Boston Flora

Tag: Chile

  • Thursday, April 18, 12:00 noon – 1:30 pm – The Green Ideal: Botanical Practices and the Creation of Santiago’s Civic Landscape

    The Harvard Graduate School of Design presents a free lecture by Romy Hecht on April 18 at 12 noon at 48 Quincy Street in Cambridge entitled The Green Ideal: Botanical Practices and the Creation of Santiago’s Civic Landscape.

    Romy Hecht is a Professor at the School of Architecture, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC), where she gives courses and research seminars on historical narratives and design theories of nineteenth- and twentieth-century landscapes. She holds a Ph.D. in History and Theory of Architecture from Princeton University and an M. Arch and professional degree in architecture from the PUC. She has been a Visiting Professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture at the GSD (2012), in the Ph.D in Architecture program at the Universidad Nacional de Rosario in Argentina (2016) and in the Master in Architecture program at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Lima (2017). She is also a former fellow at Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, D.C. (2015, 2017–2018).

    As an author and recipient of National Grants and research fellowships, Hecht has developed a fundamental task in the studies of landscape architecture in Latin America. She has focused on constructing a comprehensive history of Chile’s landscape projects, particularly in post-independence Santiago, describing how landscape strategies have been shaped by a dynamic relationship between botanical practices, political decisions and economic circumstances giving form to an arboreal culture that has transformed the city.

    Anyone requiring accessibility accommodations should contact the events office at (617) 496-2414 or events@gsd.harvard.edu.

  • Tuesday, June 25 – Saturday, July 6, 2019 – Chile & The Skies of the Southern Hemisphere, Including Total Solar Eclipse

    After last August’s solar eclipse we’ve all become a little eclipse-crazed. On July 2, 2019, witness a total solar eclipse at a unique location—the north of Chile, home to world-class astronomical observatories. Enjoy special access to state-of the art observatories in the desert including: the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, or ALMA, the world’s most powerful radio telescope, Paranal, home to the Very Large Telescope, and Las Campanas, home to the Magellan Telescopes and the Giant Magellan Telescope.

    Your Harvard University-led journey also includes an exploration of the Atacama Desert and some of the most extraordinary landscapes of our planet—volcanoes, evaporated salt lakes, lagoons and hot springs as well as a host of animal life. Top this off with stargazing in the Southern Hemisphere. Visit the Elqui Valley, and a pisco distillery. Conclude your adventure with lunch and a tasting of select vintages in Chile beautiful Casablanca Valley at the Kingston Family Vineyards. Enjoy special entry to the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), Paranal Observatory and Las Campanas Observatory. Relax in thermal springs in the Atacama Desert Observe the dazzling evening skies of the Southern Hemisphere with large amateur telescopes.Visit the Elqui Valley and a Pisco distillery.Spend a day in Chile’s wine country at a winery founded by a Harvard alumnus.Tour Santiago and its Pre-Columbian Museum. $11,295 per person, double occupancy / $2,295 single supplement. Accommodations include two nights at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, Santiago, three nights at the Explora Atacama Hotel, one night at the Hotel Terrado, and three nights at the Costa Real Hotel.

    Participants should expect to walk one or two miles in length (sometimes over uneven terrain) with pauses to observe and discuss surroundings. Walks can be longer based on the participant’s discretion. The altitude in San Pedro de Atacama, where you spend three nights, is 8,000 feet. The ALMA Observatory located in the Atacama Desert, has an operations support facility at an altitude of 9,514 feet. There is an optional visit to the site of ALMA’s satellite dishes on the Chajnantor Plateau located at an altitude of 16,400 feet. Guests who would like to see the satellite installation on the plateau must have a medical release signed by their personal physician in order take part on this part of the tour. Paranal Observatory, outside of Antofagasta, has an altitude of approximately 8,645 feet. Las Campanas Observatory, outside of La Serena, is located at an altitude of approximately 8,370 feet.

    All the hotels are located at comfortable altitudes. Please note, since some of the travel will be in remote areas, flexibility is required concerning time schedules, food, weather, and dust. To enjoy this experience, participants must be in good physical and mental health, and be able to keep up with the pace of the group. Program participants requiring additional assistance must be accompanied by a guest who will assist them throughout the length of the program. For complete details visit https://alumni.harvard.edu/travel/trips/Chile-eclipse-2019?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=travel_monthly&utm_content=haa_travel_sell_out_2018-01-25

  • Thursday, October 5, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm – Teresa Moller

    The Harvard Graduate School of Design presents a free lecture by Teresa Moller on Thursday, October 5 beginning at 6:30 pm in  Gund Hall’s Piper Auditorium on Quincy Street in Cambridge. The studio Teresa Moller y Asociados has been working for the past 35 years in the world of Landscape Architecture. The office strongly believes in the power of simplicity. A careful observation and awareness of the existing landscape is the key for developing sociocultural projects and bringing nature accessible to people and for them to find balance in a constant changing urban environment.

    The diverse landscapes of Chile have been the setting for the majority of the studio’s projects since its founding. Distinct palettes of plants and materials are utilized as project locations range from the Atacama Desert in the north to the Lakes Region of the south as well as from the Pacific Coast in the east to the Andes mountain range in the west. This diversity has developed a way of working in the studio that approaches each project by examining the valuable elements existing in the site along with the surrounding natural systems, local ecology, and architecture. Thus, every project is a direct and unique result of its environment.

    The work has an architectural base, a geometry that structures the landscape over which the vegetation interacts more freely. Moller’s work is characterized by its simplicity, and she strongly believes that in that simplicity lays its force. This force unites nature with architecture and provides a point of interaction between humans and their surroundings. The studio has developed international projects, including in China, Germany, Argentina, and Australia. The studio works in the realms of residential, public urban space, commercial, institutional and agricultural settings with many built projects to date. The goal of the office is always to collaborate with the architects and clients, using each participant’s strengths and knowledge to arrive at an integrated design solution that is both efficient and elegant.

    Anyone requiring accessibility accommodations should contact the events office at (617) 496-2414 or events@gsd.harvard.edu.