Designing for a Planet in Peril: How design is addressing climate change

THE HARVARD CLUB OF THE REPUBLIC OF CHINA PRESENTS

Harvard GSD Overview by Sarah M. Whiting, Dean and Josep Lluís Sert Professor of Architecture

Designing for a Planet in Peril: How design is addressing climate change

Discussion moderated by Calvin Tsao, FAIA, MArch ’79, Principal, Tsao & McKown Architects

Speakers: Dean Whiting and Sean C. S. Chiao, FAIA, MAUD ’88, Fellow, AECOM

This event had limited capacity. Registration fee was required.

Sarah M. Whiting has been Dean and Josep Lluís Sert Professor of Architecture at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design since 2019. She is also a design principal and co-founder of WW Architecture, based in Cambridge, and served as the Dean of Rice University’s School of Architecture from 2010 to 2019. Whiting received an interdisciplinary, self-directed Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale, a Master of Architecture from Princeton in 1990, and a Doctor of Philosophy in the History and Theory of Architecture from MIT in 2001. Whiting’s research and writing is broadly interdisciplinary, with the built environment at its core. An expert in architectural theory and urbanism, she has particular interests in modern and contemporary architecture’s relationship with politics, economics, and society and how the built environment shapes the nature of public life.

Sean Chiao FAIA, MAUD ’88 is an AECOM Fellow, driving AECOM’s commitment to global strategic projects, key clients, technical excellence, and thought leadership across its five Global Business Lines. Prior to serving as a Fellow, Sean was the Chief Executive of the Buildings + Places Global Business Line, where he actively oversaw global business operations and the mobilization of AECOM’s international talent, comprising over ten thousand individuals working in architecture and interiors, urbanism and planning, building and systems engineering, and cost and project management. With over 30 years of experience in urban design and management, Sean has spearheaded award-winning masterplans for new towns and the regeneration of existing urban landscapes across Asia, including the Kuala Lumpur River of Life; Metro Manila Bonifacio Global City in the Philippines; and Jinji Lake Suzhou Industrial Park new town in Suzhou, China.

Sean is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA), a Global Trustee of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), a member of Asia Society’s Executive Committee, Council Member of Harvard University Graduate School of Design Dean’s Leadership Council and Board Member of Harvard University’s Master in Design Engineering External Advisory Board.

Calvin Tsao, FAIA, MArch ’79 is a recognized and leading voice in contemporary architecture whose work draws from a lively engagement with a variety of art forms. He serves on the Board of The American Academy in Rome, and is an active board member and President Emeritus of The Architectural League of New York. He is also former Vice President for Design Excellence of the AIA New York chapter, and served several years as member of the Visiting Committee to Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. In 2012 Tsao received a Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) Legacy Award and in 2009 the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian National Design Award for Interior Design, along with his partner Zack McKown. A Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, he has taught at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, the Cooper Union, Syracuse University, and at Parsons The New School for Design, and has also served as guest critic and lectured at universities internationally.

Questions? Contact [email protected].