A detail of architect H.H. Richardson’s original plan for Austin Hall

“A new building upon a new site is urgently needed.”

So wrote Harvard’s President Eliot of the Law School in 1880. His call for help soon proved fruitful: Boston merchant Edward Austin offered to pay for a new classroom and faculty office building. Dean Langdell — working with famed architect H. H. Richardson — seized the opportunity to design a building that would allow him to put his new “case method” of instruction into practice. Classes began in Austin Hall on October 1, 1883 — arguably the first day in the life of the modern Law School.

Today, the Law School’s leaders have a new vision of facilities that will support outstanding legal education both today and tomorrow. They have worked with renowned architect Robert A. M. Stern to make that vision a reality. Like Austin Hall more than 120 years ago, the Wasserstein Hall, Caspersen Student Center, Clinical Wing project will transform the Harvard Law School experience and shape the School for decades to come.