Master in Design Studies (MDesS)
Area Coordinator: Timothy Hyde, Assistant Professor of Architecture
This area of study provides a setting for scholarly study (as distinct from project design) within the area of historical studies and design theory as they are related to the GSD’s core offerings in architecture, landscape architecture and urban design and planning. The program is directed towards individuals already having some background or interest in the history and philosophy of design and the built environment who wish to pursue advanced scholarship, and to others interested in expanding their knowledge of contemporary theory and analysis. Like the other areas of the MDesS program, the program in History and Philosophy of Design is intentionally interdisciplinary both within the GSD and with other schools and institutes within the University.
Since this program of study is set within the context of a series of strong professional programs in architecture, landscape architecture, urban design and planning, it seeks to explore history and theory concerns as they especially relate to these disciplines; and, as such, has a different form and focus than traditional programs in the history of art and architecture. It especially focuses on the rich dialogue and discourse that occurs between history and theory studies on the one hand, and the more speculative concerns of the GSD’s professional programs.
The program of study includes several foundation courses that provide an introduction to relevant discourse as well as an exposure to history and theory faculty. Additional courses may be drawn from a range of lecture and seminar courses that reflect faculty interests. A sampling of these interests includes courses from the history of art and architecture, history of modern architecture and urbanism, the history of science and technology in relation to architecture, modernity and European landscape architecture, experimental architecture of the 1970s, and many others. By the end of the first semester students are expected to identify an area of interest to pursue in depth through the preparation of a scholarly paper or thesis involving independent research.
Students in the MDesS program will have access to a rich array of resources. In addition to GSD offerings, students are able to take courses in the Department of History of Art and Architecture with its strong offerings in the history of Western art and architecture, as well as Islamic and Asian art. The study of architecture has a natural affinity with several courses of instruction offered in the Departments of the History of Science, American Civilization, History, and Literature (among others) and many GSD students enroll in courses in these areas. In addition to strong academic offerings in these and other University areas, there are many University-wide centers that are of interest to the graduate student in the History and Philosophy of Design area. The Barker Humanities Center serves as a venue for conversations among humanities scholars at Harvard, and hosts speakers and regular workshops on issues of culture, politics, art, history and other topics. There are also many workshops, conferences and guest speaker events at the Radcliffe Institute, the Charles Warren Center for the Study of American Culture, and the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, and other Harvard centers. In addition, students in the MDesS program may take courses at MIT, which also offers a broad range of history and theory courses.
Required Courses:
GSD4201 (M1-M6) Buildings Texts and Contexts
GSD 6212 Sustainability for Planning and Design
Typical Electives:
GSD 4337 Digital Culture, Space and Society
GSD 4355 Architecture, Science, and Technology
GSD 4404 Modernism/Modernity
Related Faculty
John Beardsley, Senior Lecturer in Landscape Architecture
Eve Blau, Adjunct Professor in Architectural History
K. Michael Hays, Eliot Noyes Professor of Architectural Theory
Timothy Hyde, Assistant Professor of Architecture
Sanford Kwinter, Professor of Architectural Theory and Criticism
Dorothee Imbert, Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture
Erika Naginski, Associate Professor of Architectural History
Antoine Picon, Professor of the History of Architecture and Technology
Christine Smith, Robert C. and Marian K. Weinberg Professor of Architectural
History
Student Profiles
Alumnus: Carson Chan