Program Overview

Introduction to the Harvard Graduate School of Design

The Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) is a premier institution for design, research, and scholarship, aiming to create a resilient, just, and beautiful world. The GSD offers a wide range of programs in design, including architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, and more.

Academics

The GSD provides various academic programs, including:

• Master of Architecture I
• Master of Architecture I AP
• Master of Architecture II
• Master in Landscape Architecture I
• Master in Landscape Architecture I AP
• Master in Landscape Architecture II
• Master of Architecture in Urban Design / Master of Landscape Architecture in Urban Design
• Master in Urban Planning
• Master in Real Estate
• Concurrent and Joint Degrees
• Master in Design Engineering
• Master in Design Studies
• Doctor of Design
• Doctor of Philosophy
• Early Design Education
• Executive Education

Application Deadlines

The application deadlines for the GSD programs are:

• January 5, 2026, 5:00 p.m. ET for MArch, MLA, MUP, MAUD, MLAUD, MRE, DDes
• January 8, 2026, 5:00 p.m. ET for MDes, MDE

Financial Aid Deadlines

The financial aid deadlines are:

• October: FAFSA opens to applicants
• Mid-March: GSD financial aid application opens
• Mid-April: Financial aid application deadline
• Late May/Early June: Notification of financial aid awards

Research

The GSD has various research centers and initiatives, including:

• Harvard Center for Green Buildings and Cities
• Joint Center for Housing Studies
• Aga Khan Program
• Harvard Mellon Urban Initiative
• Laboratory for Design Technologies
• Critical Landscapes Design Lab
• Geometry Lab
• Grinham Research Group
• Healthy Places Lab
• Just City Lab
• Material Processes and Systems Group
• Office for Urbanization
• Responsive Environments & Artifacts Lab
• Laboratory for Values in the Built Environment

People

The GSD has a diverse community of faculty, students, and staff. The faculty directory, student directory, staff directory, alumni directory, and affiliates directory are available.

Offices & Facilities

The GSD has various offices and facilities, including:

• Academic Affairs
• Academic Administration
• Academic Planning and Innovation
• Advanced Studies Programs
• Department of Architecture
• Department of Landscape Architecture
• Department of Urban Planning and Design
• Faculty Affairs
• Student Affairs
• Admissions
• Career Services
• Financial Aid
• Registrar
• Student Life
• Administrative Offices
• Communications
• Dean’s Office
• Development & Alumni Relations
• Community, Impact and Opportunity
• Facilities and Campus Operations
• Finance & Research Administration
• Human Resources
• Research and Production
• Frances Loeb Library
• Fabrication Lab
• Information Technologies

Public Discourse

The GSD engages in public discourse through various publications, exhibitions, public programs, and podcasts.

Calendar

The GSD has a calendar of upcoming events and exhibitions, academic calendars and schedules, application deadlines, and GSD Now.

Alumni & Support

The GSD has an alumni community and provides opportunities for support, including annual giving, gift planning, and impact.

About

The GSD is committed to creating a resilient, just, and beautiful world. The school has a mission and values statement, a commitment to community, and a leadership and administration team.

Courses

The GSD offers various courses, including:

• Time’s Arrow Time’s Cycle: Drawing Landscapes, Energy, and Matter
• Landscape Architecture

Time’s Arrow Time’s Cycle: Drawing Landscapes, Energy, and Matter

This course deals with the temporal dimension of landscape, investigating notions through lectures, discussion, and drawings on theories of ecology, geomorphology, evolution, and thermodynamics.

Landscape Architecture

Landscape architecture is one of the forces that produce the structures and forms perceived on the land. This course will investigate the temporal dimension of landscape, focusing on landscapes that arise from extreme conditions, such as deserts, rainforests, tundras, deltas, and great mountain ranges. Through drawing, students will reveal climatic and geomorphological processes, as well as the specific technologies that intervene in them and from which they receive their forms.