#  Daniela Díaz Blancarte 

 

 



   ![Headshot](/sites/g/files/omnuum9516/files/styles/hwp_4_5__320x400/public/2025-08/Diaz%20Blancarte%20-%20Headshot1.jpg.jpeg?itok=zX-_VSp3) 

 



 

 email <ddiazblancarte@g.harvard.edu> 

 



 

*Research Interests: Transnational circulation of expertise; plastics industries, housing innovation and development; Cold War science and technology; history of architecture; design history and material culture.*

Daniela Díaz Blancarte (she/her) studies the transnational and multidirectional circulation of knowledge, expertise, technologies, and materials in the plastics industries for architecture and construction between the United States and Latin America during the Cold War. Her research examines the intersections of Cold War science, housing innovation, international aid, urban development, and architectural design. She investigates how actors framed technological solutions to housing needs in terms of underdevelopment and poverty, often positioning plastic as a promising material to address these challenges. Daniela has uncovered specific histories of plastic research oriented toward housing applications and seeks to expand this work through comparative case studies that illuminate cross-border exchanges among architects, institutions, and plastic housing technologies in both regions. Trained as an architect, she has worked as a designer and taught architectural history at the undergraduate level in Mexico City.

Daniela Díaz Blancarte (ella) estudia la circulación transnacional y multidireccional de conocimientos, especialización, tecnologías y materiales en las industrias del plástico aplicadas a la arquitectura y la construcción entre Estados Unidos y América Latina durante la Guerra Fría. Su investigación examina las intersecciones entre la ciencia de la Guerra Fría, la innovación en vivienda, la asistencia internacional, el desarrollo urbano y el diseño arquitectónico. Daniela se enfoca en las formas en que distintos expertos articularon soluciones tecnológicas a las necesidades habitacionales a partir de nociones de subdesarrollo y pobreza, posicionando con frecuencia al plástico como un material prometedor para enfrentar dichos desafíos. Daniela ha reconstruido historias específicas de investigación sobre plásticos con aplicaciones habitacionales, y busca ampliar este trabajo mediante estudios de caso comparativos que revelen intercambios transnacionales entre arquitectos, instituciones y tecnologías de vivienda en plástico en ambas regiones. Formada como arquitecta, ha trabajado como diseñadora y ha impartido clases de historia de la arquitectura a nivel licenciatura en la Ciudad de México.

**Presentation:**

“A ‘Bright New World’ of Plastics: The Filament Wound House and the Cold War Politics of Housing and Development.” 2025 Qualifying Paper Symposium, Bard Graduate Center, New York.

**Previous Degrees**

B.Arch. Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City, Mexico   
M.Arch. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Mexico City, Mexico  
M.A. Bard Graduate Center, New York City



 

 

 





 

 

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- ## Graduate Research Interests
    
     [History of Technology](/graduate-research-interests/history-technology) [Latin American Studies](/graduate-research-interests/latin-american-studies) [Material Culture](/graduate-research-interests/material-culture) [Science &amp; Technology Studies](/graduate-research-interests/science-technology-society) [Technology and Society](/graduate-research-interests/technology-and-society)