Cambridge Seven Associates

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(Established Cambridge, Massachusetts 1962)

The Cambridge Seven partnership was established in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1962 by seven relatively inexperienced young designers. Six of the original founders remained with the firm for many years: Louis Bakanowski, Ivan Chermayeff, Peter Chermayeff, Paul Dietrich, Thomas Geismar and Terry Rankine. Charles Redmon replaced one of the founding partners in 1971.

The Cambridge Seven partnership was formed with the idea of recreating an all purpose office that could easily work in every area of design. As a result, the firm has been involved with film making, graphic design, exhibition design, and interior design. Although the firm has particularly excelled in exhibition design, it also placed emphasis on architectural commissions.

The firm has worked on a wide range of projects including civic centers, academic institutions, museums, housing, and theaters. The firm has also been highly involved with restoration and rehabilitation work.

Perhaps due to its size, the work of the partnership in the 1970s and 1980s varied widely in both size and quality. While many of the projects rank among the best buildings of their time, others seem mundane and banal. Although the group made no effort to create its own design style, it did generate the possibility of architecture as an all-encompassing profession.

The firm is now known as Cambridge Seven Associates, Inc., and the original partners are no longer with the firm.

References
Muriel Emmanuel. Contemporary Architects. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1980. ISBN 0-312-16635-4. NA 680-C625. p133-35.

Katsuhiko Ichinowatari. Cambridge Seven Associates, Process Architecture No. 119. Books Nippan, 1994. ISBN 4893311190.

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