Global Redesign Project

Architects as agents of change in a globally interconnected world is the theme of inquiry for this seminar. It is not a coincidence that we have witnessed a confluence of various crises in the last two years- from financial/economic crises, to those of natural resources, the environment and energy. Not only do we live in a world connected through the internet and information networks, we live in a world that is interdependent in a socio-political framework, and in the resources we need for simple survival. Architecture offers an unusually rigorous systemic thinking process to work through complex problems that gives form and clarity to ambiguous and amorphous issues. The word \”architecture\” is often used to describe a mastery of complex organizations in politics and economics that empowers the decision making process, yet in practice, these processes are rarely used to derive an enlightened outcome. The seminar will choose global issues in collaboration with other parts of the university in order to navigate this territory to give access through visualization, and to calibrate a structure for the clarification of issues. In particular, we will focus on blind spots, areas that fall between various silos of expertise to uncover existing and future risks going forward. The first part of the semester will be for the preparation of primers for the event on October 14th, the first collaborative event of the World Economic Forum with an academic institution, Harvard. The WEF\’s Global Redesign Project of the last two years will be brought in as the topic. This event, for the first time, will introduce the voices of the current young generation to the global discourse.As the host of this event at the GSD, the seminar group will pose questions that deal with the environment, space and design to reformulate and invigorate the discourse with dimensional and systematic thinking at multiple scales: the design process of architects and designers. The seminar will work in collaboration with professors of the Business School, Law School, Kennedy School, FAS and Public Health to produce primers and also act as the host, interlocutor and provocateur for the event. The last part of the seminar will consider new practice modes for architects and designers to create scenarios for proactive practices, to be involved as an active agent in the critical and larger issues that surround our everyday lives.The Final Exam for this seminar will be held on 12/15 from 9-12 in room 109.