Harvard Graduate School of Design

The Harvard Graduate School of Design is one of the degree-granting schools of Harvard University, established in 1936, and states its mission as educating leaders in design, research and scholarship for a resilient, just and beautiful world. It is built on three departments: Architecture, whose teaching at Harvard began with courses in 1874; Landscape Architecture, founded in 1900 and the first department of its kind in the world; and Urban Planning and Design, with planning from 1923 and urban design from 1960.

Degrees include the Master in Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Urban Planning, Real Estate and Design Studies, the Doctor of Design, and the Master in Design Engineering, a joint programme with the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences addressing systems-level problems such as urbanisation and climate change. It also runs a PhD, joint degrees, early design education and executive education.

The campus is centred on Gund Hall, designed by GSD graduate John Andrews and opened in 1972, which holds the studios. Research runs through centres and labs including the Harvard Center for Green Buildings and Cities, the Joint Center for Housing Studies, the Aga Khan Program, the Laboratory for Design Technologies, the Office for Urbanization and the Frances Loeb Library. Sarah Whiting is dean and Josep Lluís Sert Professor of Architecture.