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GSD professors Van Valkenburgh, Wodiczko to present at UN World Habitat Day conference

Harvard Graduate School of Design professors Michael Van Valkenburgh and Krzysztof Wodiczko are among the panelists for the United Nations (UN) World Habitat Day events in New York, to be held Monday, October 5. 

The UN has designated the first Monday of October of every year as World Habitat Day, with the purpose of reflecting on the state of towns and cities around the globe, with an eye to how adequately shelter is distributed throughout the world. The theme of this year’s World Habitat Day is “public spaces for all.”

In celebration of World Habitat Day, cities around the world organize conferences and events focused on the given theme. Objectives of this year’s events include showing the relationship between public space design and sustainable urbanization, and proposing innovations and best practices in the area of public space design.

The UN’s New York event, held at UN headquarters, will bring together high-level experts and representatives from national and local governments, non-governmental organizations, institutes, foundations, and industry, who will present case studies from around the world on public spaces. 

Van Valkenburgh, Charles Eliot Professor in Practice of Landscape Architecture, and Wodiczko, professor in residence of art, design, and the public domain, will be presenting on a panel moderated by Urs Gauchat, dean of College of Architecture & Design at New Jersey Institute of Technology. The event’s keynote addresses will be delivered by architect Daniel Libeskind and Nobel laureate in literature Orhan Pamuk.

For more information, visit the UN’s World Habitat Day website.