And How Would You Describe the Sackler?

* "It looks like a German torte with all those layers. It looks like it should be eaten but that green fence makes it look unappetizing," said Sophia S. Pao '87.

* "That's a building in mourning," said former mayor and Cambridge City Councilor Alfred E. Vellucci. "Remember the old armbands that immigrant men used to wear when there was a death in the family? The black bands running around the building remind me of Italian funerals."

* "It looks like a New York factory," said one sophomore who wished not to be identified.

* "It's just a building to expand the capacity to hold Harvard art...but it's rather unattractive," said Thomas Halpern '86-'87.

* "It looks like a hydro-electric plant," said Dennis H. Stevens '88.

* "It reminds me of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich," said Marilee L. Chang '87.

* "You don't even notice it....The Sackler looks more like an office building than a museum," said Jessica Holland '86.

* "It adds diversity," said Tau-Mu Yi '86.

* "It looks unfinished, like somebody goofed," said Cambridge resident and Brandeis junior Jenny C. Fulton.

* "Stirling [the architect] combines pop architecture with traditional [architecture] to transform his design into a modern kind of look," said a Graduate School of Design student who declined to be identified.

* "I like it," said Andrew M. Rappe '86. "I like the color of the brick and the shape of the building. It is aesthetically pleasing."

* "I think it's beautiful; it stands out yet blends well with the scenery around it," said an Adams House sophomore who declined to be identified.

* "It's not bad. I don't mind it. It's not offensive," said Bion-Yu Tsang '88.

* "It blends nicely with the buildings in the region and provides a nice contrast to the red brick facades nearby," said Stephen D. Chessler '86. "It symbolizes Harvard's determination to remain in the forefront of art."

* "I walk past it every day, but it doesn't make much of an impression," said Melanie Stevens '85