Welcome to the Harvard Skyview: Common Spaces. Reimagined. Located at the Harvard University Richard A. and Susan. F. Smith Campus Center, the Skyview is an overhead screen that projects dynamic, thoughtful, inspirational, and ever-changing imagery. We consider the Skyview to be an immersive evolution of the Crossroad Series at Harvard Commons, which seeks to unite members of the university community for public activations and community exhibitions. The installation seeks to nurture inspiration and forge community through space transformations, game nights, and student exhibitions. 

Skyview Commons takes advantage of the key inspiration design principle of vastness with its extraordinary and dynamic overarching projection. Visitors can look up and soak in the ever-changing thought-provoking imagery that we hope will serve as the spark for people to connect with each other in new and exciting ways. The installation aims to cultivate a sense of awe and wonder. Skyview also takes advantage of the design principles of skill and admiration as the installation showcases exemplary and inspiring student work. 

The Skyview will be installed at Richard A. and Susan. F. Smith Campus Center in the building’s main centralized gathering space on the ground floor. We envision the installation to encompass the entire open concept area with a natural transition into the second and third floors. The Skyview prides itself on the production and exchange of ideas. Skyview Commons aims to offer a diversity of programming where members of the university community will be able to come together, share, discuss, reflect and connect.

Events offered by the installation will include game nights, space transformations, and community exhibitions. On game nights, Skyview transforms into a scoreboard for arcade games to inspire connectivity and interactivity. In alignment with the design principle of admiration, the projection will also feature celebratory and tributary artwork for events like Black History Month and Women’s History Month. The installation also has the capacity to host movie nights with ceiling projection. Skyview ensures that physical space produces as well as enhances intellectual, cultural, and social experiences. 

Taking inspiration from the Common Spaces open campus initiative to stage community activations, we’ve also offered the option for students to project and showcase their work on the Harvard Skyview in the Smith Campus Center. Subject to the approval of the events committee, individual students and extracurricular organizations will be able to share artwork, graphics, animation, poetry, and other materials of interest with the community. Skyview presents the unique opportunity for this work to be displayed in a well-trafficked setting to the greater public. This process can be completed through an online form on the Common Spaces webpage, where students will be asked to share the title of their work along with a short description of its purpose and meaning. Applicants will subsequently be asked to provide an image of the work in question along with the dates on which the work is to be displayed. Selected proposals will draw from the university community across departments and institutions, resulting in a diverse array of programming.

LINKS OF INTEREST

Notes Page: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iKcu9LDXHZvOd2nkSedZ1N6eIpU-o9whSKzT7K8CWJU/edit
Slides: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1WmkzbuBxJGS7b6ZaEYoW9nnH_mHaPOPjuvxCAgLyi7E/edit?usp=sharing
Presentation Recording: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Bwdcn0ZZEjIxfvdzmbAvNbfK4sDckVOk/view?usp=sharing