Höweler+Yoon Architecture, LLP

As we near the end of 2024, with new private residential construction of $918 billion in the U.S. alone, can it really be that the process by which architects and clients find each other remains much as it was in the days before American houses had electric lights? Yes, business by word-of-mouth referral continues to reign in architecture—perhaps not shockingly so for a field that has historically preferred to place the “art” of practice at least a few steps in front of the “business” of it. Still, for the residential client in search of the right architect, a like-minded intellectual and creative partner for what often proves the greatest financial commitment of one’s lifetime, one would think there must be a better way than this. So it was that Forbes’ inaugural America’s Top 200 Residential Architects List was conceived with the aim of facilitating a new platform for clients and architects to connect. Take a look: https://trib.al/mr3uP6p #ForbesTopArchitects

The GSD announces its fall 2024 schedule of public programs and exhibitions, many of which offer interdisciplinary perspectives on conflict, power, and design as a means of communication. In the series of events Democracy and Urban Form (October 9–10), Michael Sandel, Richard Sennett, and Diane Davis discuss how the design of our cities can empower citizens and facilitate modes of discourse essential to democratic societies. Foregrounding global perspectives on the power dynamics underlying design history and practice, on October 7, Germane Barnes, winner of the 2021 Wheelwright Prize, presents “Where This Flower Blooms,” his research into North African building practices that were critical to Italian architecture throughout antiquity but erased in Eurocentric histories of design. In the 2024 Aga Khan Program Lecture, Iraqi landscape architect Jala Makhzoumi (October 22) searches for a grounded language for landscape architecture in the Middle East that captures the complexity of the English term “landscape.” Fall programs explore the role of design in mitigating environmental degradation while bolstering social equity and deepening our connections with nature. Anne Whiston Spirn poses direct questions about the connection between climate change and urban landscapes in her lecture, “Restoring Nature, Rebuilding Community” (October 29), while Chelina Odbert (September 12) addresses 15 years of her “mission-driven,” community-engaged design. Other highlights include presentations by Sean Godsell, Anne Whiston Spirn, Farshid Moussavi, and Bas Smets. The complete public program calendar appears below and can be viewed on the GSD’s events calendar. https://hgsd.us/3MtoEXj

Here's a terrific Sunday read for you: an article in Bloomberg CityLab about our recently published book, American Modern, from Phaidon. The article includes an interview with the book's author, Matt Shaw and LCF's Richard McCoy. Please read and see how they explore how this book comes at a key moment, with so many new design-focused projects in the works by leading firms, Marlon Blackwell Architects, Höweler+Yoon Architecture, LLP, Merritt Chase, and IwamotoScott Architecture.

Ann Whiteside's Academic Libraries - an unforgettable capstone to a week of library programs! The Harvard Library tour featured an inside (and outside) look at Solomon Gate from its designer Eric Höweler, FAIA (of Harvard University Graduate School of Design and Höweler+Yoon Architecture, LLP), and a look at the “yard libraries” - Widener, Houghton, Pusey, and Lamont Library. Thanks to the teaching team, which also featured Evan Simpson. And thanks to the great staff team, including Alison Huff, Pauline Barr, Kathleen Anderson, and Afomia Hunde.

The GSD announces three faculty promotions: Michelle Chang to associate professor of architecture, Eric Höweler, FAIA to professor of architecture, and Carole Turley Voulgaris to associate professor of urban planning, effective July 1, 2024. Congratulations to all! https://hgsd.us/4eOqW0g

Architect Eric Höweler reviews a new book by Amanda Reeser Lawrence that challenges architecture's pervasive myth of solitary genius. https://lnkd.in/gbuHX5Kf