StudyQA — Master: Urban Design — Washington University in St. Louis

Photos of university / #wustl_official

Description Contents Requirements Funding

Urbanization is an increasing and constantly changing condition of contemporary society, one that presents enormous opportunities for—and challenges to—the creation of resilient, livable, and healthy urban habitats for a sustainable world. Our cities are the the largest consumers of resources, producers of economic activity and prosperity, and agents of social change. For a sustainable future, their design must become the means through which we address the potential of the urban world.

To this end, the MUD program focuses on reinventing and transforming cities across the United States and the world through a full range of scales: from region to the district; from district to the block and street; and, ultimately, to the design of the public realm as the place of a lively and vibrant community.

During this three-semester program of study (completed in one calendar year for 39 credits), students are challenged to explore the potential of urban design to impact cities, as well as their own role as active and informed participants in the transformation of cities. Studios integrate concepts and principles of urbanism, architecture, landscape architecture, and infrastructure. Required and elective course work, along with associated research, serve as a base for the more speculative and exploratory nature of the design studio experience. Students are introduced to social, political, economic, and environmentally responsible principles of development, as well as the history and theory of contemporary urbanism.

Most importantly, the MUD program is structured to provide students opportunities for experiential immersion learning—the best form of education for an urban designer. As part of the curriculum, students travel to a select number of major metropolitan cities in North America, Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia, under the guidance of Washington University faculty and associated local urban design professionals. Through this hands-on experience, students obtain a great appreciation for a range of cities and different approaches to the making of cities.

The Master of Urban Design degree can be combined with study in other divisions at Washington University, including architecture, landscape architecture, public health, social work, and with the Doctor of Sustainable Urbanism.

The three-semester MUD curriculum is centered on a core sequence of three studios through which students develop the skills to make design proposals for a diverse range of urban conditions within the contemporary metropolitan landscape.

The first studio, Metropolitan Design Elements, takes place in the fall and introduces the theories, concepts, and principles of urban design across the urban transect through speculative exercises that explore contemporary metropolitan conditions in and around the St. Louis region. Students focus on infrastructural and ecological urbanism with the aim to develop urban design projects at the intra-district scale. Required field trips to U.S. cities such as Detroit, Pittsburgh, New Orleans, Baltimore, and Boston, provide opportunities for immersive study, organized fieldwork, and exposure to practitioners, agencies, and stakeholders in the city of study.

In the spring, the Lively City Studio engages the scale of the district and the design of public space while more fully considering the public policy, cultural, economic, and real estate conditions of cities. This studio introduces students to the immense intellectual, creative, and cultural resources of large, growing North American cities. Cities previously studied include New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, and Toronto. During the required spring break masterclass, students travel to a major city in Europe to study how public space has been redesigned to increase urban vitality, make humane, people-centered environments, and foster the redevelopment of city life. Cities investigated include Copenhagen, Stockholm, Malmo, London, Rotterdam, and Berlin. This workshop develops a detailed knowledge of the public life/public space research and design methodology and its applicability to the practice of urban design.

The studio sequence culminates in the required degree project, Global Urbanism Action-Research Studio: an immersive, 14-week experience in mutiple global cities. Each year the studio selects a fast-growing city in Asia, Africa, or South America to compare and contrast with other relevant global cities. These selected global cities are marked by an active culture and lively arts and design scene; their urban fabric is challenged by rapid growth, environmental stress, social complexity, and the need for a new approach to urbanism. Recent studios have been located in Mexico City, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo, Johannesburg, and Dubai. This studio begins with three weeks of research and study, followed by six to eight weeks immersed in the selected cities--living, researching, observing, and working on the urban design project.

The summer Global Urbanism studio also builds upon the required fall break masterclass, which is focused on the study of informal cities. This sequence is intended to prepare students for a rapidly urbanizing world where they will be developing projects with different relevant strategies and design approaches for cities which have hybrid conditions of formal and informal urbanism. This studio is further supported by lectures on the history, theory, and methods of global urbanism, and a robust visiting international guest lecturer program that provides valuable local insight into the cultural, artistic, and social conditions of the city. The studio culminates in the publication of a studio research and design report that is focused on studying a series of global cities in comparative perspective, with each student creating a particular and site specific proposition within one of the cities studied.

In addition to the required studio sequence and masterclasses, students are introduced to urban design history, theory, concepts, and principles. In their studies, students develop the necessary analytical, research, and representational techniques to support their ability to interpret, represent, and design the contemporary urban landscape. These courses explore basic concepts in the history and theory of urbanism; environmental and infrastructure systems; landscape ecology; urban development and public policy; economic and real estate development; and sustainable urban design.

Metropolitan Urbanism
Metropolitan Development
Metropolitan Sustainability

Students have the opportunity to establish areas of concentration through three urban design electives in related areas within the Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design including the Schools of Law, Business, Engineering, and Social Work, as well as the Institute for Public Health. With faculty approval, students can craft an individualized experiece according to their interests and needs through the combination of electives.

Requirements

All candidates must submit an online application.
Personal information.
A statement of objective of educational and career goals.
A resume/curriculum vita (to include education and employment history, honors, awards, and extracurricular activities).
Three letters of recommendation, to be completed by individuals who know the personal and academic qualities of the applicant (preferably—although not necessarily—academic instructors). These three letters will be submitted through the online application process. Please note that, along with other contact information, the applicant will need to provide each recommender's accurate e-mail address.
A nonrefundable $85 application fee. Note: The $85 application fee will be waived for applicants who complete their online application by November 30. Beginning December 1, the application fee is $85, and must be paid online by credit card.
Official transcripts. Upload a digital copy (PDF format) of transcripts from all college and universities attended. When submitting academic records from multiple schools, please organize those records for submission as a single PDF. Only those applicants who are admitted and plan to enroll will be asked to send official, hard-copy transcripts to our office by August 1.
GRE scores, provided by the testing services (optional). While GRE scores are not required, they are strongly recommended. To ensure official test score reports arrive as needed, please use our institution code (6929) and department code (4401) when making arrangements with the testing agency.
English language scores (if the applicant's native language is not English). A Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) score or International English Language Testing System (IELTS) score is required if the applicant's native language is not English. The minimum acceptable TOEFL scores are 90 on the Internet-based test, 577 on the paper-based test, or 233 on the computer-based test. The IELTS score minimum is 7.0. Note that an exception to the English test score requirement is made for candidates who have studied four years toward a baccalaureate degree in the United States. To ensure official TOEFL test score reports arrive as needed, please use our institution code (6929) and department code (12) when making arrangements with the testing agency. IELTS scores must be sent in hard-copy form to our office.
Portfolio. A digital portfolio showing examples of design work or work in the visual arts must be uploaded to our online application system. Please review our instructions below carefully. The work represented in the portfolio—whether it includes drawings, photographs of architectural models, or artwork (including various types of media such as paintings, sculpture, ceramics, or photography)—should be the best examples of the applicant's efforts. Applicants who have not studied architecture previously should submit at least 15 examples of work in the visual arts and—if available—in the constructive arts (for example, photographs and drawings from small, three-dimensional built projects such as furniture, kiosks, or decks.) The overall intention is to show work that demonstrates potential for accomplishment in further creative study. Applicants who have pursued formal studies in architecture or landscape architecture must include examples of their design work related to those areas but are also welcome to include examples of other artistic endeavors.Important: Applicants submitting work done collaboratively, either in school or in the profession, should be as specific as possible about the extent of their personal involvement in such projects.
Applicants who are submitting IELTS scores must arrange to have the testing service send a hard-copy report of the scores to our office.