Sarah Pillsbury Harkness (July 8, 1914 – May 22, 2013) was an American architect. She was a co-founder ofThe Architects Collaborative (TAC), an influential design firm that operated between the years of 1945 and 1995 based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. At TAC, she was partner-in-charge on a wide range of building projects, particularly for educational institutions. She was author, co-author, and editor of numerous writings on the topic of design. She was one of the founders of theSix Moon Hill neighborhood inLexington, Massachusetts where she lived for over 60 years.

Born Sarah Pillsbury inSwampscott, Massachusetts, but called "Sally", she was the daughter of Samuel Hale Pillsbury, a lawyer, and the former Helen Farrington Watters. She graduated from theWinsor School and then from theCambridge School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (affiliated withSmith College).

In 1974, She received a Doctor of Fine Arts degree fromBates College.

Sally's first architectural project was a summer house for her parents inDuxbury, Massachusetts which she completed as a student at the Cambridge School.^[1] In this work she was supervised byEleanor Raymond also a graduate of the school. ThePillsbury Summer House was listed on theNational Register of Historic Places in 2004, and is still in use as a private summer home.

Despite Harkess's success in this first project, she struggled to find architectual opportunities following graduation. She saw this as the inherent bias "against being a girl." She did gain useful professional experience and contacts in a short-lived business venture to distributeArtek furniture designed by the Finnish team ofAlvar Aalto andAino Aalto.^[1]

DuringWorld War II both she and her new husbandJohn Cheesman Harkness (known as "Chip") interviewed at the architectural firmSkidmore, Owings, & Merrill. He was offered a job and worked briefly at the firm. In an interview with Professor Wendy Cox in later life, Sally said that the partner there (probablyLouis Skidmore) claimed "he had never hired a woman in this office and we never <would>"^[2][3] Instead she began work at a company that developed a novel type of packable furniture made from plywood called Pakto. She worked there between 1941-43. Her next position, (1943-44) was with theMuseum of Modern Art where she worked on preparation of traveling exhibitions^[4].^[1]

Sally and Chip Harkness were among the founding partners ofThe Architects Collaborative ("TAC") in 1946.Walter Gropius, then teaching at theHarvard Graduate School of Design was asked to join and became the last and eighth of the founders. Despite his reputation as a pioneer of modern architecture and founder of theBauhaus school he did not take a more senior role in the firm than the others.

The "collaborative" in the name represented a deeply held belief in a less individualistic, star-driven way of working. In 1966 Sally wrote, "The essence of collaboration is the strength of the individual. When collaboration is operating as it should, a good idea can be carried with conviction, recognized by others without loss of their own prestige. The spirit of exploration and invention, led by philopsophy, can be present in an office. Ideas are welcomed from wherever they come. Archtectural music is orchestral rather than solo. Every member is involved."^[5] In the Cox interview, she said "Collaboration is a rare and wonderful thing; it is something to strive for as opposed to competition. The idea of people contributing something to the solution of the problem is quite wonderful. You feel great if you have been able to make a contribution, even if it’s only “I’m the one who thought of moving the wall from there to there.” And it made all the difference, and I feel proud. But you have to have an attitude about it. You have to care more about the thing than you care about your own success."^[6][7]

As described by Kubo,^[4] much thought was given at TAC to how the partners could work most effectively together, striking a balance between individual and collective authority. This included requiring founders to take responsibility for both creative and managerial decisions and even having a rotating schedule for who would be responsible for handling the mail. In its heyday, TAC was the largest architectural firm in the United States and took on a wide array of building projects in the US and abroad.^[8]

Among the TAC innovations was the way they accomodated the working schedules of the two founding partners who were mothers, Sally andJean B. Fletcher. This approach was featured in a 1947 Boston Globe article entitled "No Woman Should Stay Home: Two Cambridge Wives Solve Career Problem."^[9]

One of TAC's earliest projects (1947) was the development of a new neighborhood inLexington, Massachusetts which they namedSix Moon Hill. Each of the partners developed a house for themselves with the exception of Gropius who already had a home (Gropius House) in nearbyLincoln, Massachusetts. The approach taken in the development of the neighborhood, was indicative of their insistence on fairness. The approximately 20-acre parcel was divided into 29 lots, which were then asigned by drawing names out of hat. The houses that were built stood out from the historic colonial architecture in Lexington and newCape Cod style houses being built at the time. They incorporated skylights, flat or butterfly roofs, frameless windows, and large expanses of glass. Careful siting maximized winter sun and large eaves facing west protected against strong summer light.^[10] Sally lived in the house she designed with Chip for over 60 years until her death in 2013.

As a partner at TAC, Sally played the role of "partner-in-charge" on many of TAC's architectural commissions.^[4] Many of the projects were for educational institutions.

Her experience with furniture design was reflected in her design for an independent study unit or carrell for the Bedford, New York middle school. The goal of the carrel was to provide each student with a study space and privacy. This space consisted of a study space, dining area and coat storage. When introducing the study unit to the school, a choice was made that two-thirds of the students would have a carrel and one-third would not. This decision was made through the assumption that not all students would be ready for the independence that the carrel provides. The carrels were placed with the storage units, this allowed students to choose between working with their table-mate or independently. For students to be social for lunch, the tables were moved away from the storage units and combined together, making enough room for six students to eat at the combined table. The carrels also had screens that could be used to divide the students into groups. All the students' belongings were in their carrel, including coats which were hung on pegs at the end of the storage units.^[11]

Harkness was author, co-author, and editor of numerous writings about design. She co-edited withWalter Gropius the 1966 monograph about The Architects Collaborative^[5] and contributed to its writing. In 1976 she co-authored a book on specific design considerations for accomodating people with disabilities,Building without Barriers for the Disabled.^[12] She was an early proponent of environmental considerations in design. InThe Solar Section: Starting Point of Passive Design, published in theAIA Journal in 1981, she wrote about the importance of understanding the impact of the direction of the sun's light.^[13] In 1985, she co-authored a book on sustainable design.^[14]

A full bibliography of writing by and about Harkness can be found as part of her profile by Michael's Kubo on the Pioneering Women in American Architecture website^[4].

• 1941 Prize, The Boston Society of Architects^[15]
• 1967 The design of the Fox Lane Middle School in Bedford, New York, The American Association of School Administrators Award^[15]
• 1967 Honor Award for the design of the Chase Learning Center of the Eaglebrook School in Deerfield, Massachusetts, The American Institute of Architects^[15]
• 1979 Fellow,American Institute of Architects
• 1987 The design of the Olin Arts Center at Bates College, The American School and University of Louis I. Kahn Citation^[15]
• 1991 Award of Honor, The Boston Society of Architects^[16]

Sarah P. Harkness and Jean B. Fletcher were the only two female founding partners of TAC. They were both mothers, with Harkness having seven children and Fletcher having six. The women worked together to create a schedule that made it possible to work at the firm and to meet the responsibilities as mothers. The women worked half days; Fletcher would work in the morning and Harkness would work in the afternoon. The women also shared the same baby-sitter.^[17]

Her papers are stored at theInternational Archive of Women in Architecture.

Harkness was elected as fellow to theAmerican Institute of Architects in 1979.^[15] Harkness was a registered architect in both Massachusetts and Tennessee.^[15]

In 1981, she was a mentor of architectCheryl L. McAfee.^[18]

Harkness was interviewed along with other then surviving founders of TAC in the 2006 documentary "Still Standing: Conversations With Three Founding Partners of The Architects Collaborative".^[16]

• 1914 births
• 2013 deaths
• 20th-century American architects
• 20th-century American women artists
• American women architects
• Architects from Cambridge, Massachusetts
• People from Swampscott, Massachusetts
• Smith College alumni
• Fellows of the American Institute of Architects
• 21st-century American women

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