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Airports and churches: the Graham Foundation grantees

An exhibition curated by Sonja Dümpelmann (associate professor of landscape architecture) and Charles Waldheim (department chair and professor of landscape architecture) and a publication by Dümpelmann were selected for Graham Foundation grants. Dean Mohsen Mostafavi was also tapped for his book Nicholas Hawksmoor: London Churches.

The exhibit, Airport Landscape: Urban Ecologies in the Aerial Age, examines the contemporary airport as a landscape with a complex ecology. With images of operating and recently decommissioned airports, the exhibit repositions the airport as a landscape and cultural space central to the city.

Sonja Dümpelmann’s book Flights of Imagination: Powered Aviation and the Art and Science of Landscape Design and Planning probes the history of aerial photography and its impact on designers and planners as they perceive the built environment. Nicholas Hawksmoor was a major contributor to the traditions of British and European architectural culture, and Mostafavi’s book looks at the architect’s work in light of urbanism, with help from photographs by Hélène Binet.

In association with the Airport Landscape exhibit, Harvard is hosting a conference of the same title on November 14-15, where a range of leading international voices will explore the history, design, planning, development and operation of the airport landscape.

Read more about Graham Foundation grantee projects.