Catherine Chen

Catherine Chen is an architectural designer whose work and research focus on the intersections between public space, infrastructure, and collective life. She is interested in questions of publicness and the socio-spatial reciprocity that architecture can enable. Catherine holds a Master of Architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where she was the recipient of the Alpha Rho Chi medal, and a Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art and Physics from Colgate University.

Catherine is currently an Architecture Visiting Critic at Cornell AAP, where she teaches studios and seminars, and advises on design thesis projects. In both practice and teaching, her work posits architecture as a civic project shaped by surplus, circular economies, and infrastructural entanglements. Previously, Catherine has held teaching positions in the Undergraduate Architecture Studies program at Harvard University and at Harvard GSD. She has practiced in Zürich, Boston, Princeton, and New York, with the offices of Karamuk Kuo Architekten, Höweler + Yoon, JaJa Co, and Studio Sean Canty, among others. She has worked on a wide range of projects and competitions, from housing and exhibitions to civic infrastructure and education.

Academic Research/Specialty Areas

  • Architectural design
  • Visual representation
  • Alternative forms of re-use
  • Circular economies
  • Public space
  • Socio-spatial theory

Classes (Selected)

  • ARCH 2102 Design III
  • ARCH 4605 / 6605 Surplus Assemblies
  • ARCH 5902 Design X Thesis

Awards, Grants, and Fellowships (Selected)

  • Alpha Rho Chi Medal, Harvard GSD, 2025
  • Julia Amory Appleton Traveling Fellowship, Finalist, Harvard GSD, 2025
  • Plimpton Poorvu Design Prize, 2nd Place, Harvard GSD, 2024

Exhibitions and Presentations (Selected)

  • "A Public Triangle for Union Square." Exhibition of M.Arch. thesis presentation. Harvard GSD Accepted Student Open House, 2025.
  • "Connections." Exhibition of student work from Harvard Undergraduate Architecture Studio. Cocurated with Robin Albrecht. Harvard GSD, 2025.
  • "Modeling Integration." Exhibition cocurated with Eric Höweler. Harvard GSD, 2024.
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