The GSD-Courances Design Residency Program is fully funded through the Penny White Project Fund and the generous support of the Château de Courances. The program affords students the chance to spend six weeks living and working in the certified organic farm, gardens, and park at the Château de Courances, a sixteenth-century domaine located in the Île-de-France, fifty kilometers south of Paris. The residency will expose students to new modes of thought, discourse, and engagement on such topics as sustainable land management, agriculture, conservation, stories of place, and the role of historic sites in contemporary society.

2024 Schedule

  • Application Deadline

    February 5th, 2024, 11:59 pm EST.

    Applicants must complete the online proposal form linked here

    Late or incomplete proposals will not be accepted.

  • Announcement of Recipients

    Two positions will be offered each year. Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed as part of the application process.

    Recipients will be announced early in the Spring semester.

  • Final Report Submission

    September 22, 2024

    Winners will receive further guidelines as to final report formats from the Department of Landscape Architecture and the Frances Loeb Library nearer to the due date in September 2024. Please review the outline of the final report requirements below.

    Awardees must submit both a hard copy and a digital copy of their final report to:

    Department of Landscape Architecture
    48 Quincy Street, Room 312
    Cambridge, MA 02138

    [email protected]

    One-fourth of awarded funds will be held back and released upon submission of the final report. See instructions for details.

ABOUT
The GSD-Courances Design Residency Program is fully funded through the Penny White Project Fund and the generous support of the Château de Courances. The program affords students the chance to spend six weeks living and working in the certified organic farm, gardens, and park at the Château de Courances, a sixteenth-century domaine located in the Île-de-France, fifty kilometers south of Paris. The residency will expose students to new modes of thought, discourse, and engagement on such topics as sustainable land management, agriculture, conservation, stories of place, and the role of historic sites in contemporary society.

The structure of the residency is fundamentally hands-on. Students will work directly alongside farmers and landscaping crews, learning land management techniques and practices through direct experience. Students will also pursue an independent project or research topic depending on their own personal interests and explorations.

Two positions will be offered each year. The duration of the residency will be for six weeks from approximately the beginning of June to the middle of July. Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed as part of the application process.

 

ELIGIBILITY

All students enrolled in the Harvard Graduate School of Design are eligible to submit project proposals that address the objectives of the GSD-Courances program. Although all GSD students are eligible, it is expected that preference will be given to students in the Department of Landscape Architecture. The Committee looks favorably upon collaboration between students in Landscape Architecture with other design disciplines.

 

JOINT APPLICANTS

Students may work individually or in teams, and in conjunction with or independently from their coursework.

 

PROPOSAL EVALUATION

Proposals are evaluated on several criteria, including:

  • Quality and clarity of the project
  • Originality of research
  • Feasibility of the budget and schedule
  • Relevance to the program’s objectives
  • Nature of the outcome
  • Contribution to the field of landscape architecture

The Committee will pay special attention to the:

  • Focus and quality of the proposals
  • Relationship project objectives
  • Relevance to the field of landscape architecture

The program welcomes projects that promote research at the intersection of systemic inequity and social and environmental justice, and that focus on the advancement of the political agency of landscape architecture as an activist, collaborative, and participatory practice.

 

APPLICATION CYCLE

The yearly deadline for proposal falls at the beginning of the Spring semester. Late or incomplete proposals will not be considered. The Committee will meet following the submission of proposals, and final awards will be announced before Spring Break. Projects must be completed and final reports must be submitted to the Department of Landscape Architecture by September of the same year.

It is strongly recommended that, in the preparation of their proposals, applicants consult the Scholarly Pursuits: A Guide to Professional Development during the Graduate Years, a guide written by Cynthia Verba, Fellowships Advisor at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. The guide offers valuable recommendations on how to: construct and polish arguments in the development of a grant application; write an abstract; and compose the general organization of ideas.

 

PROJECT PERIOD

Only one grant may be awarded per student, either individually or in group. Collaboration with students that have already received an award from the Penny White Project Fund or GSD-Courances Program is not allowed. No additional funding will be provided after the award date.

 

FINAL-YEAR STUDENTS

The Fund accepts proposals from GSD students currently in their final year, with conditions. Final-year applicants will be required to explain in their proposals the very specific dates in which they plan to travel or develop other activities associated with their research, how they plan to complete the project beyond graduation, and how they plan to report and submit their work by the deadline.

 

ADVISORS

Applicants will be requested to submit the names of two project advisors, including an Internal Faculty Advisor from the GSD and an External Project Advisor, who are aware of the project and support its potential outcomes. Please note that the Internal Faculty Advisor should not be someone on the Faculty Jury Committee who reviews the proposals. Applicants are strongly encouraged to start working in consultation with a project advisor as soon as possible.

 

COMMITTEE

Chair of the Courances Committee: Anita Berrizbeitia, Professor of Landscape Architecture

Instructions

Below are guidelines for what to include in your proposal submission form. Submissions that do not adhere to these instructions will be disqualified.

The guidelines for the Final Report below are firm, all reports must adhere to these instructions.

Proposal Instructions

ABSTRACT

A brief of the main objective and scope of the project, including proposed method, and expected outcome. The abstract should clearly identify if the project is a case study, site investigation, a prototypical experiment, or any other form of research.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

3A. Project Description: a clear and comprehensive description of the project, its objectives, main tasks and outcomes. The description includes conditions addressed, questions asked, or hypotheses tested. The description must also describe if a similar project of this type has been done before, how it is different, what is aims to accomplish, and what is the substantive contribution to the field of landscape.

3B. Project Background: a succinct outline of the project’s specific spatial, ecological and geographic context. The project background should also outline the historic, theoretical, scientific, representational, or practical discourse of the project, in relation to research and design in landscape architecture. Background information should be supported by relevant sources which might include reference literature, case studies, precedents, past projects. Clear and concise graphic illustration of the project background is encouraged.

PROJECT METHODS

A short explanation that describes the method that will be used to accomplish the main project tasks. In this section, precedents, historic case studies, earlier work with methods like those suggested in the proposal may be cited and will be used to clearly frame the discourse and the type of project in question. The project might be also identified in this section with specific modes of landscape architecture practice. The methods section should also describe if travel is essential for the coherent development of the research project and why.

The Landscape Architectural Research: Inquiry, Strategy, Design by M. Elen Deming and Simon Swaffield (2010) is a helpful guide regarding research methods in landscape architecture.

There might be human subjects involved in the content of the research. In such cases, research needs to be guided by the ethical principles set forth in the Belmont Report, which seeks the Protection of Human Subjects of Research. For research projects that deal with human subjects, it is strongly recommended that awarded students send their proposal to the Harvard’s Committee on the Use of Human Subjects for revision. Visit the Committee on the Use of Human Subjects page for more information.

VISUAL MATERIAL

Additional graphic material in the form of maps and diagrams may be provided to support the project proposal by illustrating the area of research, the content of the research, visual methodologies, and examples of the outcomes. All project imaging should be high resolution, with captions and sources.

PROJECT SCHEDULE AND ITINERARY

A detailed description of the project timetable, start and end dates, timeline for main tasks, and sequence of deliverables. Please note that reasonable time must be dedicated to advance the definition of the project itself and to the completion of the deliverables.

PROJECT BUDGET

A detailed itemization of all anticipated expenses including:

  • Travel (air and ground travel)
  • Equipment and Resources (supplies, fuel, power, documentation, reproduction, copy)
  • Incidentals (security, visa, guide, translation)

Although expenses for food and normal per diem costs are not covered, project budgeting must demonstrate a clear understanding of project expenses and regional incidentals. The budget should not underestimate costs that might adversely affect the outcomes of the project. Any additional funding sources from other grant agencies must be disclosed.

Any equipment purchased with the funds remains the property of the Harvard University Graduate School of Design and must be returned to the Department of Landscape Architecture upon completion of the project.

ANTICIPATED OUTCOMES AND PROJECT DOCUMENTATION

A description of tangible benefits, findings, and contributions of the project to the discipline of landscape architecture and fields of design. Provide a definition of actual outcomes (a conference, a paper, a map, a presentation, an interview, an installation) with relevant dates, as applicable. Outcomes and deliverables must be tangible, substantive, and feasible.

CURRICULUM VITAE

Applicant(s) must submit a maximum 2-page CV outlining their education, experience, and other relevant background to demonstrate capability and responsibility. For proposals developed by teams, each student can include an individual 2-page CV.

LITERATURE AND REFERENCES

A brief list of references, books, websites from preliminary research that demonstrates knowledge of the project discourse, area, and scope.

PROJECT ADVISORS

List 2 project advisors, including an Internal Faculty Advisor from the GSD. No external advisor is necessary. List names, positions, and contact information, including email address and mailing address. Advisors may be contacted during the Selection Process.

The Internal Faculty Advisor should not be someone on the Faculty Jury Committee who reviews the proposals

SUBMITTING APPLICATION

The deadline to submit proposals is February 5th, 2024, 11:59 pm EST.

Applicants must complete the online proposal form linked here.

Late or incomplete proposals will not be accepted.

Final Report Instructions

The Final Report should consist of the following contents compiled:

  • Revised Project Summary: summary of the main objectives and scope of the investigation, the method and approach that has been followed, the learnings and outcomes (1 page)
  • Revised Project Description: elaborated, clear, and comprehensive description of the project, also looking at the main objectives and scope, method and approach, learnings and outcomes of the investigation as it occurred  during the research process (1-2 pages)
  • Revised Schedule and Itinerary: include maps of the itinerary followed, and the research conducted and tasks accomplished in each phase of the schedule and location in the itinerary
  • Project Images: between 5-10 photographs, maps, or diagrams
  • Project Photography: 5-10 site photographs
  • Learning Outcomes: What has been learned? What was initially expected and what was actually found? How did the project evolve during the preparation of the field work, during the trip, and afterwards? How has this opportunity impacted your understanding of design as a form of research? (1-2 pages)
  • Conclusions: explain your conclusions, both partial and general, and whether, why, and if/how this project will be continued (1-2 pages)

Questions?

Contact the Department of Landscape Architecture at [email protected].

For deadline and submission information, please visit GSD Now.