Student Lecture Series | Malkit Shoshan: Ecologies of Care

Drawing on two decades of design research and practice, the lecture will share how FAST: Foundation for Achieving Seamless Territory focuses on addressing complex challenges through a collaborative and interdisciplinary approach, with a particular focus on conflict-affected regions facing displacement, spatial violence, and the systemic erasure of cultural heritage.

Malkit will reflect on several projects, including Atlas of the Conflict: Israel-Palestine, ZOO, Border Ecologies, and BLUE: The Architecture of UN Peacekeeping Missions. Atlas traces the emergence of Israel and the disappearance of Palestine over the past century through more than 500 maps drawn by Shoshan over a decade. ZOO is a long-term research, installation, and publication meditating on the relationship between modernity and classification going wrong from the perspective of a small urban zoo in Gaza City. BLUE investigates UN peacekeeping missions—their architecture, material footprint, and impact on cities, communities, and ecosystems—and includes extensive advocacy, exhibitions, publications, and policy contributions, including to a UN resolution. Border Ecologies, the subject of Malkit’s forthcoming book with Amir Qudaih, examines the daily life of a small farm in Gaza and how it is affected by security protocols and perpetuating war.

FAST’s approach involves engaging a wide range of constituents—communities, public institutions, and experts—to advocate for change. Their methods span spatial analysis, installations, exhibitions, and interventions in policies, archives, and protocols. The practice is experimental, seeking to reframe the boundaries of spatial design as an extended discipline that incorporates diverse mediums to address urgent global concerns.

is a designer, researcher, educator, writer, and the founding director of FAST (Foundation for Achieving Seamless Territory). Her work explores the relationships between architecture, urban planning, and human rights, promoting social and environmental justice through collaborative initiatives and design.

Shoshan has authored several books including the award-winning "Atlas of Conflict: Israel-Palestine" and "BLUE: The Architecture of UN Peacekeeping Missions." She curated the Dutch Pavilion at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale and received the Silver Lion in 2021 for her project "Border Ecologies and the Gaza Strip."

Shoshan is a Senior Loeb Scholar and Design Critic at Harvard Graduate School of Design, where she is teaching and co-directed the Art, Design, and the Public Domain Master's program from 2018 to 2023. She has also been a visiting critic at Syracuse University and Carleton University.Her work has been featured in publications and journals such as The New York Times, The Guardian, Harvard Design Magazine, and exhibited internationally at venues including the Venice Architecture Biennale, Cooper Hewitt, and the UN Headquarters in New York City.

The lecture will be followed by a Q&A moderated by Dila Koksal.

The Diane Lewis Student Lecture Series is endowed by Elise Jaffe + Jeffrey Brown.

This event is free and open to the public. Registration is required.

Host or Publisher WNYC and The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art