Message from the Dean
It is my great privilege and honor to welcome you to Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design (GSD). This is a thrilling time in the design professions, involving the creative absorption of myriad new technologies, the globalization of design practice, the challenge of rising to a host of new environmental challenges, and the blurring of traditional lines between architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning and urban design. With its superb, diverse, and international faculty, its marvelous student body drawn from every continent, its breadth of coverage, and its tradition of engagement with issues of the built environment worldwide, the GSD is uniquely suited to prepare leaders for tomorrow’s design and planning professions.
In these pages you will find a brief history of the school, an introduction to the faculty, and details on the school’s programs in architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, and urban design. Also provided are course descriptions, a guide to the school’s educational resources, and information on the school’s extensive programs to support life-long learning.
The GSD’s faculty are leading scholars and practitioners in their respective fields, committed to a dynamic engagement with current issues and offering a broad range of perspectives and design styles. Their core mission, and that of the school, is to promote excellence in the physical environments that human beings inhabit—their buildings and neighborhoods, their open spaces from gardens to vast ecosystems, their cities and regions—and to do so first and foremost by training future leaders of the design professions.
In the GSD’s stimulating, highly collegial environment, talented students attain a superior grasp of design skills, a comprehensive knowledge of the related arts, humanities, and sciences, and a strong understanding of the social, political, and economic environments in which they will work. Through studios, courses, and projects that combine theory and practice, students are directly connected with design and planning issues throughout the U.S. and the world.
The GSD offers professional, postprofessional, and doctoral degrees. Its professional programs qualify graduates for entry into the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning. Its postprofessional programs offer advanced training in architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, and design studies for those who already have first professional degrees and some practice experience. Doctoral degree programs provide opportunities for advanced scholarship and research. Finally, the Loeb Fellowship and professional development courses offer rigorous nondegree opportunities for research and study by midcareer planning and design professionals.
For over a century, Harvard University has been a leader in defining and advancing the professions of architecture, landscape architecture, city and regional planning, and urban design. It has educated many of the foremost practitioners, faculty, and scholars in those fields. The GSD is committed to maintaining this leadership through its programs of instruction and research. We invite qualified students to participate in rigorous, challenging educational programs, and also to become members of this warm, mutually supportive community of current and future leaders of the design professions.
Mohsen Mostafavi
Dean, Faculty of Design