Design Discovery 2022 summer programs have concluded. Follow us @designdiscoveryharvardgsd as we look back at what our 300+ students from 31 countries and 34 U.S. states were up to!

Applications for summer 2023 will be available at the start of the calendar year. Please join our newsletter at link above so that we can keep in touch!

Are you interested in learning how to use digital media software to visualize your design responses to contemporary global topics?  If so, check out our Design Discovery Virtual program! 

Need some help deciding between the GSD’s Design Discovery programs? See this FAQ:

Design Discovery students represent a broad range of ages, lifestyles, and training (most have no previous design experience), and this contributes to a stimulating environment. Many are college students or recent graduates, but the program is also helpful to professionals in their 30s, 40s, or older who are interested in learning about design and/or who are considering a career change. We host an average of 225 participants per year.

Please note that a valid visa for study within the U.S. is required to be supplied by participants of the Design Discovery in-person program with international citizenship. We can only accept valid visas of international students who will be returning to their domestic home school to complete their study after the conclusion of the Design Discovery program. Harvard will not sponsor visas for enrollment in the Design Discovery in-person program. We invite international students who do not hold such visa status to enroll in our fantastic Design Discovery Virtual program. Please see more information about our virtual program at this link!

Participants in our program commit themselves fully to a path of intensive thinking through making within the studio of Gund Hall at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. The program pairs studio design time at the desk with a series of lectures and workshops on the process of design, representation of ideas and intentions, as well as fabrication and modeling demos. Deeply immersed in a culture that is both challenging and rewarding, participants experience what education and work are like in the design and planning professions. Many emerge inspired by design, with a more profound understanding of the possibilities ahead and with more information about their own interests in design in order to inform their choices.

Studio Format

Design Discovery studios focus on short, intensive projects similar to first-year graduate school projects within one of three selected areas of concentration – Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning and Design. Studios involve one-on-one guidance from design instructors, group discussions and reviews about design work, training sessions in graphics and model making skills, and individual presentations to instructors and guest professionals. Participants have direct access to select spaces within the GSD’s Fabrication Lab and Frances Loeb Library — one of the country’s foremost design and planning libraries.

Concentrations

As a Design Discovery student, you will engage in an iterative exploratory design process of drawing, fabrication and model making within the context of a design studio. This process will help build your ability to translate observations about the world into a visual and spatial language. We ask all Design Discovery in-person participants to select a single concentration for their study among three possible disciplines described below. Within 3 weeks of the program start date, we cannot make changes to a selected concentration. You will receive instruction in the fundamental design methodologies specific to the discipline that you select as your program concentration:

• Architecture is the design of individual buildings and their contexts, with the understanding that, through the scale of elements that comprise them, buildings are the choreographers of dynamic conditions both inside their walls and within their local surroundings.

• Landscape Architecture is the design and preservation of built and natural landscapes, from rural landscapes to urban parks and infrastructure projects.

• Urban Planning & Design is the analysis and synthesis of forces that shape and reshape the built environment at the scale of the city, with a focus on envisioning and illustrating places that reflect and support the diverse needs of society.

Below is a sample schedule for the program. Most students work evenings and weekends in the studio.

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday + Sunday
10:00-11:00am Lecture by design or planning professional	10:00-11:00am Lecture by design or planning professional	10:00-11:00am Lecture by design or planning professional	10:00-11:00am Lecture by design or planning professional	10:00-11:00am Work time in studio	Studios open during weekend
11:15am-Noon Introduction to studio problem	11:15am-Noon Design Seminar	11:15am-Noon Making techniques wkshp	11:15am-Noon Making techniques wkshp	11:15am-Noon Making techniques wkshp
Noon-1:00pm Lunch	Noon-1:00pm Lunch	Noon-1:00pm Lunch	Noon-1:00pm Lunch	Noon-1:00pm Lunch
1:00-6:00pm Review of studio problem	1:00-6:00pm Studio	1:00-6:00pm Studio	1:00-6:00pm Studio	1:00-6:00pm Studio
Studios open until 12:00am	Studios open until 12:00am	Studios open until 12:00am	6:30pm Movie screening	Studios open until 12:00am

Each successful Design Discovery participant receives a written evaluation from his or her instructor and a certificate from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. Although the GSD cannot offer undergraduate academic credit for Design Discovery, some colleges and universities will award academic credit for a student’s participation in our program.

Requesting a copy of your evaluation

Participants will receive a digital copy of the written evaluation following the conclusion of the program.

Although we cannot provide an official transcript of your work in the program, we can send a letter explaining the nature of the Design Discovery program. If you would like to request this letter, please email [email protected], including the following information:

• Full Name
• Email Address
• Year attended CD/DD
• Documents requested: written explanation of program
• Brief description of how you intend to use these documents

Section Instructors

Design Discovery sections are taught by graduating or advanced GSD students who have a professional and academic specialty in the design discipline they are teaching. Sections strive for a maximum of ten students per instructor. Each section is coordinated by current GSD faculty.

2022 Coordinating Faculty

Lecturers

Design Discovery invites exceptional professionals and academics to give lectures and join career panel discussions on design, history, theory, office practice, and other aspects of each profession. Speakers are often available for informal conversations afterward.

Past speakers have included:

• Alex Anmahian, Principal of Anmahian Winton Architects
• Maurice Cox, director of planning and development for the city of Detroit
• Gary Hilderbrand; partner at Reed Hilderbrand Landscape Architecture
• D’Wayne Edwards, footwear designer and founder Pensole Footwear Design Academy
• Seth Gordon, Film Director and Producer
• Alex Krieger, professor in Practice of Urban Planning and Design at Harvard Graduate School of Design
• Christian Long: Design Share
• Kathryn Madden, Critic in Urban Planning and Design at Harvard University Graduate School of Design; Principal of Madden Planning Group
• Thomas Lyons Mills, Professor of Foundation Studies at the Rhode Island School of Design
• David Saladik: MASS Design Group
• Kirk A. Sykes, Senior Vice President and President of Urban Strategy America Fund
• Maryann Thompson, Adjunct Professor at Harvard University Graduate School of Design; Founder of Maryann Thompson Architects
• Charles Waldheim, John E. Irving Professor of Landscape Architecture and Chair of the Department of Landscape Architecture at Harvard University Graduate School of Design

Tuition for the 2022 Design Discovery Program is $2,500. Please expect to purchase additional materials and supplies for projects throughout the course of the program. Depending on your location this could be as much as an additional 250.00 USD.

Payment Policy

A nonrefundable application fee of $80 must accompany each application. If admitted, your decision and tuition are due within two weeks.

Financial Assistance

Financial aid takes into account many factors; however, as a guide, if the applicant and/or parents (if appropriate) have a combined gross income that exceeds $40,000, an aid award is unlikely.

To apply, please submit a Financial Aid Application Form along with the required documentation by the deadline of April 15, 2022. Please see the application for more information. This form will be available to complete following the submission of your program application.

Please Note: Design Discovery financial aid is not federally subsidized and is available to U.S. citizens and permanent residents only. International students are not eligible to apply. Requests for aid will not be considered without a completed program application. Late applications will not be considered.

Tuition and Financial Aid FAQ

Due to the impact of the global pandemic, participants of the Design Discovery in-person program at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design will be required to follow Harvard University protocols with respect to health and safety when convening on campus for the summer of 2022.

Participants who wish to participate in the summer 2022 in-person program will be required to share vaccination status with Harvard University. For the summer of 2022, testing will not be required during program participation, but each participant will be guaranteed access to 1 rapid test kit as part of the Design Discovery program. These test kits are available on an on-demand basis. Please plan to ask your studio instructor for a kit if you would like to test. Beyond this, testing is to be completed by each individual.

As a participant of the Harvard GSD Design Discovery in-person program, you are required to have health insurance that covers major illnesses and accidents within the United States. If you do not have such coverage with a US or other carrier, you are required to purchase it to match these requirements. Upon acceptance of your application, you will be asked to verify that you have insurance to match the above coverage requirements.

Please check back for more current information, as updates occur on a rolling basis.

The cost and reservation of Boston area housing for the Design Discovery in-person program is up to each accepted participant to arrange.  Neither Harvard nor the GSD have dorms to offer to Design Discovery participants. Upon acceptance of your application to the program, we encourage you to review the housing resources we have collected for you here and make your housing arrangements for the duration of the program as early as possible.

Things to consider when looking for housing:

1. Location: You will be spending many nights in the studio. Be sure to take into consideration how far your rental is from the school and if transportation is easily accessible.
2. Budget: Apartments in the Cambridge area can be costly. Take into consideration what amenities you absolutely need and which ones you can live without.
3. Roommates: Do you want to share a room with another person for the program? If so, with whom? A GSD student or another Design Discovery participant? The GSD Housing Facebook Group is a great way to connect with other Harvard Students looking for roommates, sublets, and rooms.

Housing Resources

• Harvard GSD Housing Facebook Group 
• Harvard Off-Campus Housing
• AirBnB
• ApartmentList
• Craigslist 
• Padmapper 
• Rent.com
• Sublet.com
• Massachusetts Tenant Rights, Laws, and Protections

To apply for the Design Discovery program, please submit the following required materials:

• An essay (500 words max) that describes a particularly satisfying project you have undertaken. This project need not be related to design or planning, although this is preferable. You might, for example, write about participating in a political campaign, mastering a musical instrument, doing research on a special topic, or organizing a social event.
• A resume or CV which includes the following information: employment; education; extra-curricular collegiate and community activities (note whether an office held was elected or appointed); honors; awards; professional registration; professional societies; publications; avocations; hobbies; travel. If you served in the military, indicate rank on entry and rank on separation.
• Transcripts should be submitted online by the applicant and are required from all colleges and universities from which the applicant has received credit. When uploading a transcript, please make sure the scanned version is legible. Transcripts that are not in English must be accompanied by a certified English translation. If the university or college does not issue transcripts, a certified letter and certified English translation must be provided. It should list courses and examinations taken, grades, and degrees and dates of degrees received. Admitted students who have attended a school outside of the U.S. may be asked to submit a WES (World Education Service) certified transcript, at the applicant’s expense.
• A non-refundable $80 application fee is due upon application submission.

Application Deadlines

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis beginning in late February. Applications will continue to be reviewed until June 1 or until all spots are filled. Early submission is strongly encouraged.

Deadline	Date
Online Application Opens	February 14, 2022
Financial Aid Application Deadline	April 15, 2022
Application Deadline	May 31, 2022
Registration/Payment Deadline	Within two weeks following admission
Cancellation Deadline for Full (100%) Refund*	July 1, 2022
Withdrawal Deadline for Partial Refund**	July 15, 2022

*Contact Design Discovery to cancel your enrollment by this date to receive a full (100%) refund of the $2,500 program fee.

**Contact Design Discovery to cancel your enrollment by this date to receive a partial (50%) refund of the program fee (amounting to $1,250).

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