Malkit Shoshan

Malkit Shoshan
מלכית שושן
Born1976 (age 49–50)
Haifa, Israel[1]
CitizenshipIsraeli, Dutch
Alma materTechnion – Israel Institute of Technology[2]
OccupationDesigner
OrganizationFoundation for Achieving Seamless Territory (FAST)
Notable workBLUE, Atlas of the Conflict: Israel-Palestine, Village: One Land Two Systems and Platform Paradise, ZOO, Border Ecologies
Websiteseamlessterritory.org

Malkit Shoshan (Hebrew: מלכית שושן; born 1976)[3] is a designer, author, educator and founder of «FAST: Foundation for Achieving Seamless Territory», an architectural think tank that addresses "the relationships between architecture, urban planning, and human rights."[4]

In 2021, Shoshan won the Silver Lion at the Venice Biennale of Architecture.[5]

Career

Shoshan studied architecture at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology and the Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia in Italy.[6]

Her interest in cross-disciplinary and multi-scalar work[7] exploring the impact of urban planning and human rights in conflict and post-conflict areas[8] started in 2005, when she founded FAST together with Michiel Schwarz, Willem Velthoven and Alwine van Heemstra. The initiative emerged in response to a request raised from a Palestinian community of internally displaced persons, Ein Hawd, which sought a planning alternative to one imposed by the Israeli government.[4]

In 2015, she was a finalist for the Wheelwright Prize, a $100,000 traveling fellowship awarded by the Harvard Graduate School of Design.[9] The following year, Shoshan was appointed curator of the Dutch Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale, where she presented the exhibition «BLUE: Architecture of UN Peacekeeping Missions».[10]

In 2021, Shoshan received the Silver Lion at the Venice Biennale of Architecture for her collaborative project «Watermelons, Sardines, Crabs, Sands, and Sediments: Border Ecologies and the Gaza Strip».[5]

From 2018 to 2023, she served as Area Head of the Art, Design, and the Public Domain Master in Design Studies at Harvard GSD.[2] As of 2025, she is a Senior Loeb Scholar and Design Critic in Urban Planning and Design at the same institution. [11]

Publications

  • Atlas of Conflict: Israel-Palestine (2010)[12]
  • “Zoo, or the letter Z, just after Zionism (2012)
  • Village. One Land Two Systems and Platform Paradise (2014, co-author)
  • Drone. UNMANNED. Architecture and Security Series (2016, co-editor)
  • Spaces of Conflict (2017, co-editor)
  • UN Peace Missions in Urban Environments and the Legacy of UNMIL (2019).
  • Retreat. UNMANNED. Architecture and Security Series (2020, co-editor)
  • BLUE: Architecture of UN Peacekeeping Missions (2023)[13]

References

  1. ^ Casale, Rocky (25 July 2016). "Malkit Shoshan on the Architecture of Diplomacy". SURFACE. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Faculty: Malkit Shoshan". Harvard University Graduate School of Design. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  3. ^ "People". V2. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  4. ^ a b "About Us". Foundation for Achieving Seamless Territory FAST. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  5. ^ a b Harrouk, Christele (30 August 2021). "UAE / Wetland Wins the Golden Lion for Best National Participation at the 2021 Venice Biennale". ArchDaily. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  6. ^ "Malkit Shoshan". Harvard Graduate School of Design. 2025-05-15. Retrieved 2025-11-10.
  7. ^ "Malkit Shoshan | Design Activism: Border Ecologies and the Architecture of UN Missions – Art, Culture, and Technology (ACT)". ACT MIT. Archived from the original on 2025-06-13. Retrieved 2025-11-10.
  8. ^ "College Announces 2025 Fall Lecture and Exhibit Series". University of Tennesse in Knoxville College of Architecture + Design. 2025-08-08. Retrieved 2025-11-10.
  9. ^ Madsen, Deane (2015-04-27). "Erik L'Heureux Wins 2015 Harvard GSD Wheelwright Prize". Architect Magazine.
  10. ^ Valencia, Nicolas (17 May 2016). "Malkit Shoshan on How the City is a Shared Ground for the Instruments of War and Peace". ArchDaily. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  11. ^ webcontent (2024-01-23). "Malkit Shoshan Appointed 2024 Senior Loeb Scholar". Harvard Graduate School of Design. Retrieved 2025-11-10.
  12. ^ Huisman, Jana (March 13, 2011). "The most beautiful book in the world by Jana Huisman". Atlas of the Conflict. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  13. ^ "BLUE: Architecture of UN Peacekeeping Missions". Actar Publishers. Retrieved 23 April 2023.