GSD News Archive: March 2009
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Students launch research initiative in Abu Dhabi >> Faculty and students visited Abu Dhabi this week, as part of a research initiative exploring design strategies for the restructuring of Al Qattara Oasis in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi. The studio, which is offered concurrently by the Department of Architecture and the Department of Urban Planning and Design, uses the Al Qattara Oasis as an open laboratory to explore the potential transformation of traditionally productive grounds into an integrated network of active open spaces within the city. The pedagogic and research aims of the studio focus on investigating the broader role of the Oasis as an initiator of urbanism and its ubiquitous presence in the urban evolution of Al Ain and the desert city at large. Led by Jorge Silvetti, Professor of Architecture, and Felipe Correa, Assistant Professor of Urban Design, the studio also aims towards clear configurative strategies that explore the embedded potential of the Oasis to perform as a dual operative device that can on the one hand, continue to be part of the region's larger productive ecology and also act as a host for a variety of collective programs and qualitative infrastructures. Primarily the introduction of an institutional campus devoted to the study, production and advancement of the arts, crafts and design traditions of the United Arab Emirates and the region at large. Related articles: Middle East Online, March 26, 2009; Zawya.com, March 26, 2009; Emirates News Agency, March 26, 2009; Breitbart.com, March 26, 2009. Additional studio information >>
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Joint Center for Housing reports home improvement projects decline with sagging economy >> Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies reports that spending on home improvement projects is expected to decline at an annual rate of 12.1% by the third quarter. [USA TODAY; March 14, 2009] |
Prof. Martha Schwartz designs innovative landscape for Qatar >> |
| GSD students research cross-disciplinary project with MGH health professionals >> |
The GSA recognizes Prof. Mack Scogin for excellence in federal architecture >> The U.S. General Services Administration honored Mack Scogin, Kajima Adjunct Professor in Architecture, among 17 other designers for excellence in federal architecture during its biennial Design Awards ceremony at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C. Prof. Scogin was honored with an Architecture—On the Boards Citation for his firm’s U.S. Courthouse in Austin, Texas. The celebration marks the 15th year of the GSA Design Excellence Program, founded on the “Guiding Principles for Federal Architecture” issued by President Kennedy in 1962. [Contract; March 24, 2009] |
Housing conference—crisis as opportunity for action >> Housing Cities Symposium 2009, held March 13 at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, drew 350 registrants for a day of lectures and panels. An eclectic mix of experts in design, the law, real estate, public policy, public health, and sustainability attended the event, which was organized by students from the GSD and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Housing in crisis was the grist: rental housing, aging housing, green housing, and “mixed-income” housing (the kind that combines income levels in one setting). [Harvard Gazette; March 19, 2009] Photo by Justin Knight. |
GSD students break boundaries with budding scientists >> Related article, Picture this, and you will begin to understand, by Corydon Ireland. [Harvard Gazette, March 12, 2009] |
Prof. Toshiko Mori’s new projects include the opening of F.L. Wright visitor center >> |
X Lines exhibition opens in London following a Latin American tour >> |
Jinhee Park, MArch ’02, thinks green, goes global >> Recently named by the AIA as “one of those young architects whose contributions and skills will shape our profession for decades to come,” Jinhee Park, MArch’02, is one of two founding partners, with GSD Adjunct Associate Professor of Architecture John Hong, of the firm Single Speed Design. [Boston Globe; March 15, 2009]
Related: |
Urban planning leader Prof. Alan Altshuler honored in Australia >> |
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| GSD Executive Education’s Real Estate Advanced Finance Program—April 5-8; registration closes March 23 >> |
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DDes student comments on presentation by MoMA’s Glenn Lowry >> |
Urban Design explores issues in contemporary urban design >> |
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Harvard Graduate School of Design: A New Trajectory?
