Cambridge Talks 2026: Surfacing

In his 1993 essay on “The Topology of Environmentalism,” anthropologist Timothy Ingold critiqued the concept of “the global environment.” The image of dwelling upon a solid globe, on the “surface of the earth,” he wrote, was predicated on a colonial idea of nature as fundamentally separate from human existence, and thus, implicitly, an object of intervention. In framing globe thinking as surface thinking, Ingold reminds us that the very notion of the “earth’s surface” is imbued with normative assumptions about how we relate to the world.

As students of the built environment, we revisit Ingold’s critique to call for the historicization of surface-making or surfacing. After all, the design disciplines are bound up in working upon the surface of the earth and in the physical and discursive production of surfaces more generally. From architectural cladding, street paving, and ground cover to the drawings, plans, and maps that represent them, surfaces mediate and condition our engagement with the world. What would it mean, then, to view surface-making as a unifying (albeit uneven) ground between architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning? Thinking through the common ground of practice as surfacing may be a way of suturing the baggy concept of “environment” to its social and material dimensions. 

Surfacing, as a methodological frame, entails a shift in focus from objects to processes. In the project of uncovering colonialism’s lasting legacies, historian Ann Laura Stoler has called for the study of ‘ruination’ rather than ‘ruins’; similarly, we are less interested in surfaces as such than in historical processes of surface-making and surface-breaking. We invite scholars, therefore, to consider the physical production of surfaces and their role in mediating our relationships with each other and with the environment. In historicizing surfaces as sites of intervention and management, we ask: How are surfaces physically produced? With what materials and what tools? What costs do these practices exact, socially or environmentally? Who builds surfaces, and to whose benefit or detriment? How are surfaces remade over time? What modes of maintenance or preservation are involved in doing so? And what happens when surfaces give way — to friction, mold, burst pipes, erosion, social unrest, or archival irruptions?  

We welcome abstracts from doctoral students in architectural, landscape, urban, and environmental history, as well as in geography, the history of science and technology, art history, media studies, comparative literature, and related fields. Paper topics might address: 

• Histories of landscape and architectural construction sites
• The geopolitics and/or environmental costs of sourcing and fabricating surface materials
• Histories of representational media as surfaces
• The use of surveying and mapping to document, produce, and manage surfaces
• Social, migration, or labor histories of making, breaking, or maintaining surfaces
• Histories of surface preservation (monuments, properties, landscapes, etc.)
• Alternative or counter-hegemonic practices and processes of surfacing

Date: Friday, April 24 – Saturday, April 25, 2026
Location: Gund Hall 112 Stubbins, 48 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138

Submissions: Please submit a 300-word paper abstract, paper title, and 2-page CV via this form . Please direct any questions to [email protected]. 

• Abstracts are due by Friday, January 2, 2026.
• Authors of accepted papers will be notified by email by the end of January, 2026.
• Participants will be asked to submit a final draft of their paper by April 10, 2026.

About Cambridge Talks

Cambridge Talks is an annual conference organized by students of the PhD Program in Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Urban Planning at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, and is generously supported by the GSD’s Advanced Studies programs. Cambridge Talks 2026: Surfacing is organized by PhD students Charlie Gaillard, Anny Li, and Miranda Shugars and advised by Antoine Picon, G. Ware Travelstead Professor of the History of Architecture and Technology and Director of Doctoral Programs. The graphic identity for the conference was designed by Willis Kingery.

Programs

MDes Research Award

Commemorating the 30th anniversary of the MDes Program, the MDes Research Award supports research and development of projects in the multiple formats and media of the MDes Program vision, offering an opportunity unique to MDes students for experimentation, immersion, and discovery. The Award supports travel to archives, fieldwork, project development, material experiments, and occasionally supports conference presentations.

$1,000 is awarded per Domain, annually.
At the discretion of the Domain Head, the Award may be shared between 1 to 4 awardees per Domain.

The Spring 2026 application period will open on Friday, February 13. The deadline to submit applications is Friday, March 6 at 11:59pm.

Eligibility:

All MDes first year students are eligible to apply.

How to Apply:

Applications must be submitted in PDF form to Liz Thorstenson at [email protected].

The proposal must be formatted to a single page of not more than 300 words. Be specific regarding the project, use of funds (materials, travel, etc.), and planned outcomes (exhibition, publication, etc.). Students may work individually or in teams, though only one grant may be awarded per proposal.

Evaluation Criteria:

Proposals will be evaluated for the clarity and originality of the research or project activity, and the projected outcomes.

Notification of Recipient:

The award recipients will be announced via email.

Winner Deliverable:

The results of the project/research award should be presented publicly at the MDes Fall Colloquium which is held annually (date TBD each year.)

Find out more about the history of the prize on the GSD MDes Research Award web page.

Dimitris Pikionis Award (MDes)

Established in 2001 by Ino D. and her husband, Alexis Papageorgiou, in memory of her father, Greek architect, Dimitris Pikionis, the Dimitris Pikionis Award recognizes a GSD student for outstanding academic performance in the Master in Design Studies degree program.

How to Apply: There is no application process. All graduating MDes students are automatically considered in May.

Evaluation Criteria: The MDes Program Faculty Council reviews and selects a recipient who has demonstrated outstanding academic performance in the Master in Design Studies program.

Notification of Recipient: The prize recipients will be announced at the GSD Awards and Diploma Ceremony as part of Commencement in May.

Winner Deliverable: No deliverable is expected from the recipient.

Design Studies Domain Award

The Design Studies Domain Award recognizes an outstanding student in each MDes Domain that has achieved high academic performance, has demonstrated the development of a sustained and sophisticated research agenda, and has contributed significantly to the broader GSD community.

How to Apply: There is no application process. All graduating students are automatically considered in May.

Evaluation Criteria: The MDes Program Faculty Council reviews and selects recipients who have demonstrated the development of a sustained and sophisticated research agenda, and who have contributed significantly to the broader GSD community.

Notification of Recipient: The prize recipients will be announced at the GSD Awards and Diploma Ceremony as part of Commencement in May.

Winner Deliverable: No deliverable is expected from the recipient.

Degree Requirements

Advanced Studies Programs

MDes Resources

PhD Resources

Advanced Studies Programs Resources