udcourses world brief

Urban Design EducationA selected compilation of brief course descriptions of institutes across the world

offering Urban Design Program at postgraduate level

2

Institutions

Harvard University

Columbia University

University of California at Berkeley

The Bartlett School of Architecture

Delft University of Technology

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich

National University of Singapore

University of Melbourne

Location of Institutes

Institute Names

Harvard University

Columbia University

University of California,Berkeley

Bartlett School of Architecture

Swiss Federal Institute ofTechnology Zurich


National University ofSingapore


3

Harvard University

School: Graduate School of Design (GSD)

Course(s): Masters of Architecture in Urban Design (MAUD), Master of Land-scape Architecture in Urban Design (MLAUD)

Web: http://www.gsd.harvard.edu/#/academic-programs/urban-planning-design/urban-design/index.html

Program Description:

• Post-professional studio based programs

• Intense design instruction, extensive applied research and knowledge of urban history and theory

• Two-year (four semester) program

• First Semester curriculum includes the Elements of Urban Design Core Studio, The Urban Design Proseminar and the Cities by Design lecture course

• Remaining three semesters offer a more flexible academic path that allows students to engage in advanced studios and elective courses across all GSD departments

• Encourages advanced individual and collective research and the possibili-ty to develop an elective thesis

• Design topics cut across a variety of scales and urban scenarios both within the North American context and in multiple international settings

• Recently explored geographies include Istanbul, Mexico City, Mumbai, New York City, Quito, Rio de Janeiro, among many others

• Students are also encouraged to work closely with faculty through the many research labs within the GSD and in other ongoing faculty led ap-plied research and design projects

• For application, two to three years of experience in professional practice is recommended but not required

4

Columbia University

School: Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP)

Course(s): Masters of Science in Architecture and Urban Design (MS. AUD)

Web: http://www.arch.columbia.edu/programs/urban-design


• Post-professional studio based program

• Two year (four semesters) program

• Focused on city as an agent of sustainable development and the role of design in redefining the 21st century urban landscape

• Advancing new paradigms of research, practice and pedagogy

• Meeting the urgent challenges of rapid urbanization, the increasing threats of climate change and societal inequity

• Understandings widens the aperture of our understanding of the city from one defined as a ”tightly settled unit” toward a gradient of urban, rural and suburban landscapes supported by broader networks of food, energy, resource consumption, and transportation

• New York City serves as a primary initial case study for a design methodology, expanding in the final semester to investigate emerging global capitals and agglomerations in Asia, Africa, and South America among other places

• The program explores the risks and benefits of alternatively “top-down” and “bottom-up” initiatives

• Advocates inclusive techniques that address social inequalities and environmental degradation toward a just, sustainable future

5

University of California at Berkeley

School: College of Environmental Design (CED)

Course(s): Masters of Urban Design

Web: http://ced.berkeley.edu/academics/urban-design/master-of-urban-design


• Post-professional studio based program

• 12 months program

• Addresses the need for professionals who are specifically concerned with the design of varied urban areas open to public use

• concerned with settlement patterns in urbanizing areas, city or town lay-out, the restructuring of inner cities , the metropolitan edge—mega-cities, territorial dispersed settlements or conversely the planning of cities de-creasing in population

• Studies may lead to the design of infrastructure such as highways, streets, bicycle, pedestrian trails and open spaces, buildings, and landscape pat-terns that establish neighborhoods and provide the settings for public life

• Alternatively the program may work on infill in older towns and cities, or may prepare plans, guidelines, or standards to manage extensive new development at the metropolitan growth edge

• Located at one of the most diverse urban areas of the country featuring a varied urban field that contains the traditional fabric of the older areas of San Francisco, Silicon Valley as well as generations of diverse suburban/urban neighborhoods

6

University College London

School: The Bartlett School of Architecture

Course(s): MArch in Urban Design

Web: http://www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/architecture/programmes/postgraduate/march-urban-design


• 12 months studio based program

• Seeks to understand the city as a place of human coexistence and to de-vise strategies and projects to guide its future development and evolution.

• Students are encouraged to explore and understand their host city Lon-don whilst in residence, a city that arguably is one of the richest and most diverse in the world

• The year is underpinned by a lecture-based series in the history and theory of urban design, and a high proportion of time is devoted to stu-dio-based design enquiry, supported through tutorials from designers and experts in associated fields such as computing, drawing and making

• The curriculum introduces students to diverse fields such as archaeology, anthropology, design theory, ecological history, advanced computing, governance, law, media, philosophy, planning and political theory

• Environmental and ecological questions are given high priority within a critical structure that embraces the dispersed, often paradoxical nature of contemporary urbanism, and the challenge in resolving complex is-sues facing populations, public space, land use, and building typologies through innovative design strategies

7

Course(s): Master program in Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences (Urbanism Track)

Web: http://www.tudelft.nl/en/study/master-of-science/master-programmes/ar-chitecture-urbanism-and-building-sciences/urbanism/


• 2 years program

• The Urbanism track is one of five specialization tracks within the Architec-ture, Urbanism and Building Sciences master program

• The first year is aimed towards acquiring the student with advanced knowledge and skills in urban design and planning in the broader sense

• The first three compulsory quarters each offers a research and design project, which is supported by courses on the history of urban theories, urban engineering, research and design methodology and lectures on the practice of urbanism

• During the second year, the students work in the Laboratory Urban Trans-formations and Sustainability on an individual graduation project on a topic that reflects the research priorities within the Urbanism Research Themes

• This is not a disciplinary specialization, but a content-driven one, whose purpose is to acquire further knowledge, skills and experience dealing with the chosen topics

• Topics should be part of the research program of the department and may include local trends such as sustainable mobility, urban renewal, shrinkage and densification; with an understanding of global trends, such as eco-nomic globalization, the financial and real estate crisis, climate change, demographic trends and the energy transition


8

Course(s): Master of Advanced Studies in Urban Design

Web: https://www.ethz.ch/en/studium/weiterbildung/angebot/masterprogramme.html?polycourseId=73


• 1 year full time program

• The course is structured around an investigation of transforming urban conditions as they pertain to global phenomena, and the development of practical tools for operating within such domains

• Case studies addressing such conditions will be taken from both developing and developed countries, with the aim of understanding how to intervene upon and capitalise on processes and patterns of transformation common to both

• Each year, the MAS ETH UD will focus on specific topics and sites of urban research on which to intervene in the form of a design research studio

• The topics address the challenges that contemporary urban design has to face, such as informal urban growth, poverty or aging

• The program aims to develop a culture of urban research and design that enables the participant to actively envision future urban scenarios

• Secondly, a strong emphasis is put on methodology, process design and communication in order to prepare for the interdisciplinary negotiating agenda of urban designers with an emphasis on academic research

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich

9

Course(s): Master of Arts (Urban Design)

Web: https://www.arch.nus.edu.sg/programme/urban-design/about-ma-ud.html


• 1 year full time program / 2 years part time program

• Aims to inculcate in graduates the ability to study the city in more complex and inclusive terms and to design successful urban spaces that take into careful consideration current and future users based on an understanding of a wide range of issues including those impinging on culture and society, environment and sustainability, technology and urban geography

• The rapid urbanization of the Asian landscape and the equally swift trans-formation of its cities expose the urgent need in the region for design pro-fessionals, especially practicing architects and planners, trained to tackle creatively problems of designing within existing urban fabrics as well as at the periphery of rapidly growing cities

National University Singapore

10

School: Melbourne School of Design

Course(s): Masters of Science in Architecture and Urban Design (MS. AUD)

Web: https://msd.unimelb.edu.au/master-urban-design


• 2 years full-time / 4 years part-time

• Studio Intensive program

• Through the studios the students explore the importance of place, un-dertaking fieldwork with professional practice and the wider community to gain practical experience

• Throughout the program the student can

o Discover the role of urban design within given spatial, social, eco-nomic and political contexts

o Explore the scope, opportunities, complexities and responsibilities of urban design

o Uncover urban design issues and methodology for creating best practice responses

o Develop analytical and design skills for generating and testing alternative approaches to the urban design development of specific sites


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