{"id":277913,"date":"2010-02-04T17:50:04","date_gmt":"2010-02-04T22:50:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/?p=37145"},"modified":"2010-02-04T17:50:04","modified_gmt":"2010-02-04T22:50:04","slug":"art-for-students%e2%80%99-sake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/277913","title":{"rendered":"Art for students\u2019 sake"},"content":{"rendered":"

Walking into Massachusetts Hall\u2019s main corridor, the first thing you\u2019re likely to see is Mohsen Mostafavi<\/a>\u2019s gigantic statement. It\u2019s mounted on one of the corridor\u2019s five walls, the space for the third annual Mass Hall Student Art Exhibit, \u201cFutures in the Present,\u201d which was furnished by the Harvard Graduate School of Design<\/a> (GSD), where Mostafavi is dean.<\/p>\n

Printed in black on one side of an oceanic panel, the rest of the panel drifts off into a sea of small, textural GSD logos, which let Mostafavi\u2019s message really pop. He wrote in one section that GSD\u2019s program, which is \u201caimed at the conceptualization and construction of alternative and sustainable futures, has a footing in the ethical and political realms.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sprawling, blueprintlike plans deck the rest of the halls: arrays of architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design, which reflect Mostafavi\u2019s principles and illustrate a better world.<\/p>\n

In Maja Paklar\u2019s design, an AIDS and tuberculosis clinic and research facility flourishes in Durban, South Africa. Paklar, GSD \u201909, said it was \u201cconceived as an interface between public and medical institutions that aims to overcome the stigmatization of disease by softening the social boundaries built up around the sick and impoverished population of South Africa.\u201d It won the 2009 James Templeton Kelley Prize offered by the Boston Society of Architects.<\/p>\n

Megan Panzano, GSD \u201910, helped to curate the exhibit with Dan Borelli, the GSD\u2019s director of exhibitions. Panzano mapped and measured Mass Hall to see what each wall could allot. \u201cWe wanted to treat each wall as a project,\u201d said Borelli, hence the grand scale of the designs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThink of this exhibit as an unfolding of the School and its various departments,\u201d said Panzano. \u201cWe wanted to capture the depth of work and represent different types of projects and research that students took on.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Mass Hall Student Art Exhibit was an offshoot of the 2007 Arts Task Force<\/a>, which President Drew Faust commissioned and spearheaded. Among her many recommendations was that more physical spaces across campus be dedicated to art. This year marks a change in the exhibit which, since its conception in 2008, has featured undergraduate work.<\/p>\n

Faust thanked the students for their projects, which she called \u201cuplifting and aesthetic enjoyment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are delighted to have the GSD offer its professional eye and design eye \u2026 And thank you for what you\u2019ll be leaving behind to inspire us through spring.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ph.D. candidate and exhibitor Peter Christensen, GSD \u201909, called the displays \u201cwonderful\u201d and said, \u201cIt\u2019s nice that the president was interested in our work.\u201d But the exposure helps, too. \u201cI know how many people come through this hall,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

His exhibit came in book form and rests in the hall\u2019s lobby. Titled \u201cA Geopolitical Unarchitecture: Armenian Antiquity in Modern Turkey,\u201d Christensen\u2019s volume is one of many student works not hanging from the walls. \u201cWhat we do is not just all visual,\u201d he said. \u201cDesign is equal part writing and visual.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mostafavi, who dubbed the event a \u201cfantastic opportunity,\u201d was grateful for the \u201ccohabitation, and the restraint of this wonderful hallway. It\u2019s creative constraint. People who come to the exhibit will visit us at the Design School.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s great that our work is being brought to another building and being shared on another platform,\u201d said Anthony Acciavatti, GSD \u201909, whose colorful book, \u201cAgri-cultural Regimes: Adventures in the Military-Agri-Cultural Complex in the American Midwest,\u201d also sits in the lobby.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really valuable for us to pay more attention to the impact of design, architecture, and urban planning on the environment,\u201d said Mostafavi. \u201cThis is everything that surrounds us.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"From<\/p>\n
\n

From the top<\/p>\n

Harvard President Drew Faust speaks with Harvard Graduate School of Design Dean Mohsen Mostafavi during the Mass Hall Student Art Exhibit reception. This year the exhibit features work by Harvard Graduate School of Design students.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Rave<\/p>\n
\n

Rave reviews<\/p>\n

(Right) Peter Christensen, GSD \u201909, called the displays \u201cwonderful.\u201d He is joined by Megan Panzano, who helped curate the show.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Designing<\/p>\n
\n

Designing men<\/p>\n

GSD assistant professor of urban design Felipe Correa and design critic in landscape architecture and urban planning and design Ciro Najle talk during the reception.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Hallway<\/p>\n
\n

Hallway view<\/p>\n

Mostafavi (left) offers details of the work as Faust attends the Mass Hall reception.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Executive<\/p>\n
\n

Executive moment<\/p>\n

GSD Dean Mohsen Mostafavi (right) shares insight with Harvard Executive Vice President Katherine Lapp during the Mass Hall art opening.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Critical<\/p>\n
\n

Critical eye<\/p>\n

Harvard President Drew Faust (left) speaks with Chris Reed about the designs on exhibit in Mass Hall. Reed is a design critic from the GSD. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Opening<\/p>\n
\n

Opening remarks<\/p>\n

Meagan Panzano, GSD ’10, engages in conversation during the exhibition opening.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Design<\/p>\n
\n

Design exhibit<\/p>\n

Anthony Acciavatti has work in the third annual Mass Hall Student Art Exhibit. Acciavatti is a 2009 GSD grad.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p><\/div>\n

\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

Photo slideshow:<\/span> Designs on Mass Hall<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

Photos by Stephanie Mitchell\/Harvard Staff Photographer<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Walking into Massachusetts Hall\u2019s main corridor, the first thing you\u2019re likely to see is Mohsen Mostafavi\u2019s gigantic statement. It\u2019s mounted on one of the corridor\u2019s five walls, the space for the third annual Mass Hall Student Art Exhibit, \u201cFutures in the Present,\u201d which was furnished by the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD), where Mostafavi […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4175,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-277913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4175"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277913"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277913\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}