Cambridge MA
United States
The Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) announces its spring 2026 public programs and exhibitions, a series that highlights the role of design in advancing climate justice and creating more equitable cities.
Curated by Jungyoon Kim and presented with the Korea Institute, the exhibition Designers of Mountain and Water: Alternative Landscapes for a Changing Climate, on view in the Druker Design Gallery through May 15, features 58 projects by landscape architects at the forefront of their field in East and Southeast Asia. Participating designers join scholars and researchers for a conference on February 5 & 6, co-organized by Korea Institute director Nicholas Harkness, to discuss how to balance the social, cultural, and ecological aspects of landscape architecture while addressing the reality of climate change.
The pressing need to confront that reality motivates interdisciplinary public programs this season. Longtime activist and writer Bill McKibben argues in his lecture “A Fresh Start for Our Cities” (March 26) that abundant renewable energy from the sun holds the potential to transform the built environment, powering the development of sustainable urban centers for all. Philosopher Nancy Fraser, in her role as Senior Loeb Scholar, offers a challenging assessment of the class politics embedded in green movements with her public talk “Against the Environmentalism of the Rich” (April 15). Wheelwright Prize winner Marina Otero Verzier outlines a radical vision for sustainable computation in “Feral Clouds” (March 9), a lecture based on her research into the environmental impacts of digital infrastructure and the politics of data center design.
As cities adapt to changing climates, questions of how urban space is shared and who has access to city life have become urgent. Kenzie Bok, a lifelong Bostonian, former city council member, and current administrator of the Boston Housing Authority, discusses the history and future of public housing in the struggle to design more equitable and just cities (March 5). Legal scholar Deborah Archer, in “Transportation, Infrastructure, and Race in American Cities” (April 14), investigates how the historical design of transit systems has intensified racial inequality. Chatpong Chuenrudeemol, founder of CHAT Architects, highlights the ingenuity of unauthorized, vernacular buildings in responding to local urban challenges in his lecture “Bangkok Bastards” (March 31).
This season’s program features visiting faculty members in public dialogue about the core issues that define their practices. Architects Fabrizio Barozzi and Alberto Veiga explore how contemporary architecture can grow from what already exists (February 12). Xaveer De Geyter, who is teaching a studio on interfaith spaces, draws on lessons from his career in his lecture on March 12.
Concluding the program of public lectures, Jacques Herzog, in conversation with Grace La (April 21), outlines a vision for architecture today based on nearly five decades of practice.
The complete schedule of public programs appears below and can be viewed on Harvard GSD’s events calendar. All events will be livestreamed on the GSD website unless otherwise noted. Please visit Harvard GSD’s website to sign up for periodic emails about the school’s public programs, exhibitions, and other news.
January 20–May 15, 2026
Designers of Mountain and Water: Alternative Landscapes for a Changing Climate, exhibition, Druker Design Gallery
February 4, 6:30pm
Mayors Imagining the Just City: Volume 6, panel discussion
February 5–6
Designers of Mountain and Water: Alternative Landscapes for a Changing Climate, conference
February 12, 6:30pm
Alberto Veiga and Fabrizio Barozzi “Permanence and Transformation,” John Portman Lecture
February 17, 6:30pm
Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby “Unreal by Design,” lecture
March 4, 6:30pm
Zak Kyes “Identity Crisis,” lecture
March 5, 6:30pm
Kenzie Bok “The Past, Present, and Future of Public Housing,” John T. Dunlop Lecture
March 9, 6:30pm
Marina Otero Verzier “Feral Clouds,” Wheelwright Prize Lecture
March 10, 12:00pm
Marina Otero Verzier with Kate Crawford, conversation
March 12, 6:30pm
Xaveer De Geyter “Selected Work,” lecture
March 26, 6:30pm
Bill McKibben “A Fresh Start for Our Cities,” open house lecture
March 31, 6:30pm
Chatpong Chuenrudeemol, “Bangkok Bastards,” lecture
April 7, 6:30pm
Kate Orff “Throughlines,” lecture
April 10, 1pm
Living Together by Design: Housing to Connect Generations , symposium
April 14, 6:30pm
Deborah N. Archer “Transportation, Infrastructure, and Race in American Cities,” Jaqueline Tyrwhitt Urban Design Lecture
April 15, 6:30pm
Nancy Fraser, “Against the Environmentalism of the Rich,” Senior Loeb Scholar Lecture
April 16, 6:30pm
Michael Wang, lecture
April 21, 6:30pm
Jacques Herzog in Conversation with Grace La, John Hejduk Soundings Lecture
April 24–25
Cambridge Talks: Surfacing, symposium
