“Thinking of Cities as Green Machines”

In “Thinking of Cities as Green Machines,” The Boston Globe’s Mark Feeney reviews the exhibition Urban Natures: A Technological and Political History 1600–2030, curated by Antoine Picon, G. Ware Travelstead Professor of the History of Architecture and Technology at the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) and an affiliated faculty member of the Harvard Center for Green Buildings and Cities (CGBC).

On view at the Harvard Graduate School of Design’s Druker Design Gallery from August 25 to October 13, 2025, this exhibition examines how the role of nature in cities has evolved over more than three centuries, from the first public gardens of the late 17th century to today’s urgent climate challenges.

An initial version of this exhibition was presented in 2024 at the Pavillion de l’Arsenal in Paris. The research that led to the exhibition and accompanying book was supported by the Harvard Center for Green Buildings and Cities.