A new role for Rahul Mehrotra

Harvard Graduate School of Design (Harvard GSD) announces the appointment of Rahul Mehrotra (MAUD ’87) as the Chair of the Department of Urban Planning and Design and the John T. Dunlop Professor in Housing and Urbanization, effective July 1, 2020.

Mehrotra, founder of the architecture practice RMA Architects, is an expert in large-scale designs as extensively proven during his professional and academic career. His words have also been published as an Editorial Critique in THE PLAN no. 102 issue, where he analyzed the “permanent” and “ephemeral” value in urban planning. Sarah M. Whiting, Dean and Josep Lluís Sert Professor of Architecture, says of him that in his new role, he will set the vision and agenda for Harvard GSD’s renowned urban planning and design programs, advancing the department’s ability to take on urgent, global questions and projects. It was at Harvard that the first North American programs in city planning and urban design were formally established; since then, the Department of Urban Planning and Design has graduated some of the world’s preeminent urban designers, policymakers, and leaders. Its biannual Veronica Rudge Green Prize in Urban Design is considered the foremost award recognizing achievement in the field.

In this role, Mehrotra succeeds Diane E. Davis, who led the department since 2015. As Mehrotra himself says, “The pace and nature of urbanization are challenging how we define and teach planning and design. Today, the world is in a period of extreme transitions, triggered in large part by the inequities caused by globalization as well as climate change and its mark on people’s daily lives. This state of flux is obvious in the changing rhythms of nature and its impact on human settlements. Design and planning have crucial roles to play in using this condition of flux to create solutions to endemic inequalities, from conceiving innovative housing solutions to imagining entirely new urban formations.”