GSD News Archive: Fall 2006
Chan Krieger Sieniewicz, the firm of Alex Krieger, GSD Professor in Practice of Urban Design; and Hargreaves Associates, the firm of George Hargreaves, Peter Louis Hornbeck Professor in Practice of Landscape Architecture, have been selected to create a master plan for redeveloping a 4.1-mile stretch of publicly owned land along New Orleans’ east bank riverfront. New Orleans Director of Planning and Development Donna Addkison is quoted as saying, "The Krieger-Hargreaves team seemed to me to be head-and-shoulders above the others in terms of understanding New Orleans and what it’s all about." [New Orleans Times-Picayune, December 22, 2006] |
The History Channel |
Boston architects Leers Weinzapfel, whose principal Andrea Leers is Adjunct Professor of Architecture at the Harvard GSD, won the Firm of the Year award. This is a prestigious prize, given annually to only one outstanding US firm by the American Institute of Architects. Edward Larrabee Barnes, an alumnus of the GSD, won the Gold Medal of the American Institute of Architects. The medal is the AIA's highest lifetime achievement award. Barnes was a Harvard grad and Cambridge resident who died in 2004. And the Wang Campus Center at Wellesley won the Harleston Parker Medal, an annual award given by the Boston Society of Architects for the best new work of architecture in the Boston area. Wang was designed by Mack Scogin, Kajima Adjunct Professor in Architecture and former chair of the department at the Harvard GSD, and Merrill Elam of Atlanta. Boston's Talent Scores a Triple. The Boston Globe, December 17, 2006, Robert Campbell |
"The very idea of trespass here goes against what these spaces are—members of the public are absolutely entitled to use these spaces," said Jerold S. Kayden, a lawyer and professor of urban planning and design at Harvard, who co-wrote a book on New York's privately owned public spaces, in conjunction with New York's Department of City Planning and the Municipal Art Society of New York, a preservation group. Home Sweet Home on the Plaza. The New York Times, December 17, 2006, Josh Barbanel |
| A review of "Design Life Now: National Design Triennial 2006," an exhibition that recently opened at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, notes that the display of architectural design is "especially strong, represented most prominently in impressive public projects" by Rem Koolhaas, Professor in Practice of Architecture and Urban Design; Toshiko Mori, Chair of the Department of Architecture and Robert P. Hubbard Professor in the Practice of Architecture; and Michael Van Valkenburgh, Charles Eliot Professor in Practice of Landscape Architecture. The review also mentions Assistant Professor of Architecture Michael Meredith’s "ivY coat hook [which] splits the difference between sculpture and coat hook with admirable efficiency." The exhibition continues through July 29, 2007. [New York Times article, December 15, 2006] |
 Professor in Practice of Architecture and Urban Design Rem Koolhaas and Fernando Donis of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture will design the Dubai Porsche Design Towers in Dubai, announces Trade Arabia Business News Information, December 4, 2006. |
| GSD Adjunct Professor of Architecture, Nader Tehrani supervised students in the Georgia Tech Ventulett Chair Installation 2006 (www.coa.gatech.edu) [Dwell, November 2006] |
 The Newspaper Café designed by Toshiko Mori, Chair of the Department of Architecture and Robert P. Hubbard Professor in the Practice of Architecture, was published in the December issue of A+U Magazine. |
  Professor of Architecture Monica Ponce de Leon and Adjunct Professor of Architecture Nader Tehrani of the architectural practice Office dA announced the firm’s New England House is featured in the MOCA LA Skin+Bones Exhibit: Parallel Practices in Fashion and Architecture. The exhibit was also reviewed in the December 2, 2006 issue of The New Yorker. Additionally, the article "Curing the Common Condominium," which appeared in the November 2006 issue of Modern Steel Construction, featured The Macallen Building Condominium, also designed by Office dA. |
Gerald M. McCue Professor in Architecture, was featured on the style.com review of the MOCA LA Skin+Bones event. |
| The December 2006 issue of Architectural Record features Toshiko Mori, Chair of the Department of Architecture and Robert P. Hubbard Professor in the Practice of Architecture; and Andrea Leers, Adjunct Professor of Architecture and Urban Design in its feature article "Not Only Zaha." The story focuses on what it is like to be a female architect with a solely-owned firm in the U.S. today. Toshiko Mori is founding principal of Toshiko Mori Architect; Andrea Leers is a founding principal of Leers Weinzapfel Associates. |
| Swiss designers teach us about urban sprawl. Harvard Gazette, 12.7.06. Features "Constructing the Swiss Landscape" exhibition showing in Gund Hall 11.30.06 to 1.15.07. |
| Design for learning: Arts education—Designing outside the box (and the box as well) quotes the Milanese architect Paolo Conrad Bercah, who studied architecture at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, as citing the advantages of studying design in the United States rather than in Europe. "Classes at Harvard are well organized. There is open discussion in the classroom. Your professors are the very best practitioners in their field, and they are willing to share advice with you. Your fellow students are highly qualified and serious about their studies, and there are very few students. Harvard is the best education you can get." International Herald Tribune, October 14-15, 2006. |
Robert P. Hubbard Professor in the Practice of Architecture and Chair of the Department of Architecture at the Harvard School of Design, discusses a focal point of The Biennale held in Venice this year—"the relationship and balance between the obvious and visible ‘architectural’ quotient of a city versus the supporting fabric of its infrastructure." She notes that the U.S. Pavilion "sent a strong impression of the effects of Hurricane Katrina—the work of GSD students." The Architects Newspaper, October 16, 2006 |
ArtReview’s fifth annual Power 100 issue, which recognized the 100 most "powerful people in contemporary art," based on achievements during the past year, named Herzog & de Meuron, the firm of Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, both Arthur Rotch Design Critics in Architecture at the GSD, as "the most innovative architecture firm on the planet." The Journal also noted the firm’s "makeover of London’s Bankside Power Station into Tate Modern [that] had a spectacular impact on both the museum’s profile and their own image." David Adjaye, Visiting Critic at the GSD next spring, was honored "as one of architecture’s most popular stars. Having made his name on a series of innovative houses for his artist friends as well as the Frieze Art Fair tent (up to 2005), he collaborated last year with Olafur Eliasson on a pavilion at the Venice Bienale for Francesca von Habsburg’s T-B A21, while this year he became the first living architect to have a show at London’s White Chapel Art Gallery. Next year sees the opening of his first major building in the U.S., the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver." Rem Koolhaas, Professor in Practice of Architecture and Urban Design at the GSD, was recognized for his book "S, M, L, XL," a 1995 collaboration with graphic designer Bruce Mau. The Journal notes that the book "remains one of the most important architectural publications of recent times. Mr. Koolhaas continues to push our understanding of contemporary culture with essays such as "Junk Space," the Journal reports. "…. His analysis of contemporary museum culture was featured in last year’s Venice Biennale, while this year, having designed its summer pavilion, he co-curated a 24-hour lecture marathon at London’s Serpentine Gallery." ArtReview, October 2006. www.artreviewdigital.com. See also: Harvard Gazette, 11.16.06 issue. |
| FROCKS AND BLOCKS, fashion meets architecture in Los Angeles. "Skin + Bones: Parallel Practices in Fashion and Architecture," at Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art. Installation designed by GSD alumns Calvin Tsao MArch '79 and Zack McKown MArch'79. Printed article features sketch of Preston Scott Cohen's Torus House. The New Yorker, 12.04.06 issue. |
| Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture Alan Berger’s book, Drosscape: Wasting Land in Urban America, named in top ten books for 2007 by Planetizen, the on-line urban planning and development network. 11.22.06. |
| Toshiko Mori, Chair of the Department of Architecture, recently sat down to speak with world-renowned graphic designer and visual artist John Maeda about design and simplification. |
GSD students, faculty receive awards from ASLA. Harvard Gazette, 11/9/06. |
Dean Altshuler to step down; Search begins for next GSD dean |
The show is curated by Joan Busquets, Martin Bucksbaum Professor in Practice of Urban Planning and Design, in collaboration with Felipe Correa, Design Critic in Urban Design. It focuses on the development of a pedagogic taxonomy that allows us to better understand the methods and tools with which designers currently shape cities and open territories. The show has had an extensive travel schedule. It opened in Spain in the summer and is currently traveling throughout Europe, and in the spring it will open in Beijing. A lecture by Felipe Correa will mark the opening of the exhibition. |
'Sobering' housing study conference revisits rental housing. Harvard Gazette, 11/16/06. Article features Eric Belsky, Executive Director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies, and Lecturer at the GSD. |
| Thinking outside the `Box’ of design/An exhibit looks back at the young modernists of Harvard’s heyday (Boston Globe) by Robert Campbell, Globe Correspondent | October 22, 2006 CAMBRIDGE – A superb exhibit on architecture is now on view at the Harvard Design School. Watch out, though. This isn’t what you’d expect. It’s not a show of new ideas or anything "cutting edge.” It’s an exhibit of the work of the school in its heyday, and that heyday was back in the long-ago 1940s. full article... (free Boston.com subscription may be required) |
| The State of the Nation's Housing 2006 released by the Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS). Directed by Nicolas P. Retsinas, JCHS is a collaborative unit affiliated with the GSD and the Kennedy School of Government. It is the nation’s leading center for information and research on housing in the United States. |
| Rebuilding Lebanon: the human dimension Article by Hashim Sarkis in The Daily Star (Lebanon) newspaper, 10/06/06. |
| Royal Institute of British Architects announces Herzog & de Meuron as recipients of the Royal Gold Medal for architecture. RIBA Press Release 10/04/06. |
| What Is Fairness, Anyway? Michael Berger and Jerold Kayden debate takings and property rights; Jennifer Bradley moderates. Planning magazine, October 2006 issue (membership required). |
Provincetown Art Association and Museum The museum received an Honor Award for Design Excellence from the Boston Society of Architects, as well as a Merit Award from the New England chapter of the AIA. It also recently qualified for a Silver LEED rating. See project information at Machado and Silvetti Associates. image: Anton Grassl
|
The Getty Villa was awarded the Building Team of the Year award from the Los Angeles chapter of the AIA. It was also given the LA Business Council's Grand Prize for 2006, as well as its best building in the civic design category. See project information at Machado and Silvetti Associates. image: Machado and Silvetti Associates
|
Harvard Design Magazine announces the release of the Fall 2006/Winter 2007 issue, "Urban Design Now." |
Toshiko Mori named as a juror for The Pritzker Architecture Prize (pritzkerprize.com media release, September 11, 2006) |
PLANNING AFTER KATRINA what have we learned so far? Professor Jerold Kayden and Professor Susan Fainstein participate in symposium at MIT, Thursday, Sept. 21. |
Nader Tehrani is now Adjunct Professor of Architecture at the GSD (see News Note). He was recently the Ventulett Distinguished Chair in Architectural Design and a Visiting Instructor at Georgia Tech, where he completed an installation that will be on exhibit until 2007. |
| Gary Hilderbrand is now Adjunct Professor of Landscape Architecture at the GSD (see News Note). |
| Lluis Ortega has been appointed Assistant Professor of Architecture at the GSD (see News Note). |
Preston Scott Cohen,
