unstudio

A pilot collaborative space for the third of GSD students who have no home base in Gund Hall. April 11 – 20, 2026.

Gund Hall, Harvard GSD  ·  April 11 – 20, 2026

The problem

Gund Hall is full.
A third of the students don't have a seat.

2.5×

over capacity

Gund was designed for 400 students.
It currently holds 994.

370+

students without a desk

Over a third of GSD — excluded from a creative home base every semester.

89%

of desks empty at any given time

Research sampling every 4 hours found peak usage at just 11%.

624

private desks in the public space

Cultural belief: desks are for studio. The unstudio tests a different idea.

Unstudio description poster

The solution

A collision space for those students.

The unstudio is a pilot for a collaborative solution to Gund's spatial constraints It's a place where students can spontaneously meet, share ideas, increase interdisciplinary connections, and design collaboratively — regardless of whether they're enrolled in a studio course.

It costs nothing. It uses furniture that already exists. It turns underutilized collaborative space into a resource for everyone.

Bring anything. Share everything.
Give up space. Don't hoard space.
Work with, not against.

Evidence it works

Eight days of data.

Usage was sampled every 4 hours across the full run. Here's what the space actually looked like in practice.

Visitors by time of day

10:00 am
17
2:00 pm
48
6:00 pm
61
10:00 pm
37
15
people at once — peak occupancy on Tuesday evening, with computer work, drawing, modeling, and conversation all happening simultaneously.

Events hosted

Total
7

What people did here

60%
Computer
work
21%
Conversation
& collaboration
12%
Drawing
& sketching
7%
Modeling &
prototyping

Total observed visits by day

Mon
25
Tue
24
Wed
27
Thu
31
Fri
13
Sat
14
Sun
11
Mon (close)
18
"

Simply being in the same dynamic place in Gund has given us these unplanned creative and collaborative collisions. All we had needed was desks.

Wyatt Roy, MDes Candidate, Harvard GSD 2026

—
Voices

Reactions from the GSD community — what worked, what didn't, and how the unstudio made you feel.

Add your voice ↓

Reactions with written quotes are shown below. The total count above includes everyone who added their name — including those who signed without leaving a comment, and those who signed on paper in the space.

Loading voices…

Also supporting

Supported with their name

These community members added their name and voice to the count without leaving a written reaction.

Loading…
—
Paper signatures

Names collected on a physical piece of paper in the unstudio space in response to the question, "Do you want the unstudio to become a permanent space in Gund?". Not listed publicly to honor the privacy of community members who chose to sign by hand rather than online.

Add your voice

How did it make you feel?

For the unstudio to become permanent, it needs to work for everyone — not just people who loved it. Was it too noisy for neighboring students? Did it feel like a clique rather than a true drop-in? Did it take space away from teaching? Does it need a longer test run before any decisions are made?

Every honest reaction — enthusiastic, skeptical, or somewhere in between — makes the case for getting this right. Your GSD email verifies your affiliation and will never be displayed publicly.

Used only to verify GSD affiliation. Never displayed publicly.

"

I brought some snacks for you all.
I actually have a desk, but I want to be in here.” -

M-Arch student