Fall 2026 public programs

The Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) announces its fall 2026 public programs and exhibitions, a series of events that explore resilience and ephemerality through design. 

The exhibition Infrastructure in a Time of Flux: Methods, Conditions, and Situations, on view in the Druker Design Gallery through December 20, examines how designers can respond effectively to a world increasingly defined by environmental disruption, political instability, technological transformation, and rapidly changing patterns of habitation. Although the design disciplines have traditionally prioritized permanence and stability, the exhibition foregrounds examples of ephemeral urbanism, temporary structures, and flexible building techniques. 

An opening event on September 10, “Actions in Public,” features a conversation about the work of Christo & Jeanne-Claude, whose large-scale, temporary interventions redefined how the public relates to shared space. A symposium on November 12–13 builds on that legacy, bringing together designers, engineers, humanitarian workers, and historians to discuss impermanent urbanism worldwide.

Two practitioners extend the theme of ephemerality: August Lehrecke, co-founder of Pneuhaus (November 2), traces his fascination with inflatables and how it grew into a full-fledged art, design, and fabrication studio, while Adrien Verschuere (November 5), the GSD’s John Portman Visiting Chair, discusses the temporal dimension of his Brussels- and Lausanne-based architecture studio, BAUKUNST.

Where lightness asks how buildings can move and adapt, resilience asks how communities recover after disruption. On November 9, Dana Cuff, director of UCLA’s CityLab, discusses the ongoing pressures and conflicts involved in rebuilding communities devastated by fire—a subject historian and theorist Sylvia Lavin approaches from a different angle in “Architecture After Fire” (November 23), tracing the connections between architectural modernism and the forest. Dhaka-based architect Kashef Chowdhury (September 28) focuses this conversation on Bangladesh and how his work responds to the nation’s culture, history, and increasingly fragile ecological conditions.

These same questions of adaptability also shape how architects think about buildings meant to endure. Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu (September 24) explore the design and research of their Shanghai-based practice, Neri&Hu, with a focus on boundaries and thresholds in the spaces they create, while Maria Claudia Clemente and Francesco Isidori (October 21) describe how their Rome-based practice, Labics, approaches every building as an opportunity to enrich public space. Closer to home, Gary Hilderbrand (September 22), Peter Louis Hornbeck Professor in Practice of Landscape Architecture at the GSD, discusses his practice and pedagogy built around close site reading and the development of narrative through design. 

As a sonic complement to the lectures and symposia, on October 22, Grammy Award–winning musicians Caroline Shaw and Andrew Yee perform a selection of their music inspired by the landscapes we imagine and inhabit. 

The complete public program schedule 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 home page to sign up for periodic emails about the school’s public programs, exhibitions, and other news.  

Infrastructure in a Time of Flux: Methods, Conditions, and Situations
August 26–December 20, Exhibition, Druker Design Gallery

Infrastructure in a Time of Flux: Actions in Public: September 10, 6pm
Exhibition opening

Carrots and Sticks: Incentives Shaping the “Rurban” Interface: September 11, 9am
DDes Conference

Gary Hilderbrand, “Writing on the Surface of the Earth”: September 22, 6:30pm
Frederick Law Olmsted Lecture

Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu, “Liminal Ground”: September 24, 6:30pm
Lecture

GSD Comeback: September 25–26
Alumni & Friends Celebration 2026

Kashef Chowdhury, “Meditations in Entropy”: September 28, 6:30pm
Aga Khan Program Lecture

Kengo Kuma in conversation with Grace La: October 1, 12pm
Kengo Kuma: New Works, book talk

Maria Claudia Clemente and Francesco Isidori, “The Architecture of Public Space”: October 21, 6:30pm
Kenzō Tange Lecture

Caroline Shaw and Andrew Yee, “Music for Landscapes”: October 22, 6:30pm
Performance

Pneuhaus, “Building with Air”: November 2, 6:30pm
Rachel Dorothy Tanur Memorial Lecture

Adrien Verschuere, “Recent Work”: November 5, 6:30pm
John Portman Lecture

200 Years of Experience: Rethinking Real Estate’s Future: November 6, 5pm
American Real Estate Society panel discussion

Dana Cuff, “Coming Home: Crisis, Fire, and Recovery”: November 9, 6:30pm
Jaqueline Tyrwhitt Urban Design Lecture

Infrastructure in a Time of Flux: Methods, Conditions, and Situations: November 12–13
Symposium

Sylvia Lavin, “Architecture After Fire”: November 23, 6:30pm
Carl M. Sapers Ethics in Practice Lecture