Leland Cott
Adjunct Professor
Department of Urban Planning and Design

 

 

Curriculum Vitae


 

Present Position

Adjunct Professor of Urban Design, Department of Urban Planning and Design
Harvard Graduate School of Design

President, Bruner/Cott & Associates, Inc.
Vice-President, Cambridge Development Corporation
Vice-President, The Shoreline Corporation

Leland D. Cott, FAIA is a founding Principal of the firm. He is responsible for primary client contact, design and implementation of architecture, interior architecture and urban design projects and oversight of the ongoing work. Mr. Cott is knowledgeable in building preservation and has an extensive background in adaptation and renovation of existing buildings to new uses. Mr. Cott also has a great deal of experience in the design of large-scale public and private housing complexes. In addition to his position with Bruner/Cott & Associates, Mr. Cott is the Vice-President of Cambridge Development Corporation, a real estate company specializing in the development of housing and the adaptive re-use of existing buildings. He is also the Vice-President of The Shoreline Corporation, the property management affiliate.
Teaching Experience
2007 The New Boston Waaterfront: Channels & Edges, Studio
  The Design of Housing in the United States, Seminar
2006 North Adams, MA: A City on the Verge, Studio
  Monterrey, Mexico: Three Rivers, One City, Studio with Mario Schjetnan
  The Design of Housing in the United States, Seminar
2004 Kyiv, Ukraine: The New Dnipro Edge: (Re)defining the City, Studio, with Guy Perry
  The Design of Housing in the United States, Seminar
2003 Havana, Cuba IV, Studio
La Rampa
  The Design of Housing in the United States, Seminar
2002 Havana, Cuba III, Studio
El Malecon
  The Design of Housing in the United States, Seminar
2001 Havana, Cuba II, Studio
El Velado / Almendares Riverfront Mixed-Use Development,
Housing, Historic Preservation and Building Reuse
  The Design of Housing in the United States, Seminar
2000 Elements and Methods of Urban Planning and Design, Studio
  Havana, Cuba I, Studio
La Fragua Martiana,
Housing, Preservations and Community Development
  The Design of Housing in the United States, Seminar
1999 Elements of Urban Planning and Design, Studio
  The Design of Housing in the United States, Seminar
1998 Elements of Urban Planning and Design, Studio
  Denver, CO
Stapleton Airport Redevelopment; Ecology and Community, Without Barriers, Studio,
with Mark Johnson, Visiting Critic in the Department of Landscape Architecture
1997 Elements of Urban Planning and Design, Studio
  Salem, MA
Development Studio
with Richard Graf, Visiting Critic
1996 Chicago, IL
Bronzeville III
Dearborn Homes to McCormick Place, Studio
This studio of taught in conjunction with the Illinois Institute of Technology.
  Chicago, IL
Development Studio
Bronzeville II
The Redevelopment of Stateway Gardens Public Housing
with Richard Graf, Visiting Critic
1995 Chicago, IL
Bronzeville I
The South Side, 35th Street
1994 Boston, MA
Housing and Urbanism
Two Sites, North End / South End
  Las Colinas, TX
Development Studio
Residential PUD 4
with Richard Graf, Visiting Critic

Academic Activities
2007 Harvard Graduate School of Design
  • Adjunct Professor of Urban Design, Boston Waterfront Studio
  • Design of Housing in the U.S., Seminar, Spring 2007
  • Student Admissions, MDes program
  • MDes Council
  • MDes Program, Area Coordinator, Urbanization and Housing Studies
  • Executive Education Program, Chair of Faculty Oversight Committee
  • Member, Faculty Committee of the Joint Center for Housing Studies
  • Member, Faculty Committee of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies
2006 Harvard Graduate School of Design
  • Adjunct Professor of Urban Design, North Adams, MA: A City on the Verge, Studio
  • Design of Housing in the U.S., Seminar, Spring 2006
  • Student Admissions, MDes Program
  • MDes Council
  • MDes Program, Area Coordinator, Urbanization and Housing Studies
  • Executive Education Program, Chair of Faculty Oversight Committee
  • Member, Faculty Committee of the Joint Center for Housing Studies
  • Member, Faculty Committee of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies
2005 Harvard Graduate School of Design
  • Adjunct Professor of Urban Design, Monterrey Studio
  • Design of Housing in the U.S., Seminar, Spring 2005
  • Student Admissions, Department of Urban Planning and Design; March 2005
  • MDes Council
  • MDes Program, Area Coordinator, Urbanization and Housing Studies
  • Member, Faculty Committee of the Joint Center for Housing Studies
  • Member, Faculty Committee of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies
2004 Harvard Graduate School of Design
  • Adjunct Professor of Urban Design, Kyiv, Ukraine Studio
  • Design of Housing in the U.S., Seminar, Spring 2004
  • Student Admissions, Department of Urban Planning and Design; March 2004
  • Member, Faculty Committee of the Joint Center for Housing Studies
  • Member, Faculty Committee of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies
2003 Harvard Graduate School of Design
  • Adjunct Professor of Urban Design, Havana IV Studio
  • Design of Housing in the U.S., Seminar, Spring 2003
  • Student Admissions, Department of Urban Planning and Design; March 2002
  • Member, Faculty Committee of the Joint Center for Housing Studies
  • Member, Faculty Committee of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies.
2002 Harvard Graduate School of Design
  • Adjunct Professor of Urban Design, Havana III Studio
  • Design of Housing in the U.S., Seminar, Spring 2002
  • Student Admissions, Department of Urban Planning and Design; March 2002
  • Member, Faculty Committee of the Joint Center for Housing Studies
  • Faculty Sponsor, RFK Professor Mario Coyula, Loeb Fellow Jose Cesar Perez.
2001 Harvard Graduate School of Design
  • Design Critic in Urban Planning and Design, Havana II Studio; Spring 2001
  • Design Critic in Urban Planning and Design, Design of Housing in the U.S. Seminar, Spring 2001
  • Student Admissions, Department of Urban Planning and Design; March 2001
  • Lecture, Havana and Its Architecture, Living in the Past and the Future, Jointly sponsored by the LAGSD and the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, Harvard University; March 2001
  • Member, Faculty Committee of the Joint Center for Housing Studies
  • Lecture, Housing GSD, Adaptive Reuse of Industrial Architecture into Multi - Family Housing, April 2001
     
Other
  • Lecturer, GSD/HBS Executive Education Program, October 2007
  • Recent Work, Lecture, Roger Williams University, April 2007
  • GSD Faculty Panel Discussion on Sustainability, April 2007
  • GSD Careers Panel Discussion, March 2006
  • Lecturer, Havana Design, JFK School of Government, March 2006
  • Chair of GSD Jury, Clifford Wong Prize in Housing Design, May 2005
  • GSD Lecture, Making Presentations, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
  • Guest Critic, Rhode Island School of Design, May 2005
  • Lecturer, Tsinghua Training Program, GSD Executive Education, March 2005, 2006, 2007
  • Kirkwood Committee on Executive Education, 2005
  • Silvetti Committee on Development and Outreach, 2004
  • Lecture, Havana and Its Architecture, Modernism in Pre-Castro Cuba, 1939-1959.
  • Keynote Lecture, the New School, NYC, Dec. 2001
  • Member, Cuban Studies and Exchange Committee, The David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies (DRCLAS), Harvard University
  • Member, DRCLAS Policy Committee
  • Urban Design Program Co-Chair, ACSA International Conference, June 2002
  • Lecture, The Graham Foundation, Chicago. Oct. 2002
  • International Lecture, Havana and Its Architecture, Living in the Past and the Future, The Museum of Fine Arts Boston; January 2001
  • Panelist, Architects and the Peace Corps, 40th Anniversary Celebration of the Peace Corps; JFK Library, Boston; March 2001
  • Lecture, Adaptive Re-Use in the United States, Havana, Cuba; March 2001
  • Lecture, Transforming Industrial Buildings into Multi-Family Housing, Havana, Cuba; March 2001
  • Member, Cuba Studies and Exchange Committee, The David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies (DRCLAS), Harvard University
  • Presenter, The GSD Havana Design Studio, Spring Advisory Committee Meeting, The David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, May 12,2001

Lectures, Workshops and Seminars
2007 Sustainable Design, Lectures, NESEA, NESCUP, BAS, 2007
2006 Modernism in Havana, Lecture, Royal Ontario Museu, Toronto
Hemingway House Preservation, Havana; APT Conference, Atlanta, Sept. 2006
2005 Sustainable Design at Dartmouth College, (Seminar Participant), The 2005 AIA National Convention, Las Vegas, NV
2004 Havanna, Cuba, Panel Discussion, Peabody Essex Museum, June 2004
Public Housing, Lecture, Northeastern University, April 2004
Havana, Cuba, Lecture, Bowdoin College, February 2004
2001 Architects and the Peace Corps (Forum Participant), The John F. Kennedy Library 2001
Havana and its Architecture, Living in the Past and Future, The Museum of Fine Arts Boston, 2001
2000 Havana CUJAE Project, CENCREM Conference, Havana, Cuba, 2000
Design in University/Community Partnerships - Case Study, Cornell University, 2000
Confronting the Conservative in Architecture, ACSA Regional Meeting, Paper Session Moderator, 2000
1999 Maintaining 20th Century Housing Icons - Peabody Terrace, Preserving the 20th Century Building Envelope Conference, MIT, 1999
The Bronzeville Design Symposium - The Impact of Design on Urban Communities, Illinois Institute of Technology, 1999
1996 Housing Design Workshop, Yale University, October 1996
Practitioner as Teacher, Ball State University, October 1996
Affordable Housing, Boston Architectural Center, April 1996
1995 Thesis Juror, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1995
1993 Designing Buildings in an Historic Context, Yale University, 1993
Designing Public Housing, Yale University, 1993
  Seminar Leader, Boston Society of Architects "Build Boston" Convention
 
  • The Deans, 1996
  • The Future of Interior Architecture, 1996
  • The Future of Housing Design, 1996
  • The Deans, 1995
  • The Future Search, 1995
  • Whatever Happened to Design in Boston?, 1991
  • Developers on Design II, 1989
  • Developers on Design I, 1988
  • Manufactured Housing, 1986
  • Managing a Design Firm, 1986
    		•
    1992 Seminar Leader, Rubin & Rudman, P.C., "American with Disabilities Act", 1992
    Seminar Leader, Massachusetts Synagogue Council, "American with Disabilities Act", 1992
    1990 Workshop, Boston Society of Architects "Build Boston" Convention, Communications Committee, 1990
    1988 Thesis Juror, Wentworth Institute of Technology, 1988
    1986 Workshop, MIT Laboratory of Architecture and Planning, 1986
    1984 Lecturer, Boston Society of Architects "Build Boston" Convention, Steel Construction Systems and Burberry's Ltd., 1984
    Design Studio Guest Critic, Harvard GSD, 1984, 1986
    1975 Adaptive Reuse and Preservation, Reinhold Publishing Corp., 1975-1980
    Professional Activities
    2007 Bruner/Cott & Associates
     
  • Harvard Dormitory Study
  • Boston University Study
    		•
    2006 Bruner/Cott & Associates
     
  • Radcliffe Gynmasium, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies
    		•
    2005 Bruner/Cott & Associates
     
  • Finca Vigia, The Preservation of the Ernest Hemingway House, Havana, Cuba
  • Slone School of Management, MIT, with Moore Ruble Yudell
  • Harvard University Blackstone Station, University Operations Services
  • Hamilton College Campus Plan
    		•
      AIA Boston Society of Architects
     
  • Editorial Board, Architecture Boston Magazine
  • Housing Workshop, Residential Build Boston
    		•
      Other
     
  • LEED Accreditation
    		•
    2004 Bruner/Cott & Associates
     
  • Dean College Master Plan
  • Congregation Or Atid
    		•
      AIA Boston Society of Architects
     
  • Editorial Board, Architecture Boston Magazine
    		•
    2002 Bruner/Cott & Associates
     
  • Stonehill College Master Plan
  • Dormitory, Northfield Mt. Hermon School
    		•
    2001 Bruner/Cott & Associates
     
  • Dartmouth College Campus Plan, Mathematics Building, 700 Bed Dormitory and Student Dining/Campus Center; Hanover, MA. Invited competition with teammates Moore, Ruble Yudell
    		•
      AIA / Boston Society of Architects
     
  • Corporate Advisory Council
  • Modern Havana, Lecture at the Boston Public Library, October 24, 2001
    		•
    2000 Bruner/Cott & Associates
     
  • Collaboration with Hans Hollein, 90 Mt. Auburn Street, Cambridge, MA
  • Bartlett Hall, The University of Chicago; Chicago, Ill. Co-Principal
  • Temple Or Atid; Newton, MA. Co-Principal
    		•
      AIA / Boston Society of Architects
     
  • Chairman of Jury, AIA College of Fellows, Washington, DC
  • Corporate Advisory Council, Boston Society of Architects
    • 1999 Bruner/Cott & Associates
     
  • Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA); Associate Principal; North Adams, MA
  • Dormitory, Dean College; Franklin, MA
  • Management Sciences for Health: Newton, MA
    		•
      AIA / Boston Society of Architects
     
  • Nominating Committee, Boston Society of Architects
  • Member of Jury, AIA College of Fellows, Washington, DC
    • 1998 Bruner/Cott & Associates
     
  • Finalist, Urban Design Competition, Poplar Street Civic Design Forum; Macon, GA
  • Urban Design / Community Development Consultant, Maverick Square MBTA Design Team; East Boston, MA
  • Watertown Arsenal Redevelopment, Principal-in-Charge of Urban Design
    		•
      AIA / Boston Society of Architects
     
  • Chairman, Nominating Committee, Boston Society of Architects.
  • Member of Jury, AIA College of Fellows; Washington, DC

    • Affiliations
      Fellow, American Institute of Architects
    Member, Boston Society of Architects
    Member, Construction Industry Liaison Group
    Member, National Trust for Historic Preservation
    American Institute of Architects / Boston Society of Architects
      Chair, Jury of Fellows, American Institute of Architects, 2000 Member, Jury of Fellows, American Institute of Architects, 1998-2000
    Member, Nominating Committee, Boston Society of Architects, 1996-2000
    President, Boston Society of Architects, 1996
    College of Fellows, American Institute of Architects, 1995

    Publications

    Books
    2003 Havana IV, La Rampa: Envisioning a 20th Century Modern Preservation District, Harvard Studio Publication
    2002 Havana III, The Malecon, Harvard Studio Publication
    2001 Havana II, El Rio Almendares, Harvard Studio Publication
      Havana I, La Fragua Martiana, Harvard Studio Publication
    1988 The Affordable Housing Challenge, Case Studies of Selected Developments, by The Housing Committee of The Boston Society of Architects
    Reports
      An Evaluation of the Urban Design and Architecture of Selected Housing Developments - INFONAVIT, Harvard University Graduate School of Design / The Joint Center for Housing Studies, November, 2000
    Reviews
      "Cruelty & Utopia, Cites and Landscapes in Latin America", edited by J.F. Lejeune, Architecture Boston Magazine, June-July, 2005
      "Revolution of Forms" by John Loomis, Architecture Boston Magazine, Spring 2002
      "A Vision of Britain" by HRH The Prince of Wales, Design Times, August 1990
      "Architects of Fortune: Mies van der Rohe and the Third Reich" by Eleanor S. Hochman, Design Times, April 1990
    Articles
    2003 "Why Architects Love Peabody Terrace", Architecture Boston Magazine, Spring 2003
    2002 "Architecture and Tourism, Three Havana Hotels", ReVista, Harvard Review of Latin America, Winter
    2000 "Housing, Historic Preservation, and Community," DRCLAS News, Harvard University, Winter
    1999 "Chicago and Beyond, Hope for Housing," Harvard Design Magazine, Summer
    1995 "The New Planning Agenda," GSD News, Summer
    1990 "The Developer as Peacemaker," Urban Land Institute, June
    1988 "Why the Development Process in New England is Different," New England Architectural Journal, February 12
    1987 "Developers, Architects, Communities: The Three-Way Development Process," New England Real Estate Journal, September 19
    1971 "Prairie Vernacular," Design and Environment, Fall

    Selected Lectures / Workshops / Seminars
    2004 The Havana Photographs of Robert Polidori; Panel Discussion; Peabody Essex Museum; June 2004
      Public Housing in Chicago; Northeastern University Conference on Housing; April
      Havana: The City and its Architecture
    • The Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA; November
    • The Fogg Museum Great Cities Lecture Series, Harvard University; January
    2003 Doing Business with Cuba: Today and Tomorrow; David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, Corporate Partners fall seminar; November
      Afro-Cuban influences in Cuban Art and Architecture; The National Schools of Art, Keynote Speaker to the 2nd Annual Loeb Fellows/SPURS/ MIT Dinner; October
      The Restoration of Peabody Terrace; Society of Architectural Historians, Cambridge; October
      Reusing Existing Buildings for Workforce Housing; Joint Center for Housing Studies / GSD Executive Education Program on Developing Workforce Housing, Lecture, September
      Joint Center for Housing Studies / GSD Executive Education Program on Developing Workforce Housing, Lecture, Reusing Existing Buildings for Workforce Housing, September
      Cuban Architecture since 1959, The New School University; March
      The Future of Sustainable Architecture and Communities:  A symposium honoring David A. Crane, FAIA, University of South Florida, Tampa; February
      Havana and its Architecture, International Style Modernism in Pre-Castro Cuba
     
  • Columbia University; March 2003
  • Boston Public Library; December 2002
  • Harvard GSD; November 2002
  • Graham Foundation, Chicago; October 2002
  • Boston Museum of Fine Arts; February 2002
    		•
    2002 Urban Design Co-Chair, ACSA International Conference, Havana, Cuba June
    2001 Havana and its Architecture, Living in the Past and Future,
     
  • The New School University; December 2001
  • The Boston Public Library; October 2001
  • The Museum of Fine Arts Boston; January 2001
    		•
      Adaptive Re-Use in the United States, Havana, Cuba; March
      Transforming Industrial Buildings into Multi-Family Housing, Havana, Cuba; March
      Architects and the Peace Corps (Forum Participant), The John F. Kennedy Library; March
    2000 Design in University/Community Partnerships – Case Study, Cornell University, May
      Confronting the Conservative in Architecture, ACSA Regional Meeting, Paper Session Moderator, February
    1999 The Bronzeville Design Symposium – The Impact of Design on Urban Communities, Illinois Institute of Technology; October
      Maintaining 20th Century Housing Icons – Peabody Terrace, Preserving the 20th Century Building Envelope Conference, MIT; October
    1996 Housing Design Workshop, Yale University, October
      Practitioner as Teacher, Ball State University, October
    1993 Designing Buildings in Historic Contexts, Yale University
      Designing Public Housing, Yale University

    Professional Registration
      California, #C10,723
    Michigan, #27780
    Connecticut, #5232
    New York, #01398
    Florida, #AR-0013792
    Pennsylvania, #RA-013238-B
    Georgia, #007734
    Rhode Island #2565
    Illinois #001-017226
    Tennessee, #101818
    Maryland, #4084-R
    NCARB Certified, 1973, #13,986
    Massachusetts, #3434