Diane Davis Named Co-director of the Humanity’s Urban Future Program at the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research

Diane Davis, Charles Dyer Norton Professor of Regional Planning and Urbanism, has been named program co-director of the Humanity’s Urban Future program, part of the Global Call for Ideas initiative at the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR). For this third cycle, CIFAR invited proposals for new research programs to address the theme Future of Being Human, a call to confront the dynamic problems facing the world and develop potential solutions to transform the planet for the better.

Davis, also a CIFAR fellow, will lead the Humanity’s Urban Future program and share directorship responsibilities with Simon Goldhill, A. G. Leventis Professor of Greek Culture at the University of Cambridge. The research initiative is created to drive dialogue and envision a more just and unified city of tomorrow. The program will consider many important factors, including infrastructure (both material and institutional), political divisions, questions of scale, climate change, and other crises. In seeking answers to these pressing general questions, the program will take six cities as test cases: Calcutta, Toronto, Shanghai, Naples, Mexico City, and Kinshasa. By studying what constitutes a good city of the future, the researchers aim to make a transformative impact on urban policy and planning, regulation and infrastructure, inspiring collective deliberation and learning around how one should work towards a better urban future. Through engagement with policy makers, political advisors, and civic actors, the Humanity’s Urban Future program will also establish a platform to publish research that will lead to changing the discourse of planning and the understanding of cities.

“I am thrilled to be working with a global team of historians, planners, anthropologists, geographers, and architects to interrogate how a ‘good urban life’ is conceptualized and produced,” says Davis. “We frame our deliberations around two main questions. The first is not merely ‘what is a good city?’—a question that has motivated city builders and philosopher’s since at least Plato’s Republic—but more specifically, ‘How do you plan for an urban future when you know that the city is a palimpsest of the past? The second question follows from the first: ‘How do cities inhabit time, and how can the future be planned with urban pasts in mind?”

CIFAR bring together international, interdisciplinary researchers who work together for five-year terms. Programs are led by a director or two co-directors, engage approximately 20-40 fellows and advisors from around the world, and include two or three CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars for two-year terms. Target areas for impact emerge from the program’s core research agenda, and the strategy is informed by long-term, iterative exchanges of ideas and perspectives between program members and non-academic stakeholders. Programmatic commitments support funding of approximately 10 million (Canadian) dollars for the five-year project, with the possibility of renewal.

 

Harvard GSD announces more academic leadership transitions

Harvard University Graduate School of Design (GSD) announces more academic leadership changes across academic programs that will go into to effect as of July 1, 2023, in addition to Grace La’s appointment as chair of the Department of Architecture.

Rahul Mehrotra, John T. Dunlop Professor in Housing and Urbanization, is stepping down as Chair of the Department of Urban Planning and Design. Mehrotra has held the Chair since February 2020, and prior to that, from 2010 to 2015. As the School searches for a new chair for the Department of Urban Planning and Design, Ann Forsyth, Ruth and Frank Stanton Professor of Urban Planning, will serve as interim chair through the 2023–2024 school year.

Charles Waldheim, John E. Irving Professor of Landscape Architecture, will become co-director of the Master in Design Studies program alongside K. Michael Hays, Eliot Noyes Professor of Architectural Theory, who will be returning to this role following his sabbatical.

Stephen Gray, Associate Professor of Urban Design, will become the director of the Master of Architecture in Urban Design program and co-director of the Master of Landscape Architecture in Urban Design program, alongside Chris Reed, Professor in Practice of Landscape Architecture.

Andrew Witt, Associate Professor in Practice of Architecture, will become co-director of the Master of Design Engineering program, replacing Martin Bechthold, Kumagai Professor of Architectural Technology.

Martin Bechthold will serve as interim director of the Doctor of Design Studies program for the fall 2023 semester, while Ali Malkawi, Professor of Architectural Technology, takes leave for a sabbatical.

 

Alumni Spotlight: Ruben Segovia

“I believe our role as designers is to think more systematically. It’s not just about designing the layout of the house, but understanding the impact of that house. What trees were on the land before? What species lived in those trees? We are beginning to understand that our role is not to design spaces and floor plans, but to think in systems in order to better our environments.”

— Ruben Segovia

Over the next couple months, we are continuing to share conversations with several GSD alumni, each of whom pursued different areas of study at the GSD and are now leading impactful careers in design.

We recently spoke with Ruben Segovia MArch ’17, co-founder of LS-LAB , an architecture and urban design practice. Ruben is the director of the master’s degree program in Architecture and Urban Design at the Tecnológico de Monterrey’s School of Architecture, Art and Design.

What drew you to apply to the GSD for architecture versus another area of study?

I was able to go to the GSD because there’s an alumni foundation here in Mexico called Fundación México en Harvard , that helps Mexican students pay tuition and cover costs associated with going to school abroad. They connected me with a network of alumni who were very encouraging and helpful with navigating the application process. Being able to sit down and talk with alumni here in Mexico helped me understand what the GSD is all about, and, ultimately, those conversations made me certain I wanted to attend. It was such a fundamental part of the process, which is why I’ve been doing the same for current students who are thinking about applying to the GSD [from Mexico].

I applied to and researched multiple schools, all around the world. Before [attending the GSD], I completed my bachelor’s degree in architecture at Tecnológico de Monterrey [in Monterrey, Mexico]. I was very immersed in architecture, meaning I thought it was the only discipline regarding design and having an impact on a city. Through my experiences at the GSD, my vision grew broader because I was able to take courses in different disciplines: architecture, urban design, urban planning, and landscape architecture.

Is there a specific course, professor, or experience that you look back on as the most valuable in shaping your career?

All of the studios were amazing and non-prescriptive. We were able to explore lots of different avenues in terms of design, creativity, and representation. Each studio was really different from project to project. You could be designing a hyper-specific building or object, or you could be working on a larger master plan for an entire region.

I took one studio in Ferguson, Missouri with urban planning professor Daniel D’Oca MUP ’02 where we went to St. Louis to learn about the impact of racial zoning ordinances. The project was to create a comic book that told the story of the various policy instruments used to orchestrate racial segregation. Each book was part of a series called Affirmatively Further . It was a unique, enriching experience and was completely different from anything I had done before.

Internationally, I traveled to Peru, South Africa, and Japan [for studios]. The best part of those trips was being able to connect with stakeholders and professionals who are regarded as leaders in their fields. My first studio was with a Peruvian architect, Jean Pierre Crousse. It was great because it was my first experience learning about interdisciplinary design. It was really interesting to see multiple approaches taken toward complex urban issues. I brought the more architectural solutions to the table, while others brought more landscape-oriented solutions, and we merged them into a singular vision.

How did learning about interdisciplinary design change your view of architecture?

Currently, I have my own practice, LS-LAB, in Mexico with my partner and wife, Delia Leal. Architecture is still part of the big picture, but we’re also pursuing urban design, territorial analysis, and landscape design. I’ve been inviting friends who I met at the GSD from the MLA and MAUD programs, and we’ve been working on many of these projects together.

At the beginning of my career, I was leading a lot of side projects: a house here or there for friends and family members. I wasn’t fully embedded in or committed to my practice. At the GSD, I took classes that taught me how to start my own office and practice, so I felt more prepared. Now, we look at larger dynamics in play. For example, we start with a housing project, but we also develop a larger system and a master plan for that project. This leads to another set of deliverables and new avenues that we can continue to explore—not just for that plot or piece of land, but for other projects to enhance the urban environments.

What are some similarities and differences you’ve seen in the way design is practiced in different countries?

In Mexico, we use a lot of the American design standards because they are well structured and defined in terms of how to approach a project and what the constraints are. What’s great about Mexico is that there’s more room to be an entrepreneur and to start your own practice. Our cultural heritage and territorial diversity allows for the exploration of different material implementations and vernacular design solutions. It’s not as if it’s easier to get projects started in Mexico, but there is a lot more latitude in terms of infrastructure. It presents a big opportunity and a lot of room for creativity.

You are the director of a master’s program in Monterrey. Can you talk about the program and your role?

I’m the director of the Masters in Architecture and Urban Design program at Tecnológico de Monterrey. It’s a hybrid program related to Vision 2030 for Tecnológico de Monterrey , where the Institute has identified global trends that are redefining education. Our program was designed to generate sustainable, resilient, healthy, and just cities. We are working to face the urban challenges of climate change, migration, inequality, and accelerated growth by focusing on the design and management of multi-scale projects that will positively impact the environment.

Currently, we’re in our third cohort and have around 50 students. My role is to help define the program and invite faculty. I’ve always wanted to come back and teach in Mexico, so it’s very meaningful that I have been able to do that.

I teach a few architecture history courses and lead a studio that is related to climate change. We’re working with GSD Loeb Fellows Alejandro Echeverri LF ’16 and Surella Segú LF ’18 [Chief Heat Officer at the Extreme Heat Resilience Alliance], to develop sustainable solutions to decrease the temperature of the city—because Monterrey is one of the hottest cities in Mexico, and it’s getting hotter each day.

Tell us about your practice, LS-LAB. What have you been working on?

We have a base team of four and fluctuate between 7 and 10 total team members when we invite GSD friends to collaborate. Most of our architectural projects are located in the southern part of Mexico—schools, houses, apartments, and mixed-use. In northern Mexico, we lead larger-scale projects, like master planning and urban analysis. Our main goal when approaching a project is to practice systemic thinking. We are asking ourselves: What are the urban implications of an architectural project? What are the landscape implications?

Architecture has been changing because we are all trying to have less of an impact on the environment. How can we have more green spaces, more public spaces, and better mobility? There’s a lot of hacking when it comes to the existing rules and legislation. For example, we’ve been working with Urbanología , a local development team from Chihuahua, strategizing ways in which we can catch and reuse rain and gray water on new projects. Ten years ago, something like this would have been much more difficult to implement.

We are also working on two very interesting projects with Tecnólogico de Monterrey and C+LAB (led by Nélida Escobedo Ruiz). One is a master plan for Escobedo, a municipality north of Monterrey. The goal is to propose a plan for sustainable urban growth that will allow for improved relations between various programs and systems such as industry, housing, and the river network. The second project is happening with an NGO called Fundación FEMSA . We are leading various efforts including studio, research, and design projects that promote Caring Cities, and we have published manuals on good practices and urban strategies.

How has architecture changed in the last 10 years?

Technology to produce architecture has changed a lot. Ten years ago, we mostly used 2D-related drawing tools. And now, we are fully embedded in 3D tools. We’re also shifting with AI.

When we work with younger developers, they have these conversations about sustainability, resiliency, better materials, and low carbon impact. Right away, they understand that designing with sustainable solutions in mind creates more social, environmental, and economic value.

Why is it important that designers continue to assume the role of leaders across different fields?

Leadership, or the idea of leadership, is changing for designers. We are no longer the masterminds who draw a line and everything changes around that line. We’re learning how to be more malleable in order to adapt to new situations. We make a lot of very important decisions in terms of design, urban solutions, landscape approach, and architecture, but we also merge those decisions with input from other professions and with the communities that we’re working alongside.

Leadership is understanding that you don’t have the final say on a project; instead, it’s about recognizing everyone—engineers, social workers, designers, communities, and users—and taking their input into account.

You can learn more about Ruben’s work and leadership by checking out the LS-LAB website .

Alumni Spotlight: Kotchakorn Voraakhom

“Nature is changing, the climate is changing, and so we, too, need to change. We must understand that fixed definitions of nature from the past no longer apply in this era of uncertainty we are confronting. Climate change is causing cities to sink, and our current infrastructure is making us even more vulnerable to severe flooding. What if we could design cities to work with nature instead of against it?”

— Kotchakorn Voraakhom

Over the next couple of months, we are continuing to share conversations with several of our alumni, each of whom pursued different areas of study at the GSD and are now leading impactful careers in design.

We recently spoke with Kotchakorn (Kotch) Voraakhom (MLA ’06). Kotch is the founder and lead designer of the award-winning landscape architecture and urban design firm LANDPROCESS , where she’s working to improve Thailand’s public spaces and solve urban ecological problems through landscape architectural design. During the spring 2023 semester, Kotch is also a design critic in Landscape Architecture at the GSD and is co-teaching the Option Studio BANGKOK REMADE with Niall Kirkwood, Professor of Landscape Architecture and Technology and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.

Kotch’s recent work spans a major urban ecological park at the heart of Bangkok and numerous innovative public landscape designs. She’s a Chairwoman of the Climate Change Working Group of the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA World) and a 2018 TED Fellow. The United Nations honored Kotch as a winner of the 2020 UN Global Climate Action Awards: Women for Results.

How did you hear about the GSD and what drew you to apply?

In Thailand, I studied landscape architecture at Chulalongkorn University. After graduating, I got a chance to work in the U.S. for a couple of years—which is quite hard to do as an international student, so I was very lucky. My landscape architecture profession started in the U.S. at Sasaki. My boss at the time, Alistair McIntosh, is on faculty at the GSD, and my professor Pornpun Futrakul MLA ’77 had graduated from the GSD, so I heard great stories about their experiences. The GSD seemed like a commonality among many people I looked up to, which made me think, “If I really want to be a great landscape architect, maybe the GSD is the answer.”

Was there a certain experience that you look back on as being helpful in finding the right practice?

A huge turning point was meeting my peers at the GSD. We were all questioning our place within the profession, and six of us founded an organization called the Kounkuey Design Initiative . It felt like my dream job to work for those in need of our services, rather than those who hired us for services they wanted. So, we wrote a proposal for a grant through the Penny White Project Fund —and we got it.

This was around 15 years ago—it’s remarkable, looking back. It wouldn’t have been possible without the platform the GSD provided; it wouldn’t have been possible without meeting the right people, [who became] my colleagues and friends.

Why is it so important to learn about the various cultures you’re serving when trying to come up with new design solutions?

We’re designing for humans, right? If we want to understand the needs of the people we’re designing for, we have to go and listen to them. We have to experience their culture, their food, their language—even if it’s just for a short period of time. Each unique site is so specific, and every project can vary dramatically depending on the location.

That’s why the option studios were such a great learning opportunity [at the GSD]. They gave us the chance to learn about another culture through real hands-on experience. Culture, climate, and people can vary drastically, and something that works in one country might not work in another. I feel that is what’s lacking in much of our practice. We talk to our clients, or whoever is paying us, but we don’t talk to the real stakeholders, who are the people being impacted by our work.

What goals and objectives did you have in mind when starting your current practice, LANDPROCESS?

There’s no “land process” without “people process.” I am very excited about the possible solutions for climate-vulnerable communities. I’m excited for the challenges that my team and I will face, even though they are very serious. For example, I’m from Bangkok; Thailand is [one of the 10 most] flood-affected countries in the world. Every year, our land sinks and goes missing because of rising sea levels. New buildings mean nothing if entire cities flood and sink in the near future.

The point that we are at now is “adapt or die.” The work that we are doing is helping to shift cities to a carbon-neutral future by prioritizing livelihood and utilizing neglected spaces.

Utilizing neglected spaces—can you expand on that?

Forgotten and unused spaces, like rooftops, can present opportunities to make a city more useful for everyone. My team at Thammasat University, working alongside the surrounding communities, has achieved this. We created the largest urban rooftop farm in Asia. The idea for this project was derived from the wisdom of landscapes of the past, when people used rice terraces to harvest the rain from the mountainous area.

Our goals for the project were to relieve flash floods and turn the urban heat island effect into clean energy. One solution [for flooding] was implementing a flood roof, equipped with rainwater tanks that are designed to flood, allowing water to flow up and down. Solar panels on the roof create clean energy, pumping out water from the retention pond, and gravity slows down the runoff to prevent flooding.

What would you say is the biggest worry or concern you have in your field right now?

The biggest global concern is climate change, by far. Thailand has tried to tackle its flooding problems by building higher and higher dams, but this is not the right solution because dams will eventually cause more problems.

There are 7,000 fishermen in villages along the coast of Thailand. These Thai people are not allowed to stay in their country, because their homes have been built into what’s now the ocean. These villages are in the most dangerous part of Thailand, next to Cambodia, so the people who live there have nowhere to go. The government has forced everyone in the villages to be displaced.

My work now is addressing these problems by helping villages design viable solutions and negotiate with the government. We were able to get the government to commit to a housing credit with UN-Habitat [United Nations Human Settlements Programme ]. Eventually, we helped the first village secure a permit to let us enter and address the [housing crisis]. This all happened right before COVID, and unfortunately, they only granted a permit for one local community. This problem is ongoing and is some of our most important work.

With these climate concerns, what do you see as the biggest opportunity for global designers today?

There should be more concern around how we manage resources. I feel that only thinking about structure in the traditional way of “fixing things” won’t get us very far in regard to sustainable design.

Nowadays, the world needs a nature-based solution, or an ecosystem-based adaptation, which is an open opportunity for landscape architects. I think we need to push for climate-focused design in all departments. If urban designers, planners, engineers, architects, and landscape architects all work more collaboratively, we will strengthen our cities in very significant ways.

Why is it important for designers to give back to the younger generations—whether it’s through teaching or being involved in the broader design community?

Education is best transmitted by human-to-human interaction. We need humans to teach and pass on their knowledge to other humans, to the next generation, whether it’s through experience, practice, or academia. The transmission of knowledge between generations is crucial. The next generation is full of energy and potential.

And for us as alumni, we are part of the GSD culture. Even if it was a brief two years, it was such an intense period that shaped who we are as designers. It’s important to be involved in the community as alumni because it’s such a gift that we’ve already received, and we get to share it with a new generation of designers.

How are designers leaders, and why is it important that designers continue to be leaders across industries?

When I graduated, I asked my professor, Niall Kirkwood, “Why did [the GSD] choose me as a student?” And he said, “Because of your potential to be a leader.” I had no clue what he was talking about because I didn’t want to lead anyone; I didn’t want to be the head of any defined organization.

Through my practice and experiences after the GSD, I started to understand the word “leadership” more and more. It’s not about a title or position, it’s about action and impact. It’s about what you care for. I’m a designer who cares for the future of humanity, my homeland, my people, and my community. That’s what “leadership’’ means to me.

You can learn more about Kotch’s work and leadership below:

How to Adapt to Climate Change | Harvard Magazine

How to transform sinking cities into landscapes that fight floods | TED Talk

Landscape Processes Discussion Series | Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts

Meet the Woman Behind Asia’s Largest Urban Rooftop Farm | Bloomberg Quicktake

Architect Fights to Keep Bangkok from Flooding | Bloomberg Quicktake

GSD Names Kimberly Dowdell the 2023 Class Day Speaker

Harvard University Graduate School of Design (GSD) names Kimberly Dowdell as its 2023 Class Day speaker. Dowdell will address the GSD’s class and their families during the School’s 2023 Class Day exercises on Wednesday, May 24, at 3:30 PM ET in the Gund Hall Back Yard.

Kimberly Dowdell is a principal at HOK, a leading global design firm based in Chicago, and frequently lectures on the topic of architecture and the future of cities. Driven by the overarching mission to improve the lives of those living in urban environments, Dowdell has dedicated her career to applying social and economic principles to the profession. She has long championed diversity and triple-bottom-line sustainability, a business concept that posits that firms should commit to measuring their social and environmental impact—in addition to their financial performance—rather than solely focusing on generating profit. In 2024, she will act as the 100^th National President of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the first Black woman to hold this position in the organization’s history.

Dowdell currently serves on the Cornell University Board of Trustees, and in 2020 she was recognized as an AIA Young Architect of the Year awardee as well as a recipient of the Architectural Record Women in Architecture award. In her 2019-2020 term as National President of the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA), Dowdell worked closely with her board of directors and staff to increase opportunities for women and people of color to gain more equitable access to the building professions. Her professional aspirations are rooted in her upbringing in Detroit, where she was initially inspired to utilize architecture as a tool to revitalize cities.

Dowdell earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree at Cornell University and a Master of Public Administration degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Dowdell’s contributions to the architectural profession began during her undergraduate years, when, in 2005, she co-founded the Social Economic Environmental Design (SEED) Network during an internship with the chief architect of the General Services Administration. A global movement that sets standards for economic, social, and environmental justice for design projects, SEED boasts more than 2,000 pledged members and is featured in The Architect’s Handbook of Professional Practice.

After graduating from Cornell, one of Dowdell’s first projects was the renovation of a dormitory that serves deaf students at Gallaudet University at Ayers Saint Gross in Washington, DC. She was later hired as an architectural technician and communications manager for HOK’s New York studio. To promote the firm’s efforts to empower the communities it serves, she co-founded HOK IMPACT, one of the profession’s first corporate social responsibility programs. Since 2010, the program has given employees a greater sense of connectivity and provided venues to engage the community in a meaningful way. Dowdell recently returned to HOK as a principal, where she is focused on generating new business models in the Midwest. She is the co-chair of the firm’s diversity advisory council, which aims to create a more diverse and inclusive firm culture.

To see a full schedule of 2023 Class Day and Commencement exercises, and for other Commencement information, please visit the GSD’s Commencement webpage.

Grace La Appointed
Chair of Department of Architecture

The Harvard University Graduate School of Design (GSD) announces Grace La (MArch I ’95) as Chair of the Department of Architecture, effective July 1, 2023. La is Professor of Architecture at the GSD and principal of LA DALLMAN , a practice internationally recognized for work that integrates architecture, engineering, and site. La is the second woman to be named Chair of the Department of Architecture, and in 2013 became the first Korean American to be tenured at the GSD.

La succeeds Mark Lee (MArch I ’95), Professor in Practice of Architecture and principal and founding partner of Johnston Marklee, who was appointed Chair in 2018.

“I am very excited about Grace’s appointment,” says Sarah M. Whiting, Dean and Josep Lluís Sert Professor of Architecture. “Her commitment to the core curriculum and focus on practice as a fundamental pillar of architectural education are at once timely and timeless for the School’s pedagogy. And as we welcome Grace into her new role, I am also deeply grateful to Mark Lee for his steady leadership of the department these past five years.”

“I am honored by the GSD’s trust and look forward to collaboration on the next chapter of this esteemed department,” La says. “As a highly negotiated art form, architecture remains at the vital intersection of culture and space. The discipline is also experiencing transformations in pedagogy, with opportunities to advance environmental expertise, social engagement, and artistry. I am thrilled to work on this shared project and on the continued mission to harness the immense intellect, imagination, and energy of the GSD’s creative community.”

LA DALLMAN, co-founded by La and James Dallman (MArch I ’92) in 1999, is engaged in catalytic projects of diverse scale and type. Noted for works that expand the architect’s agency in the civic recalibration of infrastructure and public space, LA DALLMAN has received over 50 professional honors and delivered more than 60 lectures and presentations of the firm’s work, including at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, the National Building Museum in Washington DC, and the New Museum in New York City. Celebrating 25 years of practice, LA DALLMAN is publishing the forthcoming monograph The Middle Front.

Engaging in critical dialogue with context, LA DALLMAN’s built work ranges from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Zilber Hillel Student Center and Kilbourn Tower to site-specific residences like the Levy Ravine House, Levatich Gradient House, and the Hansen Pavilion House, as well as permanent exhibits at Discovery World, a science and technology museum in Milwaukee. With expertise in adaptive reuse and renovations of mid-century modern buildings, LA DALLMAN has engaged with works by Ulrich Franzen, Harry Weese, Dan Kiley, The Architects Collaborative, and Walter Gropius. Urban transformations and infrastructure include the Marsupial Bridge, a pedestrian bridge slung beneath a 1925 viaduct; the post-industrial master plan for Milwaukee’s Menomonee Valley; and other current infrastructure projects, including the Assabet River Pedestrian Bridge in Concord, Massachusetts. Presently under construction in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, is LA DALLMAN’s conversion of the Door County Granary into a museum and civic center, a project honored with a Progressive Architecture Award and celebrated as the cover image of Architect Magazine in March 2021.

LA DALLMAN’s work has been featured in numerous publications, including Architect, a+t, Architectural Record, Azure, Praxis, and Topos, as well as in books published by Actar, Princeton Architectural Press, Verlagshaus Braun, and Routledge. Their work has been widely presented in over 20 exhibitions, including at the Heinz Architectural Center, Carnegie Museum of Art, and the Danish Architecture Center.

Committed to curricular development in architectural education, La served as the inaugural Chair of the Practice Platform (2014-2022) and Director of the GSD’s Master of Architecture degree programs (2014-17). Engaging the contemporary debate on questions of design pedagogy, La co-chaired the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture’s 2019 national conference, Black Box: Articulating Architecture’s Core in the Post-Digital Era, co-curating the accompanying exhibition, Drawing for the Design Imaginary, at Carnegie Mellon University. She also co-curated Drawing Attention: the Digital Culture of Contemporary Architectural Drawings, a global collection of 75 contemporary drawings, at the Roca London Gallery. La’s teaching at the GSD has included core design studios in housing and building integration, as well as option studios on bridges and auditoria co-taught with James Dallman. Aiming to connect design with conditions of ecology and material culture, La recently co-taught and co-curated with Erika Naginski a studio, seminar, and exhibition titled Eco Folly, in connection with the GSD’s Center for Green Buildings and Cities . La is also the founder and host of Talking Practice, a GSD podcast exploring how leading practitioners articulate design imagination through practice.

La joined the faculty at the GSD as Professor of Architecture in 2013, and previously served on the faculties of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Syracuse University. In 2022, La and Dallman were appointed Faculty Directors in Harvard’s Graduate Commons Program. A graduate of Harvard College, AB magna cum laude, as well as a John Harvard Scholar, La earned her professional MArch degree from the GSD with thesis distinction, winning the Clifford Wong Housing Prize.

Designing Food Security in Rural Mississippi

For nearly a decade, Mississippi has ranked as America’s hungriest state. Nearly 19 percent of its citizens—about 600,000 people—face food insecurity, including one in four children. This catastrophe is not the fault of geography. Agriculture serves as the state’s main industry, with about 34,700 farms operating across 10.4 million acres of fertile soil. The fault principally lies in a long history of exploitation, from the arrival of settler colonialists who identified its promise and built some of the South’s largest plantations to the continued privileging of crops grown for profit, like soy and hay, which perpetuates the legacy of slavery.

In his fall 2022 studio, “The Paradox of Hunger—Rural Mississippi,” Design Critic in Architecture Cory Henry asked students to examine this crisis and investigate what mitigating role architecture and design could play. “In Mississippi, you have some of the most arable land in the country,” says Henry. “Over 30 percent of the state is farmland—a percentage which is growing—but the state consistently ranks as one of the most food insecure in the country.”

In Mississippi, you have some of the most arable land in the country,” says Henry. “Over 30 percent of the state is farmland—a percentage which is growing—but the state consistently ranks as one of the most food insecure in the country.

Cory Henry

That land has attracted numerous out-of-state investment funds as well as wealthy Americans. It was only for sale, however, after being stolen from Black and Indigenous people, sometimes with the help of abusive policies. In these instances, profit motivates more than feeding local people: only 45,000 of those 10.4 million acres are devoted to fruits and vegetables. “A farmer told me that Mississippi farms value the green dollar more than the green for sustenance,” says Henry. As a result, the state imports most of its produce, which in turn is difficult for many to access due to a dearth of grocery stores. Dollar Generals, which do not sell fresh produce, are often the nearest source of food, particularly in rural areas.

This condition contradicts the dream Laurence C. Jones had in 1909 when he founded the Piney Woods School, the nation’s second oldest continuously operating Black boarding school, located about 21 miles southeast of Jackson. Jones’s mission was to teach formerly enslaved people not just how to read but also about food sovereignty. “We educate for the head, the heart, and the hands” remains a foundational motto. Occupying approximately 2,000 acres, about 10 percent of which is farmland, the school became an ideal case study for Henry’s students to translate their research on the multipronged roots of food insecurity into a concrete intervention at a specific site.

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed many of the country’s structural inequalities that already existed. These include how Black, non-Hispanic households are twice as likely to be food insecure,” says Henry. “I wanted students to understand the agency of our design disciplines—that we must understand the socioeconomic conditions of a place in order to have meaningful change—and to explore ways in which design thinking can create opportunities for food sovereignty.

Younger Americans do not gravitate toward farming careers. According to the 2017 census, the average age of a Mississippi farmer is 60. At Piney Woods specifically, the farm today carries punitive associations, with students sent there as a form of discipline. Altering these impressions requires creating a new relationship between the youth and the natural environment—one that emphasizes joy and excitement rather than obligation.

Avi Robinson (MArch ’23) and Supriya Ambwani (MLA ’23) understood that inculcating a positive connection to farming will not arise from harsh prescriptions, particularly for high schoolers and especially those in communities with an acute awareness of the history of slavery. Freedom—of choice, movement, and program—resonates throughout their design. “Spaces often tell you what you can or cannot do,” says Robinson. “The more nondescript spaces are, the more flexibility you have.”

Utilizing inexpensive materials such as plywood and employing ancient techniques like rammed earth, the pair emphasized minimalist simplicity. At the site of the existing barn, for instance, they retained the original structure but added a variation of terraced farming inspired by farms in South Africa, with plots arrayed throughout a series of long, arched passages that are enclosed in chain-link fences. This expansion created room for a kitchen, where food from the farm can be taken directly and either stored or served, making an alternative to the cafeteria. Guided by the impulse not to demarcate aspects of the plan as being strictly focused on sustainability, waste, design, or any other narrow concept, the complex becomes multiuse in a way that makes the food cycle more legible.

Hybridity is emphasized further in the new makerspace, which includes a woodshop, classroom, computer lab, library, and drawing studio. It acts as a center for hands-on learning, such as the construction of goat sheds which house the herd that provides fertilizer. The frame of the makerspace partially echoes the sloping arches of the new barn complex. And as with the chain-link roofs in the barn, the porousness of the building’s multistory, floor-to-ceiling windows establish an attachment to the land, even for those uninterested in this work.

But the flexibility of Robinson and Ambwani’s design encourages students to use these spaces in ways both related and unrelated to farming—whether doing homework or just hanging out. It also positions Piney Woods as a site of inspiration for schools and institutions in Mississippi and beyond, with plans that are more widely adaptable than rigidly defined spaces. “I wanted to find ingredients that people could use,” explains Robinson. “What you see are the current needs of Piney Woods. But this is an entry point, a recipe book, about how to mix things together to address, in any specific situation, both food and education.”

Christian Behling (MArch II ’24) and Gabriel Schmid (MArch II ’24) saw the campus as bifurcated, with the “hands,” represented by the farm, lacking both a material and positive emotional connection to the “head,” represented by the academic buildings. In order to join the two, they designed a boardwalk that functions as a kind of spine across campus. Made of light-frame pine to respect the school’s history of building with on-site materials, it begins at the original schoolhouse and the grave of Laurence Jones, passes by Jones’s house, and then integrates with the farmland and historic barn. “We want this to be a physical path, a formal procession,” says Behling, who is sensitive to the importance of not imposing an entirely new history on the site but rather being in dialogue with its celebrated past.

Consideration for the past also concerns cross-generational respect. Behling and Schmid’s plan facilitates formal and informal mentorships between farmers and students to support new generations of farmers. Programmatically, this takes the form of a farmer living on campus in the newly designed dormitories. Accessed from the boardwalk, these buildings utilize Southern vernacular forms, such as the shotgun house and the wraparound porch. “There’s an important lack of social and spatial hierarchy between the different spaces in the dormitories, with private bedrooms and shared spaces all connected through a procession of doors. There are no hallways,” explains Behling.

Near the dormitories, each student is provided a small plot to manage. Behling and Schmid believe these should be given without assignments or expectations. “We had an idealistic idea that if each student has a little piece of the school of which they are in charge, it will make them more invested in the mission that the school is trying to promote,” says Behling. Whether they grow food, put in a trampoline, or let it grow wild, the plot remains their own. “It fully embraces the entrepreneurial aspirations the school already promotes.”

These plots are not the only means by which students can learn about a circular system of resources, in contrast to the current model in Mississippi in which crops like soy are largely exported for processing. The new woodshop and makerspace will educate them about the process of growing wood, milling, and making furniture or other resources. The same is true for a new test and production kitchen, where students can learn about culinary practices and make food products, like preserves, that can be supplied to the surrounding community. In the short term, Behling and Schmid believe this exchange could take place at Piney Woods farm stands constructed in the parking lots of the closest Dollar General stores, with similar architecture to that found on campus so as to pull the campus beyond its property.

Mariama Kah (MArch II ’24) and Shant Charoian (MArch II ’23) also saw the agricultural sciences as being disconnected from the rest of the school, with physical relics dotting the campus serving as a reminder of its original ethos. They were reluctant to make any changes to the site, however small. As a result, their respect for the past became a focus on repair. “We were very cognizant that this is a historic campus which is very proud of its history,” says Kah. “We wanted to touch the ground very lightly, so we decided to take an adaptive reuse stance rather than do anything invasive which takes over the campus.”

In an effort to subvert the notion of agriculture as an extractive force, Kah and Charoian looked at a speciality crop that leaves a small footprint and requires minimal space and labor: mushrooms. The opportunity for financial returns from mushroom farming is high, with a projected annual revenue of $62,000 per year for the school. Evoking another of the school’s mottos—“Land as laboratory”—this initiative could then be used to make Piney Woods a magnet for agricultural research and study. “It would become an opportunity for fellowships and engagement with local farmers and universities. It would give it power through economics as well as education,” says Kah.

To further this goal, and in keeping with their anti-interventionist philosophy, Kah and Charoian propose to turn the back end of Iowa Hall, a building that had fallen into disuse but which is slated to become a chemistry lab, into an agronomy studies and mushroom laboratory. Like their peers, they understood the importance of multiuse spaces, especially for a centrally located space like this. Surrounding the laboratory are revived basketball courts, porches and other extensions overlooking the campus, a sunken student plaza, and additional spaces that create moments for gathering.

We did not want to be an imposition on the legacies that exist but rather create space and ground them, to allow them to continue into the future.

Mariama Kah

These sites address the students’ desire to have more time to enjoy nature, which Kah and Charoian learned through a game in which the teens were asked how they connected with the green spaces in their lives. The pair responded to these concerns elsewhere, too. At the barn, they followed the gables of the original roof to create shading moments as well as classrooms, established two laboratories for animal research, and introduced spots for levity and community at the top of the silos, with panoramic views of the farm. The community garden was commandeered to include a food-nutrition lab and student kitchen, while a cabin near the water, a favorite leisure space for students, also features a water- and soil-testing lab. What was once forgotten or given less attention now has a new sense of prominence.

“The intention of the project is for Piney Woods to become the center for agricultural research and ecological study in Mississippi. The space would be used for research through fellowships and partnership, as well as for the teaching of students, who could then see themselves doing agricultural work in the future,” says Kah. But, for her, that must not come at the expense of the architecture already present: just as crops have multigenerational lives and their successful harvesting requires the passing down of knowledge, design at this site cannot ignore the past in an effort to change the future. We did not want to be an imposition on the legacies that exist but rather create space and ground them, to allow them to continue into the future,” Kah continues. “We thought of our additions of these agricultural laboratories as another link in the chain of the school’s history rather than a top-down approach of saying how things should be.

Diane Davis and Gareth Doherty join the Salata Institute’s Climate Research Clusters

Diane Davis, Charles Dyer Norton Professor of Regional Planning and Urbanism, and Gareth Doherty, Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture and Director of the Master in Landscape Architecture Program, are among the recipients of the first grants awarded by Harvard’s Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability . The awarded grants will tackle a range of climate change challenges, seeking to reduce future warming and assist those whose lives already have been affected by the crisis.

The grants to five research clusters will provide more than $8.1 million over three years to projects that bring together 30 faculty members from disciplines spanning Harvard Law School, Harvard Business School, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard Medical School, Harvard Kennedy School, the Graduate School of Design, the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

Diane Davis will take part in “Strengthening Communities ,” a cluster organized to probe the social costs and benefits of changes in the energy system, and propose concrete ways communities, firms, and governments to help them navigate the wide range of fiscal, legal, regulatory, and development choices they face. The cluster focuses on two principal social challenges, which occur at multiple scales: the disruptions and opportunities arising from the adoption of new technologies, including dislocations as communities move away from fossil fuels or shift to a new energy mix.

Gareth Doherty will contribute to “Climate Adaptation in the Gulf of Guinea ,” a research team focusing on coastal communities in Abidjan, Accra, and Lagos that are at risk from sea-level rise and compounding impacts, such as flooding, saltwater intrusion, storm surge, and coastal erosion. In these communities, and other coastal ones in Africa, sea-level rise is jeopardizing livelihoods, impeding tourism, and damaging traditional fishing grounds. The goal of the project, therefore, is to identify viable climate adaptation strategies.

Throughout the week of May 8th Harvard Schools, centers, and student groups will host an array of climate events with leading experts, including the Salata Institute’s first annual symposium  on May 9th.

The Salata Institute launched in June and is supported by a $200 million gift from Melanie and Jean Salata. During the institute’s opening symposium in October, Jean Salata said he’s confident that the world will meet the climate change challenge, though the work will be difficult and require contributions from all aspects of society.

Building a Future at Harvard

Henry B. Hoover (March ’26) is considered a pioneer of New England modernist architecture. He designed more than 50 modern houses in his hometown of Lincoln, Mass., and other suburbs west of Boston, as well as houses in New Hampshire, Georgia, and Florida.

The quality of his GSD education and the financial assistance Hoover received at Harvard inspired his three children—Henry B. (Harry) Hoover, Jr., Lucretia Hoover Giese PhD ’85 (1937-2018), and Elizabeth Hoover Norman PhD ’05 (1937-2010)—to establish the Henry B. Hoover Fellowship at the GSD in 1989. Since then, further outright, planned, and estate gifts from the siblings ensure that their father’s legacy lives on.

A portion of the sale of the family home in Lincoln, which their father designed in 1937, was added to the Hoover Fellowship in 2020 through a bequest from Lucretia’s estate and this year a charitable gift annuity from Harry brought the endowed fund to full fellowship status. This  long-term commitment has made it possible for the GSD to award the fellowship to a student every year.

“I’ve been honored to meet these awardees and even give them a tour of my father’s architectural work in my town of Lincoln and other communities,” Harry said. “They come to know Hoover as a person who had aspirations and experiences just like they have now.”

“The training he received at Harvard was so important to him,” Lucretia had said. “That’s why we decided to establish a fund to provide scholarships to students who would not otherwise be able to attend Harvard. Our father had received a scholarship that enabled him to study at Harvard. The support of his professors, especially George H. Edgell (then dean of the School of Architecture), profoundly affected his career.”

“All three of us revered our father,” Harry said of himself and his sisters. “This fellowship was a natural outpouring of our affection and respect.”

Hoover won the Charles Eliot Prize and two traveling fellowships, the Frederick Sheldon and Nelson Robinson, Jr. Fellowships. He also became the first recipient of the Eugene Dodd Medal for excellence in draftsmanship.

“He had a really direct relationship with buildings—buildings he designed, as well as those he experienced,” Harry said. “After graduation, Hoover produced a series of drawings of Harvard buildings. His architectural drawings were not mere elevations; he was able to relate buildings to their sites with extraordinary clarity, producing drawings of consummate draftsmanship and liveliness.”

“One legacy of our father was to create houses that would enhance quality of life. Now we’ve had the opportunity as a family to celebrate his life,” Harry says.

That celebration is now carrying through to the next generation and inspiring others with connections to Hoover to support the fellowship.

“My wife and I have preserved one of Henry Hoover’s houses and are privileged daily to enjoy that enhanced quality of life to which Harry refers,” said Brooks Mostue March ’76. “The nuanced views, careful siting, and beautiful utility of the house and its setting attest to Henry’s talent and vision. As a GSD fellowship recipient, I am keenly aware of the positive impact endowments have on students’ careers and the built environment. I am grateful to the Hoover family for their generosity.”

Harry added, “We’re fortunate that through my father’s legacy, we can bring this opportunity to well-deserving and accomplished people who are the best qualified to carry our father’s work, vision, and spirit onward.”

Kay O’Neil and David Nelson Find Love, Give Back at the GSD

Statistical analysis and love don’t usually go together, but Kay O’Neil (MCRP ’78) and David Nelson (MCRP ’78) have found success with this unique pairing.

The couple, who met at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design (GSD), have been together for 42 years. They are thankful to the GSD both for the foundational skills it provided in city and regional planning and for bringing them together. To formalize that gratitude, Kay and David have provided a generous gift to the school through their life insurance policy.

“Harvard has always been training talented people in a way that will allow them to make changes and contribute to society in remarkable ways,” David said. “We were very happy at the GSD, and we’ve been very happy together for the last 42 years. It was a wonderful experience, and we want others to have it.”

Kay and David’s journeys toward their GSD experience date back to their childhoods. Kay grew up in Northwoods, the first planned unit development in the state of Georgia. The neighborhood, which is now on the National Register of Historic Places, informed what she thought a community should be. “It was very accessible for kids,” she said of Northwoods, which also had its own elementary school. “We had the run of the entire community.”

In high school, Kay heard a presentation about planned communities, which solidified her ambition to become a city planner. She received her undergraduate degree in urban planning at Michigan State University before coming to Harvard and the GSD for her master’s degree in city and regional planning.

At the GSD, she attended her quantitative analysis classes, where she saw a classmate that often questioned the faculty on statistical approaches. She saw him again at a Halloween party, where Kay’s friend said, “Oh, that’s David Nelson. He’s always challenging the professor.”

“She said that, and I thought, ‘Well, he’s always right!’” Kay said with a laugh. “We ended up studying together, and we both liked going for ice cream in the afternoons, and soon one thing led to another.”

“When I arrived at Harvard, I was a bit of a pain to the faculty,” David said, acknowledging that some of his professors were only a year or two older. He had spent time in high school working with his father, a municipal public works manager, and became interested in the public service element of forming the built environment. Studying sociology at Bates College led to a fondness for data and statistics. After a couple of years away from school, he applied to Harvard “on a wing and a prayer.”

“It’s still a huge honor,” David said of his graduate alma mater. “Everybody wants to go to Harvard, and nobody figures they can get in. I arrived there intimidated and confused, but two years later, I came out more confident.”

“I first noticed Kay in the lobby at Gund Hall waiting for a ride, and she gave me the biggest smile. I said to her, ‘You’re the girl in stats class.’ We became fast friends. And now here we are, 42 years, three children, and two grandchildren later.”

Both Kay and David went on to careers in public transit, focusing on subways and commuter railroads. Kay credits the GSD with providing the confidence and skills she needed to launch her own company, KKO and Associates, in 1984. That company, which David also worked for, offered software and planning structures for public transport and commuter rail systems domestically in cities like Boston, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Miami, as well as overseas in countries like Poland, Argentina, and South Africa.

“When we were at the GSD, it was an egalitarian program with a lot of women,” Kay said. “I went to work in the railroad industry, which is male-dominated. But I had come out of Harvard believing I could do anything I wanted.”

Kay closed the company in 2015 and now works for Keolis, a French company that operates the Massachusetts commuter rail system. David is at a large engineering firm, working with cities like Toronto, Miami, Boston, Philadelphia, and New York, on their ambitions for expanding public transit. He has also spent the last 10 years teaching a once-a-year graduate course in Paris about the railroads.

As a way of giving back to the educational institution that they say formed their lives, Kay and David named the GSD as a beneficiary of a life insurance policy they established. The couple pays a premium to a charitable foundation, which purchases and holds the life insurance policy for them, and Kay and David designate the beneficiaries and amounts. This planned gift makes them members of the H. Langford Warren Society, and they also give to the GSD as members of the Josep Lluís Sert Council.

“When earning money, you can make relatively modest contributions; when you’re gone, the money goes to your designated charities and philanthropic interests,” David said of the policy.

I couldn’t have gone to Harvard without financial aid. It’s important to us to give back and give forward so that people who might find attending Harvard a challenge can have that opportunity. The students are interesting, fascinating people.

“I couldn’t have gone to Harvard without financial aid,” Kay said. “It’s important to us to give back and give forward so that people who might find attending Harvard a challenge can have that opportunity. The students are interesting, fascinating people.”

This giving mechanism provided a simple, impactful way for Kay and David to support the passion, engagement, and initiative of GSD students—qualities that the two of them have carried forward in the four decades since leaving campus.

“As the twig is bent,” David said, “so grows the tree.”