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GSD announces student-designed installation at the Grove in North Allston, to open Summer 2017

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The Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) announces an inaugural design-build installation at the Grove, located at North Harvard Street and Western Avenue in Allston, expected to open to the public in summer 2017. The chosen design, entitled WE ALL, was selected through a two-stage GSD competition initiated in November 2016.

WE ALL calls for a communal open space framed by a segmented, vibrantly colored wall, comprising hundreds of plexi-glass tubes that illuminate at night to create a lively and dynamic atmosphere. Amarillo-yellow ground paint and wooden benches activate the corner as a gathering space. The finished installation will measure nearly 200 feet long and six feet tall, framing 7,000 square feet of gathering space. An opening event will be held upon completion this summer.

As the jury noted, WE ALL best responded to the core competition ideal: merging art, design, and interaction, while also considering the context of the neighborhood and its residents and stakeholders.

“In this moment,” says Mohsen Mostafavi, Dean and Alexander and Victoria Wiley Professor of Design at the GSD, “we have a special opportunity to create a space together with our neighbors that fosters commonality and connectivity, speaks to the history and vibrancy of the Allston neighborhood, and advances the intellectual project of the GSD. It is our hope that this project is not only aesthetically beautiful, but also a testament to the community-building powers of design and public art.”

The WE ALL team comprises three GSD students: Francisco Alcaron, Carla Ferrer Llorca, and Rudy Weissenberg.

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