Utilizing various computer software applications, this course explores a variety of graphic techniques and analytical methods used in urban design and related to design methodology.

This is the first of three encapsulated studios. The course introduces students to contemporary methods for designing and visualizing the city. Through the lenses of New York City and understanding its 21th century metropolitan complexities students will engage in subjects that range from emerging ecological problems and/or accelerating capital market flows and examine how these influences have begun to pressure its urban fabric in unprecedented ways. Working through a series of materially and visually based exercises students will be introduced to contemporary mediums and methods of designing a large scale, urban site. Through site visits, individual assignments, and in-depth studio critiques, the students develop speculative visions that are rooted in the realities of the city. Among other learning outcomes, students will begin to understand the paradigmatic character of NYC and develop designs that reflect the complexity of our contemporary world.

The second of three studios, this course elaborates upon design proposals from urban Design Studio 1 at a more detailed scale. The focus of this investigation is to establish context and conditions of further speculation in the urban conditions of the city. Subjects of densification, conservation, urban ontology and their specific design methods are the focus of the course.

The final design studio provides opportunities for advanced architectural and urban research by graduate Urban Design students and a deepening of the prior speculative urban design investigations. It is intended that projects synthesize knowledge/issues explored in earlier studios. The class investigates and elaborates powers of conviction through architecture and urban design, taking current issues as a context impacting urban conditions. Students are enabled and encouraged to design their own strategies to carry out the course objectives.

The course looks at the context of urban open space as planning fact and architectural expression through the use of comparative examples of Western and non-Western spaces. Typologies of urban landscapes are developed based on their disposition in response to a multiplicity of influences and their perceptual qualities of spatial definition. Key issues include new town planning, zoning and legal constraints, regeneration of downtowns, preservation, and change. Technical aspects of open-space design are covered including site construction methodology, infrastructure systems, site feasibility, and urban ecology.

This course is an in-depth investigation in urban design theory focused on a wide range approaches to urban design, using both historical and contemporary examples.

This course examines contemporary urban design practice through the analysis of current project case studies. The analysis focuses on the relationship between design, regulatory frameworks and financing/marketing considerations. The course features site visits and involves speakers from the design and development professions.

This course engages research into the material and cultural contexts of urban conditions. The research is a preparation for the development of an urban design culmination project in the final semester of the MS Urban Design program. The particular site or program for the 3rd semester studio is to be developed by the student within the general themes set out by the instructor of this course.