In the News

PhD Faculty and Alumni make strong showing at 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale

Antoine Picon—G. Ware Travelstead Professor of the History of Architecture and Technology, director of Doctoral Programs, and director of the PhD Program—contributed an essay titled “Learning Differently from Nature” to the catalogue for the 19th International Architecture Exhibition and serves as an advisor to composer Jean-Michel Jarre who created the Oxyville 360 sonic structure.

Max Hirsh (PhD ’12) and Dorothy Tang (MLA ’12) present Airport Urbanism: Remaking Hong Kong, 1975-2025. This installation is part of the Hong Kong Pavilion, Projecting Future Heritage: An Archive of Hong Kong, which features projects that demonstrate Hong Kong’s multifaceted public infrastructure.

Mitchell Joachim (MAUD ’02) of Terreform ONE, Wendy W. Fok (DDes ’17), Peder Anker (PhD ’99) with Melanie Fessel and Paul D. Miller (aka DJ Spooky) present Coding Plants: An Artificial Reef and Living Kelp Archive. This project proposes a living archive embedded within a synthetic kelp reef: an architectural ecosystem that stores design intelligence—blueprints for homes, civic structures, and ecological infrastructure—within the DNA of engineered vegetation, enabling future generations of plants to grow pre-configured structures attuned to environmental conditions. Within translucent vitrines, visitors encounter suspended fragments of this reef, hybrid organisms in which botanical life merges with coded information. These active archives, capable of regeneration, mutation, and adaptation, offer a glimpse into an architecture that eats, breathes, and remembers. Rather than resisting nature, Coding Plants proposes a system where urbanism is symbiotic—an evolution of the built environment toward a coauthored future with the living world.

Yazmín M. Crespo Claudio (PhD ’24) and Samira Daneshvar among speakers at Symposium in Honor of Giuliana Bruno: With Keynotes by Isaac Julien and Emanuele Coccia

Recent graduate Yazmín M. Crespo Claudio spoke and current PhD student Samira Daneshvar moderated a panel at a symposium inspired by Giuliana Bruno’s career researching the intersections of the visual arts, architecture, film, and media. Bruno is the Emmet Blakeney Gleason Professor of Visual and Environmental Studies, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and a GSD Faculty Affiliate.

The symposium was held at Piper Auditorium in Gund Hall in November 2024. A recording has been made available to view on the GSD website.

This event was co-presented by the Department of Art, Film, and Visual Studies, Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, Harvard Graduate School of Design, and the Department of History of Art and Architecture.

Adam Longenbach receives 2023 Carter Manny Award Citation of Special Recognition.

Adam Longenbach, a doctoral candidate in architecture, was recently honored with a Carter Manny Award citation of special recognition from the Graham Foundation. Established in 1996, the Carter Manny Award program supports the completion of outstanding doctoral dissertations on architecture and its role in the arts, culture, and society. The only pre-doctoral award dedicated exclusively to architectural scholarship, it recognizes emerging scholars whose work promises to challenge and reshape contemporary discourse and impact the field at large.

Hannah Kaemmer (PhD ’24) appointed CASVA Robert H. and Clarice Smith Fellow, 2023–2024.

The Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts (the Center) announced its 2023–2024 academic year appointments. Every year, the Center brings distinguished scholars from around the world to its internationally renowned research institution at the National Gallery of Art. Hannah Kaemmer (PhD ’24) was appointed the Robert H. and Clarice Smith Fellow for 2023-2024. Hannah’s dissertation is titled Expertise and Empire: Fortification Building and the English Ordnance Office, 1660–1714.

Since its inception in 1979, the Center has promoted the study of the history, theory, and criticism of art, architecture, and urbanism through the formation of a community of scholars. A variety of private sources support this fellowship program and appointments are ratified by the National Gallery’s board of trustees. In selecting its members, the Center seeks a diverse pool of scholars in the visual arts.

Maria Atuesta (PhD ’21) appointed Data Storytelling and Public Narrative Officer, Namati by The American Council of Learned Societies

Maria Atuesta (PhD ’21) was appointed as the Data Storytelling and Public Narrative Officer for Namati by The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) with the ACLS Leading Edge Fellowship Program. The ACLS Leading Edge Fellowship program aims to demonstrate the potential of humanistic knowledge and methods to solve problems, build capacity, and advance social justice and equity. The fellowships support recent PhDs in the humanities and interpretive social sciences as they work with social justice organizations in communities across the United States.

Demetra Vogiatzaki (PhD ’23) elected as HECAA Emerging Scholars Board Member-at-large

Demetra Vogiatzaki (PhD ’23) was elected as an Emerging Scholars Board Member-at-large at HECAA (Historians of Eighteenth Century Art and Architecture). HECAA’s mission is to facilitate communication and collaboration among scholars of eighteenth-century art to expand and promote knowledge of all aspects of the period’s visual culture through research, conference presentations, and publication. The association encourages and supports graduate students and emerging scholars in the visual culture of the long eighteenth century.

The Executive Board provides counsel and assistance to the officers, approves committee appointments, annual awards, and other duties specified in the bylaws. This position provides graduate students, early career researchers and emerging scholars who are members of HECAA with the opportunity to become more involved in the community and to advocate directly for their interests and needs. Demetra is honored to represent the field of architectural history on the board and looks forward to furthering the growth of HECAA in architecture schools, promoting mentorship opportunities and connections between emerging and senior scholars in the discipline.