The design of The Roosevelt House Renovation celebrates the history of the house while providing entirely new infrastructure to allow for twenty-first century education, research, and dialogue in public policy and human rights.
James Polshek, Design Partner
Roosevelt House, an integral part of Hunter College since 1943, re-opened in 2010 as a public policy institute honoring the distinguished legacy of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. Its mission is three-fold: to educate students in public policy and human rights, to support faculty research, and to foster creative dialogue.
The institute provides opportunities for students to analyze public policy and experience meaningful civic engagement; for faculty to research, teach, and write about important issues of the day; and for scholarly and public audiences to participate in high-profile lectures, seminars and conferences.
”No houses could have a better background for the use they will now serve. Always in both houses there was an effort to look on all human beings with respect, and to have a true understanding of the points of view of others.”
Eleanor Roosevelt at the dedication of the house to Hunter College in 1943
The program is comprised of highly flexible spaces, including a lecture hall for 100 people, capable of supporting receptions for 175, with an adjacent catering kitchen for receptions and dinner functions; conference / meeting rooms for groups of thirty and sixty people; faculty and staff offices with the flexibility to facilitate private, semi-private, triple and quadruple work station layouts; and two residential apartments with a private entrance for visiting professors.
