MA in Urban Design 2014/2015 off-cuts Black
What / Why This booklet is a visual record of some of the activities we undertook during the 2014/15 Academic Year within the MA in Urban Design (MAUD) course. The booklet is by no means a comprehensive record and it simply aims to capture the mood, the textures and the feel of some of the many diverse activities we took part in as part of the course. These activities range from workshops, walks, public events, international fieldtrips, local engagement events and studio based work. The booklet is also a record of staff and students involved and a pointer to other resources where more MAUD work can be seen or more information about the course can be obtained.
MA in Urban Design (MAUD) The programme builds on the School’s ethos around the relationship between architecture and society. As such, the MA in Urban Design is grounded in an integrated approach that links spatial design and urban processes as a means to understand the spatial form of contemporary urbanisation, and the social dynamics determining urban form. Our interest lies in the many agents and actors who, in their capacity of engaged citizens, are transforming the meaning and forms of the places they inhabit. With this in mind, the course seeks to establish innovative modes of practice involving agency and community participation, and to investigate which approaches and methodologies might allow for rethinking the role of both designers and citizens in the processes of city-making. The overall approach of the MAUD programme is underpinned by a desire to critically examine the key urban development challenges that cities are facing today. Who is addressing them? In which ways? To whose inclusion, and exclusion? Local urban areas in Sheffield are taken as a reference for comparison with other UK and international contexts in Europe as well as in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The main core of the programme consists of a design studio, supported by core modules exploring urban design theory, participatory methodologies, and reflections on urban design practice. These are complemented by a range of optional modules, study-trips, thematic workshops, and lecture series.
MA in Urban Design homepage www.sheffield.ac.uk/architecture/gradschool/pgt/programmes/maud
MAUD Course Structure Diagram 1ST SEMESTER
ACTION
REFLECTION
Course structure diagram
2ND SEMESTER
History and Theory of Urban Design
Optional Module
Participation in Architecture and Urban Design
Reflection on Urban Design Practice
3RD SEMESTER
Urban Design Project 3: Thesis Urban Design Tools and Methods Urban Design Project 1
Urban Design Project 2
Urban Design Tools and Methods This module explores tools and methods for urban design, fostering a creative approach to engaging within urban design processes and changes in the city. The content is structured around six methodological categories: Situating, Gathering, Surveying, Mapping, Communicating and Critiquing. The module also creates frameworks for meaningful engagement with urban dwellers and institutions: this year, students ran a Design Charrette as part of the Sheffield Urban Design Week, in partnership with Sheffield City Council, architecture practice Auckett Swanke, and a number of partners associated with Sheffield Urban Design Week.
Participation in Architecture and Urban Design
The module aims to give students grounding in the history, theory, and practice of participative design approaches and public engagement. Every year, lectures and reflective seminars are complemented by hands-on experience. In 2014/15 students engaged in participatory design activities contributing to the ‘Build a New Doncaster’ initiative by Doncaster Civic Trust.
Studio: Global Praxis Studio Global Praxis examined future possibilities for civil society in the re/ development of city centres, exploring trading spaces and practices as a key element for the transformation of the urban streetscape. The studio projects explored three cities: Sheffield, London, and Cairo, visited on the field trip.
Studio: Landscape+Urbanism In a globally connected society what is the role of the local? The studio has looked at the implications of devolution of powers from a centralised government system to a polycentric localised network. The studio has focused on how infrastructure, networks and connectivity inform growth in the modern city. How do the organisational structures inform and influence the growth and development of our cities?
Studio: Activators in Place Working across the realms of two sites, the studio Activators In Place aims to reflect upon urban histories, radical cultural heritage and current pioneering community engagement programmes within Hulme, Manchester and Sheffield; whilst challenging existing urban strategies and striving to promote new forums of communal empowerment.
Studio: (Re)-activist Architecture Studio (Re)-activist Architecture has a collective aim to test and reveal alternative developments in Leeds South Bank, which break away from the normality of commercial regeneration by recognising and elevating the diversity of existing, local cultures.
History and Theory of Urban Design Looking at urban design through a range of topics (such as Order, Movement, Beauty, Nature, Agency), the module introduces students to some of the main concepts, theories and practices of urban design. These are illustrated by local, national and international examples from different historical, political, geographical and environmental periods and areas.
Reflection on Urban Design Practice The module focuses on the theme of ‘decision-making’ as a lens to reflect on urban design practice. Students produce films that explore the complexities of decision making at an urban scale, asking: who is involved in framing and making decisions? Who is excluded and why? Can we see constructing urban decision-making processes as a form of design?
Have a look at our short films here: www.sheffield.ac.uk/architecture/downloads/maud-videos
Sharing our MAUD approach internationally The project ‘Urban Design Methodologies and Tools for the Engaged Practitioner’, developed within MAUD by members of the Agency Research Group and supported by the University of Sheffield Engaged Curriculum Programme, was presented at the Biennial of Public Space in Rome (May 2015) as part of session organised by UN Habitat focussing on toolkits for the promotion of equitable public space. Innovations in teaching across culture and geographical contexts within the MAUD will be presented at the Symposium Global Urban Higher Education: the challenges and potentials of internationalisation, Urban Lab+ London Symposium (16-17 September 2015), University College London
Partner organisations Architecture Sans Frontières UK Assemble atelier d’architecture autogérée Aukett Swanke Bauman Lyons Architects Doncaster Civic Trust muf art/architecture Citizens UK CLUSTER Cairo Lab for Urban Studies, Training and Environmental Research Gehl Architects Group Ginger Igloo IntergreatPLUS Leeds City Council Urban Design Department MEGAWRA Built Environment Collective Raumlabor Sheffield City Council Sheffield Civic Trust Stoos Architekten The Tetley University College London, The Bartlett Development Planning Unit URBED (Urbanism, Environment and Design) University of Westminster, Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment
Staff Programme leader Beatrice De Carli Module leaders Leo Care Cristina Cerulli Florian Kossak Studio tutors John Sampson Helen Stratford Rob Thompson Teaching assistants Eirini Christofidou Rully Damayanti Goran Vodicka
Students Yixi Cao Binbin Chen Shuyuan Chen Jin Dong Wen Dong Shuyuan Gao Lei Gao Huilin Huang Yueying Huang Dan Li Kaiting Li Zhuozhang Li Cuiyu Li Lei Li Songqiao Li Lu Liu Yu Liu Feiyu Long Jie Lu Zhaobin Lu
Yincheng Mei Xianzhe Meng Zhiyang Miao Juanning Ren Ting Shao Tianchang Si Huiqin Tang Xiaomeng Tian Nan Wang Jing Wang Zijia Wang Yali Wang Yuan Xiong Ting Xu Chengnan Xu Yunrong Yang Lili Yang Xin Ye Wence Yu Zhiyan Zhang
eliciting feedback through a painting / storyboarding a film / displaying research spatially / engaging the public through models / sharing own understanding of processes / working in groups / honing critical skills / communicating own work to general audiences / working with local partners internationally / articulating a range of views and understandings about one project / interacting with local actors / field trips abroad /
Contact us University of Sheffield School of Architecture. The Arts Tower, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN General Enquiries Tel. +44 (0) 114 222 0305 Fax +44 (0) 114 222 0315 E-mail ssoa@sheffield.ac.uk Web www.sheffield.ac.uk/architecture
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