The Graduate School of Design is having internal discussions about the future of educating effective and wise (and, of course, talented and creative) urban planners and urban designers. Indeed, discussion and exchange of perspective is what we hope to stimulate among the invited panelists and with GSD faculty and students. The day will be divided into three panels as outlined below. Each panelist will deliver a brief statement--fifteen to twenty minutes--for the purpose of stimulating a discussion. Each panel will be moderated by a faculty member. Following each set of three presentations, or provocations, the moderator will first engage the panelists with some follow-up questions and then reach out to others in attendance.


9:00 am
Welcome and Introductions (Alex Krieger)

9:15 - 10:45
PANEL 1: "An International Perspective: Educating Planners and Urban Designers to Respond to a Rapidly (and Economically Unequally) Urbanizing World"

Stefano Boeri, Professor of Urban Design, Politecnico di Milano
Joan Fitzgerald, Professor and Director, Law, Policy and Society Program, Northeastern University
Rahul Mehrotra, Professor of Architecture, MIT
Moderator: Judith Grant Long, Assistant Professor of Urban Planning, GSD

11:00 - 12:30
PANEL 2: "What Do Planners and Urban Designers (and Other Urbanists) Need to Learn From One Another?"

Toni Griffin, Adjunct Associate Professor of Urban Planning, GSD and Director of Planning and Community Development, Newark, NJ
Richard Marshall, Adjunct Professor of Architecture, University of Sydney and Director of Urban Design, Woods Bagot
Niraj Verma, Professor and Chair, Department of Urban & Regional Planning, SUNY,Buffalo
Moderator: Matt Kiefer, Director, Goulston & Storrs and Lecturer, GSD

12:45 - 1:45
Break

1:45 - 3:15
PANEL 3: "Exploring Interdependencies Among Context, Landscape, Urbanism & Ecology"

Maurice Cox, Associate Professor of Architecture, University of Virginia and Director of Design, National Endowment for the Arts
Nina Marie Lister, Associate Professor of Urban + Regional Planning, Ryerson University
Moderator: Anita Berrizbeitia, Professor of Landscape Architecture, GSD

3:15-3:30
Wrap-up

For event details contact: Brooke King (bking@gsd.harvard.edu)

Latin GSD 09-10 Lecture Series

Paisajes Emergentes (Emerging Landscapes)-- is a new form of practice based in Medellin Colombia, whose work addresses a wide variety of cross-disciplinary design issues, among them: remediation as it informs program and ecology, energy generation, the potential of water as an unifying element, etc. Edgar, Sebastian & Luis, will go over their current projects and processes, followed by an open dialogue / discussion with students. All disciplines are welcomed!

For more information visit: Paisajes Emergentes website
  or: Blog post

For event details contact: Pedro SantaRivera (psantari@gsd.harvard.edu)

International Symposium
Co-Conveners Ole W. Fischer & Elli Mosayebi

Even within a global world there persist local forms of knowledge and practices that lead to differentiation. This may seem obvious, yet what does this mean for the theory and practice of architecture? Like the fine arts, architecture shows a long record of supranational periodization. And with the prevalence of modern architecture the discipline became a true agent of Western culture on a global scale. On the other hand local agents including the networks of clients, as well as legal, technologic and economic factors, combined with the collaboration of builders and craftsmen, shape local specificities which are enhanced by the dominance of certain "ideas" or "topics", such as "construction" and "materiality" in the case of contemporary Swiss architecture.

Today with the dissolution of national boarders (within Western societies) and the emergence of a global market for architectural design, we would like to re-address the ideological framework of the "National," challenging what terms such as "Swiss" or "American" mean with respect to (the discipline of) architecture and the built work. How are these preconceived notions of National differences related to architectural thinking? - From our observations there are alternative ways to pose an architectural "question" or "theme" that precede the actual design work and building production, something like an (implicit) idea of architectural action. In this case it would be possible to identify different "theories of practice" (similar to Le Corbusier's "l'art de produire"). As an example, the emphasis on construction, materiality and sensual effect differs from diagrammatic and parametric design methods. Both result in alternating concepts for teaching and research.

In order to challenge this working hypothesis on various "theories of practice" and their relation to the contested terrain of the "National" we bring together practitioners and educators from Switzerland (ETH, EPFL) and the US (Harvard GSD/MIT) to open a dialogue on parallels and differences of the production, reflection and education of architecture:

Speakers:
- Marcel Meili (Meili Peter Architects / ETH Zurich Studio Basel)
- Ines Lamuniere (dl-a / EPF Lausanne)
- Dieter Dietz (UNDEND / EPF Lausanne)
- Harry Gugger (Herzog & de Meuron / EPF Lausanne)
- Daniel Niggli (EM2N / ETH Zurich)

Respondents:
- Danieller Etzler (SHoP Architects NYC / Harvard GSD)
- Mark Jarzombek (MIT HTC)
- Michael Meredith (MOS / Harvard GSD)
- Ingeborg Rocker (Rocker-Lange Architects / Harvard GSD)
- A. Hashim Sarkis (Hashim Sarkis / Harvard GSD)

Organization, Introduction and Moderation: Elli Mosayebi (EMI / ETH Zurich) & Ole W. Fischer (O.W. Fischer / Harvard GSD/RISD)

Free and open to the public!
RSVP: swissarchsymposium@gsd.harvard.edu

Thanks to the support of the ProHelvetia Foundation Bern, Swissnex Boston, and to Harvard GSD, Harvard European Design Circle and GSD Culture Club.

For more information visit: Download symposium poster (pdf)

For event details contact: Ole Fischer (swissarchsymposium@gsd.harvard.edu)