PAYETTE is thrilled to announce the 2025-2026 recipient of the Thomas PAYETTE Financial Aid Fund at Harvard University Graduate School of Design: Lauren Jasper, MAUD ’26.
This award honors late architect Tom Payette, founding principal of PAYETTE, who attended the GSD in the late 1950s when Josep Lluís Sert was Dean. For over 50 years, Tom was at the forefront of healthcare and science design, pioneering ideas and innovations that have transformed these building typologies and molded PAYETTE into the firm it is today. Throughout, his mantra was always, “Architecture is for people, not for the gratification of the architect!”
Lauren Jasper is pursuing a Master of Architecture in Urban Design at Harvard GSD and holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Cornell AAP. She shares Tom’s passion for equitable design with design work grounded in excellence, responsibility, feasibility and impact.
Her academic interests revolve around equitable urban design, particularly in post-industrial and historically Black communities shaped by disinvestment, displacement and vacancy. At the GSD, Lauren has been exploring this through studios and research seminars that emphasize systems thinking, land governance and implementation-oriented design.
Her work centers on translating community priorities and planning data into actionable urban policy, spatial strategies and design solutions, particularly in the context of equitable redevelopment, affordable housing and community engagement.
We know Tom would be proud of Lauren’s problem-solving nature and commitment to using design to help people by creating more equitable environments.
