Spiro N. Pollalis is Professor of Design, Technology and Management at the Harvard Design School.

The emphasis on his projects, academic work and consulting, is at the intersection of design, business and technology. Pollalis teaches design studios and courses in project management and information technology. His research focuses on the business and management of high-end architecture. His recent practice specializes on digital architecture enhancing the physical space. He has been a collaborator of Santiago Calatrava and worked on several of the firm's projects in Spain, France and Switzreland. He has been a consultant for the General Services Administration (GSA), the Census Bureau, the Greek Government, and the private sector in the USA, Europe, Asia and the Middle East for project management and real estate development.

Pollalis received his first degree from the National Technical University of Athens and his Master’s and PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His MBA in high technology is from Northeastern University, and his honorary Master’s degree in Architecture is from Harvard. He has been visiting professor at ETH-Zürich, TU-Delft, U-Stuttgart and U-Patras and has conducted research for the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the General Services Administration (GSA).

In 2007, Pollalis founded at Harvard the 5-year RMJM Program for Integrated Design, an interdisciplinary program for research and education in the cross-section of design and business, addressing the practice of design in the era of globalization and mega projects. In 1997, Pollalis had founded the Center for Design Informatics (CDI) at Harvard, which he directed until the Center completed its mission in 2004. CDI was active during the period when information technology and the Internet had an emerging impact on the design, real estate and construction fields.

Pollalis has applied information technology to enable teaching since the mid 1990s, has received grants for the research of IT-based local and remote teaching, has served as a member of the Harvard Academic Computing Committee (HACC), co-chaired the Harvard-wide Internet and Society conference in 2000, and was the head of ETH-World Center at ETH-Zurich (2001-2002).

Pollalis is the author of numerous case studies in real estate and construction, used for teaching and research. He has also authored numerous papers and several books including: Understanding the Outsourcing of Architectural Services (2007), Computer-Aided Collaboration in Managing Construction (2006), Pockets of Innovation in Real Estate, Construction and the Internet (2002), Stretching Time and Space (2001), Remote Teaching (2000), What is a Bridge? (1999, 2002), Build-Operate-Transfer (1996), Case Studies on Management and Technology (1993), and Computer-Aided Project Management (1993); the editor of Uncertainty and Risk in International Construction Markets (1996) and the co-inventor of the patented Task Management (1991).

At Harvard, Pollalis is academic advisor in the area of Project Management and Real Estate at the Master in Design Studies program. He served as Director of the Doctor of Design and Master in Design Studies programs for the period 1995-2002.

Harvard Gazette newspaper links:

Prof. Pollalis's contribution to the Zakim bridge in Boston: Harvard's help spans Charles River.

Green buidlings: Pushing the Envelope,

Building Envelopes: Designer's work and the Internet: The revolution.

Remote synchronous education: She's In a class by herself.

NY Times article on Prof. Pollalis: On a Greek Isle, Preserving Tradition

Contact Information:
Prof. Dr. Spiro N. Pollalis
48 Quincy Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
voice mail: (617) 495-9939
e-mail: pollalis@gsd.harvard.edu