Oliver J. Curtis and Gabriel Muñoz Moreno met in 2015 while at the Harvard Graduate School of Design where their common interest in architecture and ecology brought them together. As co-recipients of a research fellowship through Harvard’s Mexican Cities Initiative, they studied adaptation and development patterns throughout the oases of Baja California. An arid and rugged mountainous ridge, the Baja California region is home to more than one hundred inland and coastal oases. This project explored the development patterns, construction methods, and resiliency strategies already in place to understand the impacts of urban- and tourism-related growth. Without preconceived notions, they […]
Category Archives: Events
“City Design, Planning and Policy Innovations: The Case of Hermosillo” is an upcoming book by the IDB and Harvard that, thanks to the support of more than 40 experts, presents a relevant collection of public policy recommendations, programs and projects with the potential of transforming the future of this emerging city. Available for download free of cost at : https://publications.iadb.org/en/city-design-planning-policy-innovations-case-Hermosillo In an increasingly urbanized world, cities have become platforms for innovation and change, particularly in developing countries. In Latin America and the Caribbean, emerging cities have taken center stage. While megacities face great challenges to distribute goods and services […]
GSD alumna wins award for her work on publicly accessible water infrastructure in Mexico City. Loreta Castro (MAUD 10’) took the Gold Award for the 2017 Latin America LafargeHolcim competition on sustainable construction. Loreta Castro and co-author Manuel Perló won the 2017 Gold Award for their project, “Parque Hídrico Quebradora.” Another GSD alumna, Elena Tudela (MAUD 12’), is also on the team. The proposal addresses water infrastructure in Iztapalapa, a water-scarce borough within the federal district of Mexico City. Loreta and her team designed a water retention and treatment complex that intermingles public buildings and green spaces with flood basins. […]
Mexican Cities Initiative and the Harvard Center for Green Buildings and Cities are proud to present the following lecture. Location: Gund Hall, Room 111 48 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 Questions? Please contact Jeff Fitton ([email protected]). Audience: This event is open to the public. Benjamín Romano is a Mexico City-based architect and the founder of the firm, LBR&A Arquitectos. He was the lead architect of Torre Reforma—the second-tallest building in Mexico—a 57-story exposed concrete high-rise that overlooks the expansive Chapultepec Park. LBR&A Arquitectos has been involved in office, residential, cultural and industrial projects across Mexico City and beyond. The firm is known for its attention to contemporary design, […]
Mexican Cities Initiative and the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies are proud to present the following keynote address and panel discussions. Date: Friday, March 31, 2017, 6:30pm to 9:00pm Location: Piper Auditorium, Gund Hall, Harvard Graduate School of Design, 48 Quincy Street Keynote Address: Urban Challenges in an Era of Climate Change Register here. Registration is not required to attend, but it is encouraged. *This presentation will be conducted in Spanish with simultaneous translation. Speaker: Miguel Angel Mancera, Mayor of Mexico City Introduction: Jorge Domínguez, Antonio Madero Professor for the Study of Mexico, Department of Government; Chair, Harvard Academy for International and Area […]
2016 Summer Research Fellowship Program Presentation Date: Monday, January 30th from 6 PM—9 PM. Reception to follow presentations Place: Room 112 in Gund Hall, Harvard Graduate School of Design The Mexican Cities Initiative Summer Research Fellowship has been established to fund innovative research on Mexico’s cities, open to all current GSD students and their collaborators. We solicit projects that offer new ways of envisioning Mexican cities and the role of humanist, design-based research in urban transformation, to research and communicate risk and resilience through the lens of everyday urbanism. The 2016 Summer Research Fellows will present their findings from the field […]
Final Presentation of a Three-Year Research Project Funded by INFONAVIT Date: Thursday, December 15th from 10:00 AM—12:00 PM Place: Room 112 in Gund Hall, Harvard Graduate School of Design Diane Davis (Principal Investigator of Rethinking Social Housing in Mexico—RESHIM) will present the results of the Governance Report and Best Practices focusing primarily on the Urban Value Creation Platform for sustainable urban development and social housing renovation in Mexican cities. Carlos Zedillo (Head of the Research Center for Sustainable Development of the Mexican National Workers’ Housing Fund Institute—INFONAVIT) will join GSD faculty and students in a discussion of strategies for better […]
The goal of the Latin GSD student organization is to spread the discussion of topics that are currently relevant to design, landscape, urban design and planning disciplines in Latin American Countries. And of course, to promote the integration between people interested in Latin America. Building on this premise, this event is the second of a series of lectures where we want to discuss and ask the curators of the Latin-American pavilions what are the lessons learned after this unique event and how this pavilions respond to Alejandro Aravena’s call for innovation in times of scarcity. With this in mind, we […]
Paulina Campos (CEO, Fundación Hogares), Surella Segú (Former Head of Office for Urban Development at the Mexican National Workers’ Housing Fund Institute—Infonavit), and Emiliano García (Principal Designer, Taller de Operaciones Ambientales) joined Diane Davis (Charles Dyer Norton Professor of Regional Planning and Urbanism & Chair of the Department of Urban Planning and Design), and David Parente (Concurrent Master in Urban Planning + Landscape Architecture Candidate) in a discussion of planning and design strategies deployed to address the growing problems of housing abandonment in Mexico. The panel took place on November 9th at the Harvard Graduate School of Design as a joint […]
Date: Wednesday, November 9, 2016 – 6:30pm Location: Graduate School of Design, Gund Hall, Room 112 Officials from Fundación Hogares and the Mexican National Workers’ Housing Fund Institute (Infonavit) will join UPD faculty and students in a discussion of planning and design strategies deployed to address the growing problems of housing abandonment in Mexico. Focusing on a social housing development in Oaxaca, the panel will address the conditions that made it possible for national government officials, urban designers, community development professionals, and housing policy advocates to push forward an experiment in policy innovation via on-the-ground implementation. Panel: Paulina Campos, CEO, Fundación Hogares […]