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Harvard Graduate School of Design: Design Discovery Program

Harvard Graduate School of Design: Design Discovery Program

Design Discovery summer programs at Harvard expose students to architecture, landscape architecture & urban planning. Virtual and in-person formats.

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The Harvard University Graduate School of Design offers a three-week summer program called Design Discovery (GSD). We welcome anybody interested in a career in design or planning, from recent high school and college graduates to seasoned professionals.

Exploring fresh perspectives, pushing boundaries, and extending possibilities.

These ideas are fundamental to the design and planning professions, as well as to the Design Discovery program:

A chance to discover first-hand what it’s like to pursue an education and maybe a career in architecture, landscape architecture, or urban planning & design
A demanding program of intensive studio labor, lectures, seminars, critiques, and field trips—both sociable and lonely.
An immersed culture that is difficult, gratifying, and thrilling
An incredible opportunity to explore possibilities

Design Discovery (DD) is a 3-week in-person academic program held at the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) in Cambridge, MA that involves persons aged 18 to mid-career professionals interested in increasing expertise within a particular, chosen design area. Participants can choose from Architecture, Landscape, or Urban Planning + Design. The program investigates the potentials of design to influence the built environment and the active conditions it choreographs through material and scale unique to a design discipline. In addition to the digital media emphasis of the Design Discovery Virtual program, program participants direct design to current concerns with an emphasis on hands-on physical modeling, material capabilities, manufacturing, and assembly.