior at Concord Academy our college counsellor organized a trip for several of us, maybe 5 including Melinda Sherer and myself, to visit with the Admissions people on the campus of Hamilton College who were responsible for recruiting a class for the new Kirkland College. My mother had done the college tour with me to area colleges. This seemed interesting and my brother was a Senior at Hamilton.
I LOVED IT. My parents said “Are you seriously considering going to college that is not even built yet?” YES precisely because it wasnt built yet. I loved the large slabs of concrete that were scattered about where they were testing finishes. I loved seeing the overall site plan and knowing that it was really going to be under construction while we were there. I loved that even the admissions people and Dean Nelbach who we met with, were asking us questions about the campus and the plans. I had no idea at the time that I would go on to Architecture School, but I did know that this sounded like an adventure and I was excited to get on board.
Throughout my time at Kirkland I served on the Trustee Committee for Physical Plant. There was some story about the fact that at that early visit, I made some intelligent comments about the campus and someone remembered. I dont remember but being put on that committee really did launch my life. On the Physical Plant committee we worked through issues of campus design, construction scheduling and details and programming for spaces. Benjamin Thompson would occaissionilly attend these meetings. I think it is fair to say that Ben Thompson was vague, inspired, infuriating, exciting and a genius. He would show us slides of some far off place where people were interacting and would make connections to this campus with young women learning and growing. He would get excited about some new idea that the educational program was presenting that had big implications for the Architecture. He was engaging and excited about our campus. He respected my opinion as one of the members of the committee. He valued the process of design and the people who were engaged in it. He made us see the site as as important for the buildings as the buildings. He loved to talk to the Trustees about the flowers that were growing when they wanted to talk about costs. We worked thru many issues about how big the buidlings were going to be and how the dorms would be arranged and what kind of furniture there would be. We interviewed students about how the first dorms were working for them. We debated all issues of size and configuration. Many times Sam would have met with them in between so much was left to be brought up to speed.
Two summers during my time at Kirkland I worked at Ben Thompsons office in Cambridge. He would give me things to do that were related to Kirkland or to similar projects. I worked on teams in the office and really learned how the whole process of Architecture was completed. Each fall I would return to campus to see how things had progressed. I am sure that all the hours I logged at BTA enriched my whole college experience immeasurably.
For many people the buildings may seem stark and harsh. It was Ben’s attitude that the people and the colors and movement of life activated the spaces and the architecture. He believed in making the buildings have a sense of simplicity and sustainability. I dont particularly like the aesthetic of the campus, but I got the intent and appreciated the full picture he was creating.
The campus has grown and been taken over by Hamilton and even taken on the inglorious name of the ‘dark side’. I think Ben Thompson would have been angered by that description as his heart was in that campus and his heart was anything but dark.
There were moments years later when Sam and I talked about Ben and what it was like to work with him. I went on to work in his office for 8 years during and after architecture school. There was so much to accomplish and sometimes he was so much of the artist and so little of the type of person to get things done. But I also learned the strength of the office that he had built where everyone was valued and the team studio collaborative model was used in his office well before that became the norm.
I was honored to be such a deep part of the Kirkland campus and I am still amazed to look back and see how significant this part of the Kirkland experience has been in my life.

Ms. Petri –
Loved your story about working for Ben Thompson. One of my fondest memories is the opening of the Art Center and Bob Palusky’s work.