Harvard Graduate School of Design


The Harvard Graduate School of Design is a graduate school of design at Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the GSD offers master's and doctoral programs in architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, urban design, real estate, design engineering, and design studies.
The GSD has over 13,000 alumni and has graduated many famous architects, urban planners, and landscape architects. The school is considered a global academic leader in the design fields.
The GSD has the world's oldest landscape architecture program and North America's oldest urban planning program. Architecture was first taught at Harvard University in 1874. The Graduate School of Design was officially established in 1936, combining the three fields of architecture, urban planning, and landscape architecture under one graduate school.

History

Architecture

brought the first architecture classes to Harvard University in 1874.

Urban planning

In 1900, the first urban planning courses were taught at Harvard University, and by 1909, urban planning courses taught by James Sturgis Pray were added into Harvard's design curriculum as part of the landscape architecture department. In 1923, a specialization in urban planning was established under the degree program of Master in Landscape Architecture. In 1929, North America's first urban planning degree was established at Harvard under short-term funding from the Rockefeller Foundation. The degree program closed after MIT established a degree program in 1935. In 1980, the program was temporarily moved to the Harvard Kennedy School of Government until it returned to the GSD in 1984.

Landscape architecture

In 1893, the nation's first professional course in landscape architecture was offered at Harvard University. In 1900, the world's first landscape architecture program was established by Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. and Arthur A. Shurcliff. The School of Landscape Architecture was established in 1913.

Establishment

The three major design professions were officially united in 1936 to form the Harvard Graduate School of Design. In 1937, Walter Gropius joined the GSD faculty as chair of the Department of Architecture and brought modern designers, including Marcel Breuer to help revamp the curriculum.
In 1960, Josep Lluís Sert established the nation's first Urban Design program. George Gund Hall, which is the present iconic home GSD, opened in 1972 and was designed by Australian architect and GSD graduate John Andrews. The school's now defunct Laboratory for Computer Graphics and Spatial Analysis is widely recognized as the research/development environment from which the now-commercialized technology of geographic information systems emerged in the late 1960s and 1970s. More recent research initiatives include the Design Robotics Group, a unit that investigates new material systems and fabrication technologies in the context of architectural design and construction.

Deans

Academics

The degrees granted in the masters programs include the Master of Architecture, Master in Landscape Architecture, Master of Architecture in Urban Design, Master of Landscape Architecture in Urban Design, Master in Urban Planning, Master in Design Engineering, Master in Design Studies. The school also offers the Doctor of Design and jointly administers a Doctor of Philosophy degree in architecture, urban planning, and landscape architecture with the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
As of 2016, the program's ten-year average ranking places it 1st, overall, on DesignIntelligence's ranking of programs accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board.

Executive Education

Executive Education operates within GSD providing professional development classes. The Advanced Management Development Program in Real Estate is a year-long executive development course open to established real estate professionals. Upon graduating from AMDP, participants are full-fledged Harvard University Alumni. Throughout the year, Executive Education offers short duration programs in the fields of architecture, urban planning, design, and real estate to a diverse audience of learners.

Student body

As of 2012–2013, there were 878 students enrolled. 362 students or 42% were enrolled in architecture, 182 students or 21% in landscape architecture, 161 students or 18% in urban planning, and 173 students or 20% in doctoral or design studies programs. Approximately, 65% of students were Americans. The average student is 27 years old. GSD students are represented by the Harvard Graduate Council, a university-wide student government organization. There are also several dozen internal GSD student clubs.

Research and publications

In addition to its degree programs, the GSD administers the Loeb Fellowship, and numerous research initiatives such as the Zofnass Program for Sustainable Infrastructure. The school publishes the bi-annual Harvard Design Magazine, Platform, and other design books and studio works.

Design Research Labs

The GSD Design Labs synthesize theoretical and applied knowledge through research with the intent to enable design to be an agent of change in society. There are seven current labs: ; Energy, Environments and Design; New Geographies Lab; Responsive Environments and Artifacts Lab; Social Agency Lab; Urban Theory Lab; Geometry Lab.

Campus

The GSD campus is located northeast of Harvard Yard and across the street from Memorial Hall. Gund Hall is the main building of the GSD, and it houses most of the student space and faculty offices. Other nearby buildings include space for the school's Design Research Labs, faculty offices, the Loeb Fellowship program office, and research space for students, including those in the MDes and DDes programs.

Gund Hall

Gund Hall is the main building, which has studio spaces and offices for approximately 800 students and more than 100 faculty and staff, lecture and seminar rooms, workshops and darkrooms, an audiovisual center, computer facilities, Chauhaus, the cafeteria, a project room, Piper Auditorium, and the Frances Loeb Library. The central studio space, also known as the Trays, extends through five levels under a stepped, clear-span roof. Gund Hall has a yard that comprises a basketball court and is often used for events, as an exhibition area for class projects, and as the setting for commencement ceremonies. The building was designed by architect John Andrews and supervised by structural engineer William LeMessurier both GSD alumni.

Frances Loeb Library

The Frances Loeb Library, is the main library of the Graduate School of Design. The library has a collection of over 300,000 books and journals. It also has a Materials and Visual Resources Department, and the Special Collections Department, which houses the GSD's rare books and manuscript collection.

Fabrication Lab

The Fabrication Lab has both traditional tools and state-of-the-art technology available for model making and prototyping to faculty research and student course work. The Fabrication Lab has a full wood shop, metals shop, printing labs, 3D printing, CNC tools, robotic machines, laser cutter machines, etc.

Notable alumni and faculty

As of 2013, the GSD had over 13,000 alumni in 96 countries. The GSD had 77 faculty members and 129 visiting faculty members. 45% of the faculty members were born outside of the United States.
, urban planning alumnus
, architecture alumnus
, architecture faculty
, founder of the landscape architecture program

Alumni

Notable faculty currently at the school include Anita Berrizbeitia, Jorge Silvetti, Antoine Picon, Farshid Moussavi, Jeanne Gang, John R. Stilgoe, K. Michael Hays, Krzysztof Wodiczko, Martha Schwartz, Mohsen Mostafavi, Preston Scott Cohen, Rahul Mehrotra, Rem Koolhaas, Grace La, Rafael Moneo, Sarah M. Whiting, Toshiko Mori, Mark Lee, and Sharon Johnston.

Emeritus faculty