astronomy

Mohsen Mostafavi

Mohsen Mostafavi is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Mohsen Mostafavi rather than just read about it. In short: Mohsen Mostafavi (born 1954 in Isfahan) is an Iranian-American architect and educator. Mostafavi is currently the Alexander and Victoria Wiley Professor of Design at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Key takeaways

Mohsen Mostafavi belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Mohsen Mostafavi to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Mohsen Mostafavi from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Mohsen Mostafavi (born 1954 in Isfahan) is an Iranian-American architect and educator. Mostafavi is currently the Alexander and Victoria Wiley Professor of Design at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. From 2008 through 2019, Mostafavi served as the school's dean.

Career Mostafavi received a Bachelor of Architecture from the Architectural Association School of Architecture in 1976. He would later teach at Cambridge University, the Städelschule, the University of Pennsylvania, and Harvard University. On January 1, 2008, Mostafavi was named Dean and Alexander and Victoria Wiley Professor of Design at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. He had previously been the Gale and Ira Drukier Dean and Arthur L. and Isabel B. Wiesenberger Professor in Architecture at the Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning. Mostafavi also serves on the steering committee of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture. He has served on the design committee of the London Development Agency and the Royal Gold Medal. Mostafavi was the head of the LafargeHolcim Awards for Sustainable Construction for Europe in 2005, for the global jury in 2006, and for North America in 2008.

Works On Weathering: The Life of Buildings in Time, with David Leatherbarrow, 1993, ISBN 978-0262631440 Manuel Brullet, with Josep Quetglas, 1998, ISBN 978-8425217524 Approximations: The Architecture of Peter Märkli, 2002, ISBN 978-0262134002 Surface Architecture, 2002, ISBN 978-0262621946 Landscape Urbanism: A Manual for the Machinic Landscape, 2003, ISBN 978-1902902302 Implicate and Explicate: Aga Khan Award for Architecture, 2011, ISBN 978-3037782422 Nicholas Hawksmoor: London Churches, with Hélène Binet, 2013, ISBN 978-3037783498 Ecological Urbanism, with Gareth Doherty, 2015, ISBN 978-3037784679 Urbanismo ecológico en América Latina, with Gareth Doherty, Marina Correia, Ana Maria Duran Calisto, and Giannina Braschi, 2019, ISBN 9788425229480. IJP The Book of Surfaces forward for the book by George L. Legendre, 2003, ISBN 1-902902-32-7

Personal life Mostafavi is married to Homa Farjadi, who is currently principal of Farjadi Architects and Professor of Practice at the University of Pennsylvania School of Design.

References

External links

Harvard profile

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Mohsen Mostafavi

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Mohsen Mostafavi claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Mohsen Mostafavi before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Mohsen Mostafavi ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Mohsen Mostafavi

In research: Mohsen Mostafavi appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Mohsen Mostafavi in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Mohsen Mostafavi is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1954 births, 20th-century people from Isfahan, 21st-century people from Isfahan, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Mohsen Mostafavi outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Mohsen Mostafavi in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Mohsen Mostafavi means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Mohsen Mostafavi out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mohsen Mostafavi in simple terms?

Why does Mohsen Mostafavi matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Mohsen Mostafavi?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Mohsen Mostafavi.