🏙️ Boston: Framing Design at Harvard GSD
In the summer of 2023, I spent six weeks immersed in the Design Discovery program at the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) — three weeks online, and three weeks in person in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was one of the most educational and inspiring experiences I’ve ever had — an introduction not just to architecture, but to a whole new way of seeing.
💻 Three Weeks Virtual: Learning to See Differently
The program began online, where we built foundational skills and explored how design translates through space, context, and structure. Every day was packed with lectures, sketching sessions, and discussions led by Harvard professors and practicing architects.
Even from home, it was immersive — learning tools like Rhino, building small-scale models, and experimenting with perspective and material. I learned to observe space differently: not just what was there, but why it was there — and how people, light, and landscape all interact.
🏗️ Three Weeks In Person: Stepping Into Design
When I finally arrived in Boston, everything I had learned virtually came to life. The studio was alive with energy — students from all over the world sketching, modeling, and pushing ideas late into the night. Days blurred between site visits, critiques, and long hours in the Gund Hall studios.
Our projects focused on contextual analysis, spatial relationships, and materiality. My site was Eastie Farm, a community garden in East Boston, where I studied edges, alignment, symmetry, and texture. I designed architectural interventions that connected the garden to its surroundings — considering not only the lot itself but the neighboring buildings, facades, and street edges.
The program challenged me to think about how design shapes behavior and community. Every drawing, model, and critique taught me to refine ideas, to communicate visually, and to see architecture as both art and responsibility.
🎨 Beyond the Studio
Outside of class, I explored Boston — its blend of history and innovation mirrored what we were learning in the studio. Evenings meant walks through Cambridge, photographing brick textures and reflections on the Charles River, or grabbing late dinners with classmates who quickly became collaborators and friends.
Every conversation felt creative — about space, cities, and possibility.
✏️ What I Took With Me
Design Discovery taught me that architecture isn’t just about buildings — it’s about people. It’s about designing environments that shape how we move, gather, and feel. The program pushed me to see design as storytelling, each line and model a frame in a larger narrative about community and place.
When I look back on those six weeks — the virtual sketches, the studio chaos, the taped-together models, and the final critique — I see a turning point.
These are my frames of Boston: late nights in Gund Hall, light through tracing paper, and the beginning of seeing the world as a designer.