|
Areas of Study
While each student program is unique, typical
areas of concentration and exploration available within the City Design
and Development program include:
Urban Design
This
area focuses on the design of large-scale physical settings, including
modeling and shaping environments, understanding the relationships
between settings and institutions, and knowing how such changes can be
brought about. Practitioners of urban design include architects and
planners of public spaces, commercial developments, residential neighborhoods
and transportation environments, as well as managers of a wide variety of
urban programs and policies. Subjects in this area encompass the history
and theory of city design, design skills and techniques, public policy
and regulation, and development processes. Studios offer experience in
real world settings and issues such as: revitalization of Southwest Washington, DC;
expansion of the University of Cambridge, England campus; high density
commercial development in central Tokyo;
design of a transportation corridor in Miami;
and design of a high-speed train station and its associated development
near Barcelona.
An Urban Design Certificate is offered to students who complete a
specific curriculum of subjects in DUSP and Architecture. There are also
opportunities to obtain dual professional degrees in architecture,
planning, and real estate.
Architecture and Urbanism
This
area is concerned with the theory and history of the form and design of
cities, including the description and transformation of settlement
patterns, the imaging of urban environments, morphological and
typological studies, relationships between politics and the form of
cities, and design of urban housing. Students in this area generally
couple their studies with an associated area, such as urban design, or
proceed to doctoral studies in theory and history. Many graduates teach,
but a number also follow professional practice careers in architecture
and planning. Associated subjects encompass the theory of city form,
urban history, imaging and photography, and the morphology of the city.
Recent workshops have examined the role of history and memory in
designing cities, the effects of communications technologies on city
form, new models of high school and university design in cities, and
fieldwork in the study of urban typologies in cities such as Toronto and Dresden.
Community and Land Use Planning
This
area concentrates on the planning of communities at a local and regional
scale, including understanding natural systems, the regulatory framework
which controls land use, the impacts and management of growth, geographic
information systems, and the infrastructure requirements of cities and
regions. Graduates who have concentrated in this area work as planners at
the local government and regional level, in specialized public and
private sector agencies, or as independent professional consultants.
Subjects cover topics such as: growth management, site and systems
planning, legal issues, transportation planning, ecological approaches to
greenfield
development. Recent workshops have centered on revitalizing traditional New England village centers, planning for
transit-oriented development, achieving “smart” growth in
suburban communities and transportation corridors, and enhancing
community character through land use decision-making.
Urban Development
This
area ties in strongly with work in the Center for Real Estate and
includes the design and implementation of development projects, the
economics and financing of real estate, the role of public and private
sector organizations in development, and the management of the
development process. Some students in this area complete a dual degree
with the real estate program. Graduates work as developers, architects
and planners who couple their first professional skills with an
understanding of development, managers in private and public financial
institutions, and private consultants who advise development investors.
Subjects include development finance, real estate economics, design for
urban development, and legal issues in development. Recent student work
has included finance and design proposals for residential development on
farmland in Brookline, Massachusetts;
revitalization of a dying shopping mall and brownfield site in Somerville, Massachusetts;
development of Fan Pier in South Boston;
and various downtown and suburban projects.
|
