GSD Platform 8: An Index of Design & Research - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1940291747 ISBN 13: 9781940291741

Publisher: Actar, 2016

Synopsis

Platform 8 catalogs a curated selection  of work generated in the past year at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. Alongside final products of design education, Platform 8 places particular emphasis on collecting and documenting the people and artifacts that shape research-driven design practices. Here, design is presented both as process and as a final product. The book's indexical structure, punctuated with a collection of portraits, presents a comprehensive picture of the school. Platform 8 shows the intention, direction, and passion seen and experienced every day at the GSD.

About this title

About the Author

Zaneta Hong is a Lecturer in Landscape Architecture at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design; Co-Director of Beta-field, a research-design lab; and Partner at GA Collaborative, a design non-profit organization. Her research explores landscape systems and technologies within material culture, visualization, and design education.

Review

"Richly illustrated and structured as an encyclopedic survey in which entries are presented alphabetically, from academia to zoo, this book exposes a particular moment of design culture at the Harvard Graduate School and documents both scholarly discourse and material production as concomitant artifacts of contemporary practice, design, education, and academic research. Each edition of Platform -- the annual publication of the Harvard University Graduate School of Design -- aims to present the diversity of design and research projects produced at the school. Collaborating in its production are well-known architects, landscape architects, and designers, and theorists. This volume uses the concept of the index as a means to navigate the multiple layers of concepts incorporated within the work. Both text and image appear as pictures of processes, pedagogies, and products of design." --Eithne O'Leyne, ProtoView

"Not to be confused with GSD 08 Platform, which came out in 2008 and should have been Platform 1 since it started the school's ongoing Platform publications, the latest annual collection of design and research projects uses the encyclopedia as its format. The various classes, lectures, projects, publications, and other output are discovered in the A-to-Z (Academia-to-Zoo) listing of terms. A gimmick to be sure, but one that is surprisingly effective if a bit dry, with only a few splashes of color with photos of faculty, students and some student projects. What could have been an arbitrary and confusing way of structuring things is aided by cross-referencing and an index for those looking for particular students, faculty and guest lecturers. Not all terms are related to the GSD's output, so these would appear to indicate what are important (ha-ha and high-rise, apparently) to the students and professors at the school." --John Hill, A Daily Dose of Architecture

One of the 50 Best Books for 2016 -- The American Institute of Graphic Designers

Edition details

• Publisher: Actar
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1940291747
• ISBN 13: 9781940291741
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 450
• Editor: Hong Zaneta