Master of Urban Design ADVANCED DEGREE IN ARCHITECTURE 2014-2015
01 Introduction
Faculty Geoffrey Thün and Kathy Velikov’s “Great Lakes Megaregion Shed Mapping”
The Master of Urban Design (M.U.D.) degree is a 12-month immersion into the complexities, opportunities, and creative potentials of global metropolitan regions. The next generation of leaders in urban development must possess critical thinking, design, humanities, and real estate knowledge in order to build the next generation of vibrant metropolitan communities. The Taubman College MUD degree helps participants to build proficiencies in a range of skills - from analyzing settlement patterns of informal populations to designing mixed-use developments requiring interface between municipalities and the capital markets.
University of Michigan Master of Urban Design 2014-2015 | Page 2
02 Program Administration
M.U.D. review
Program Administration
Faculty 2012 - 2015
Milton S. F. Curry
María Arquero de Alarcón, Assistant Professor of Architecture and Urban Planning David Bieri, Assistant Professor of Urban Planning McLain Clutter, Assistant Professor of Architecture and Urban Planning Robert Fishman, Professor of Architecture and Urban Planning El Hadi Jazairy, Assistant Professor of Architecture Kit McCullough, Lecturer in Architecture Mitch McEwen, Charles Moore Visiting Professor of Urban Design Richard Norton, Associate Professor of Urban Planning Roy Strickland, Professor of Architecture Geoffrey Thün, Associate Professor of Architecture
Director, Master of Science Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Strategic Initiatives Associate Professor of Architecture Robert Fishman
Chair, Architecture Program Professor of Architecture and Urban Planning Monica Ponce de Leon
Dean, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning and Eliel Saarinen Professor of Architecture and Urban Planning
University of Michigan Master of Urban Design 2014-2015 | Page 3
03 Master of Urban Design
Faculty member Lars Gräbner’s University of Science and Technology of China, Advanced Technology Campus
Urbanism and the Humanities
The humanities disciplines play an important role in deepening reflective criticism and theory on contemporary urban issues and challenges. From egalitarianism to literary modernism, the intersection of the humanities with urbanism provides a wide lens from which to interpret metropolitan life. The MUD degree program asserts that design is central to any project of social change related to the metropolis, and that new formations about the city emerge from critical reading and analysis of texts, images, films and visual information, and built works of architecture and urban design. Urbanism and the humanities share an imperative in that they reflect cultural production, while also projecting new notions of what individual and collective life could be. Architecture and urban design are social arts with implications on large polities. The humanities are reflective of cultural production in ways that open up designers to a wide variety of peoples and their cultural practices.
Urbanism and the Real Estate
Urban real estate is uniquely positioned between the private decision-making of landowners, the regulatory regime of municipalities and the State, and the public realm of shared public space and civic engagement. The MUD degree program conveys foundational knowledge about the role of financial capital in urban real estate - through exposure to public and private mechanisms of project funding, project development seminars connected to design studio projects, and exposure to diverse urban infrastructural issues.
Leadership in transforming the way cities are conceptualized
Why study urban design at Michigan? Because you want to be a leader - through the production of innovative research, hybrid design practices, and/or entrepreneurial project development. At Michigan, leadership means engaging the world’s megacities and informal cities, the urban poor and the upwardly mobile, private capital as well as public finance and non-profit capital.
University of Michigan Master of Urban Design 2014-2015 | Page 4
04 Master of Urban Design Curriculum 2014-15
A visionary curriculum for urban design leadership in transforming conventional forms of practicing architecture and urban design at the scale of the city and metropolitan region.
summer Term
UD OneCity Studio I: Territories and Constituencies
06 Credits
Financing Urban Real Estate
02 Credits
Integrative City Cultures Seminar
02 Credits
Fall Term
UD OneCity Studio II: Settlement Spatialities
06 Credits
Integrative Project Development Seminar 1
1.5 Credits
Theories and Methods in Urban Design
03 Credits
History of Urban Form
03 Credits
Legal Aspects of the Planning Process
03 Credits
winter Term
UD OneCity Studio III: Public / Private Spheres
06 Credits
Integrative Project Development Seminar 2
1.5 Credits
Open Elective
03 Credits
Directed Elective: Real Estate or Ecology / Sustainability
03 Credits
Directed Elective: Real Estate or Ecology / Sustainability
03 Credits
Travel to OneCity location
spring Term
UD OneCity Capstone
09 Credits
University of Michigan Master of Urban Design 2014-2015 | Page 5
05 Studios / Integrative Seminars
View from the Cetram Cuidad Azteca, Mexico City
OneCity Studios Program
2014 - 2015 2013 - 2014 2012 - 2013
Mexico City / Shanghai Mumbai, India Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
The MUD OneCity Studios I, II, III, and UD OneCity Capstone focus on a single metropolitan region with two trips to the region at the end of the Summer and Winter terms. Each metropolitan region/city is either a post-industrial or mega-city condition. The OneCity Studios contextualize the single metropolitan region with other inputs - ranging from rigorous comparative analyses of multiple cities to focused examination and speculation of the selected city. The studio sequence harnesses widely applicable theories, methods and practices of urban design and tests their application in a single metropolitan region over the course of 4 consecutive academic terms. Studio topics explore territories and constituencies (UD Studio I), settlement spatialities (UD Studio II), public/private spheres (UD Studio III), and culminating speculations based on a faculty-initiated research brief (UD Capstone).
1 metropolitan region. 1 year of study. 4 different studio faculty. Integrative Seminars
Integrative seminars in humanities and real estate project development are directly connected to studio projects. Design-based thinking urban design projects encounters humanities and real estate perspectives through project-based and case study-based pedagogies.
University of Michigan Master of Urban Design 2014-2015 | Page 6
06 Core Course Descriptions UD 712 : UD ONECITY STUDIO I - TERRITORIES AND CONSTITUENCIES (Summer / 6 Credits)
Introduction to complex metropolitan system of the selected city of study for three consecutive Core Studios. The course develops fundamental skills in city-scale and regional-scale analysis, graphical representation, and familiarity with current tools such as GIS, digital video and technologies. Participants will engage in examining diverse territories and constituencies related to a design project. Participants will travel to the select city and engage with local practitioners, designers, and policymakers. UD 722 : UD ONECITY STUDIO II - SETTLEMENT SPATIALITIES (Fall / 6 Credits)
The studio focuses on aspects of formal and informal residential settlement as a catalyst of vibrant urban cultural life. Participants will engage in the conceptualization, planning and design of a housing-anchored development project. Design work is expected to build upon intelligence gained from the previous semester’s work. Participants will travel to the select city and engage with local practitioners, designers, and policymakers. UD 732 : UD ONECITY STUDIO III - PUBLIC / PRIVATE SPHERES (Winter / 6 Credits)
The final studio focuses on the intersection of public and private spheres within the city. Design projects will examine a complex mixed-use project that requires public and private partnership for its implementation. The logics of ownership, land use, and economic validation are framed as opportunities for design speculation and innovation. Participants will travel to the select city and engage with local practitioners, designers, and policymakers. UD 742 : URBAN DESIGN ONECITY CAPSTONE (Spring / 9 Credits)
The Capstone is the culmination of the academic course of study and will draw upon the research, cultural investigations, technical study and design work initiated during the first three terms. Participants will engage in a faculty-led project structured to focus on a specific research subject that is implicated by the OneCity program and developed for dissemination to a broad audience. The specific vehicle for project dissemination will vary annually and with the subject of focus, and may include a publication, exhibition; colloquia and symposia with invited thought-leaders from relevant disciplinary domains. Prerequisite: Satisfactory completion of UD 732. UD 715 : INTEGRATIVE CITYCULTURES SEMINAR (Summer / 2 Credits)
Humanities seminar that engages humanities-related scholarship and creative work on issues related to contemporary urbanization, urbanization in specific contexts (post-industrial, megacities), and/or in different geographical locations (Western, non-Western, continent-specific, etc.). Participants will engage textual and visual materials, and writing as a form of communication. The course seeks to combine contemporary humanities scholarship with problems and challenges of the contemporary city. UD 716 : INTEGRATIVE PROJECT DEVELOPMENT SEMINAR 1 (Fall / 1.5 Credits)
Seminar that integrates real estate, project and community development knowledge into UD 722 design projects. Through integrated project development analyses grounded in the studio proposal, participants will engage issues of both private and public investment. Private investment issues may include market feasibility, parcelization, valuation and risk, and project financing and complex deal structuring. Public investment issues may include tiered public and private financing, community benefits agreements, social housing, pricing of urban infrastructure and public transport, public sector development, legal, policy, planning and inclusionary zoning issues. The course seeks to build proficiency in a cohesive model of project development that accounts for multiple perspectives. UD 717 : INTEGRATIVE PROJECT DEVELOPMENT SEMINAR 2 (Winter / 1.5 Credits)
A continuation of issues addressed in UD 716, integrated with UD 732 design projects. Prerequisite: Satisfactory completion of UD 716.
University of Michigan Master of Urban Design 2014-2015 | Page 7
06 Core Course Descriptions (cont.) UD 714 : FINANCING URBAN REAL ESTATE (Summer / 2 Credits)
Seminar that introduces participants to the fundamentals of urban economies, real estate finance and real estate development in urban contexts. The course will give participants a basic foundation in principles that govern the deployment of capital in real estate, deal financing, deal structuring, valuation and risk. Though case studies and project analyses, participants will be exposed to the structuring and financing of complex real estate transactions involving private, public and nonprofit sectors and developers. UD 718 : THEORIES AND METHODS IN URBAN DESIGN (Fall / 3 Credits)
This seminar explores contemporary theories of urbanism as a lens for understanding urban design practice. Cities are both participants in, and resultants of, systems of economy and power. As such, they evince design relationships between their public and the prevailing economic and political systems. Drawing from architecture, planning, urban design, cultural theory, geography, sociology, political science, and ecology, the course presents an interdisciplinary cross-section of theories of urbanization that will be used to examine the methods that have been and are being used to design cities today, globally. UD 713 : HISTORY OF URBAN FORM (Fall / 3 Credits)
The course offers a study of the historical development of the physical form of western cities from ancient times to the present. The course will deal primarily with European and North American cities under the following headings: Ancient and Classic, Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque, and Modern (nineteenth and twentieth centuries). Cities of Asia, Africa, and Latin America will be included where possible and applicable. UP 513 : LEGAL ASPECTS OF THE PLANNING PROCESS (Fall / 3 Credits)
The course provides a general overview of the legal aspects of urban and regional planning, including institutional structures, sources of and limits on legal authority, and traditional and evolving approaches to land use and development control. The principle focus of this course will be on the relationships between planning as a public policy-making process and the laws that authorize, are used to implement, and constrain planning initiatives.
select electives in real estate and ecology / sustainability
Real Estate Essentials
03 Credits
The Developing Economies
03 Credits
Urban Sprawl: Policy and Politics
03 Credits
Property
03 Credits
Real Estate Development
03 Credits
Intro to Urban and Environmental Planning
03 Credits
Environmental and Resource Economics
03 Credits
Land Use Policy, Law, and the Environment
03 Credits
Sustainable Urbanism and Architecture
03 Credits
Landscapes of Energy
03 Credits
Interconnected and Technologically Advanced
03 Credits
University of Michigan Master of Urban Design 2014-2015 | Page 8
07 How to Apply Application Materials online at http://taubmancollege.umich.edu/urbandesign/admissions/apply/ Application and Portfolio Deadline: January 15th annually (postmarked) The MUD Program requires 52 academic credits. The program is 12 months in length consisting of a summer half term (July–August), fall full term (September–December), winter full term (January–April), and spring half term (May–June). Students come from all over the world to study at the University of Michigan Taubman College’s Master of Urban Design Program. This diversity is one of the Program’s greatest strengths. The Program welcomes applications from mature and talented individuals holding professional degrees in architecture, urban planning, and/or landscape architecture. Professional experience is desirable but not required. Applicants should be prepared for an intensive academic environment emphasizing both individual and group work. Given the program’s international student body, candidates should be curious about and open to diverse insights into culture and urbanism and committed to communicating and interpreting ideas across national differences. Candidates should also be open to discussing themes of politics, culture, class, race, and gender as they relate to urban design, and to testing assumptions about these issues in light of the history, theory, and practice of urban design. (Candidates whose first language is not English should be prepared to focus on developing their English verbal and writing skills to extract full value from the program.)
Graduate Admissions Eligibility
Applicants to the Master of Urban Design degree program should already possess one (or more) of the following degrees: • 5-year Bachelor of Architecture • 5-year Bachelor of Landscape Architecture • Master of Architecture, Master of Landscape Architecture, Master of Urban Planning, or their international equivalent Applicants must show evidence of understanding, aptitude, and achievement in the design of the physical environment, as well as an interest and a commitment to urbanism. The GRE should be taken 4-6 weeks prior to the application deadline in order for test scores to be received by the deadline.
Application Materials
• • • • • • • • • • •
Online Application Non-refundable application fee: $65 U.S. / $75 fee non-U.S. Statement of purpose Resume Unofficial transcripts (scanned from originals) Official transcripts from where previous academic degree has been received Portfolio Three (3) letters of recommendation including recommendation forms GRE Scores (required) TOEFL test scores (required Non-native English Speakers) Financial certification documents (Non-U.S. Citizens)
Contact Information
Email: TaubmanCollegeStudentServices@umich.edu Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning 2000 Bonisteel Boulevard Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2069 USA
University of Michigan Master of Urban Design 2014-2015 | Page 9
08 Additional Resources URBAN DESIGN + DEVELOPMENT SYMPOSIUM
The Urban Design + Development Symposium, hosted jointly by Taubman College and Ross School of Business, brings to campus a diverse set of thought leaders with significant financial and development expertise in global real estate. The goal is to expose students to a diverse group of real estate and urban development professionals, allow for a robust conversation with participants about the current state of real estate, and to allow substantive networking opportunities for students to engage the participants and representatives of the participants’ companies.
CERTIFICATE IN REAL ESTATE
The certificate in real estate development offers graduate students in many fields the opportunity to supplement their major areas of study with broad knowledge about making substantially better metropolitan developments. The program is also a stand-alone certificate for those full-time and part-time students who just want to focus on real estate development. The program aims to guide students to integrating disciplines that shape the built environment and enhance the quality of life for all people while conserving the natural environment. Upon graduation, students are professionals equipped to become the place-makers of the next generation.
RESEARCH ON THE CITY
Established in 2011 by the College with the support of Cynthia (A.B.’83 LSA) and Alan Berkshire (B.S.’82). The research program incentivizes interdisciplinary research on urban topics. In its inaugural year (2012-13), the Research on the City (ROC) grant program focused on the city of Detroit; this year the program focuses on the state of Michigan (2013-14). Each year five teams of faculty and graduate students receive $100,000 to speculate and exhibit their work on urban topics.
RESEARCH THROUGH MAKING
In its third year, University of Michigan Taubman College’s Research Through Making (RTM) Program provides seed funding for faculty research, worked on by faculty, students and interdisciplinary experts. Each year five teams of faculty and graduate students receive $100,000 to speculate and exhibit their work on urban topics. RTM projects have won awards from outlets including Architect Magazine, American Institute of Architects, and Wood Design & Building Magazine.
ROSS BUSINESS SCHOOL REAL ESTATE CLUB
The goal of the Michigan Real Estate Club is to provide educational and professional development opportunities for students interested in a career in real estate. In keeping with the philosophy of the Stephen M. Ross School of Business, the Club uses action-based learning, including Treks and case competitions in addition to classroom instruction, to further students’ knowledge and understanding of real estate fundamentals. Additionally, the Club connects students with industry leaders in development, investment, asset management, and brokerage. Recent club events include:
ULI HINES COMPETITION
The ULI/Gerald D. Hines Student Urban Design Competition, now in its 11th year, offers graduate-level students the opportunity to form their own multidisciplinary teams and engage in a challenging exercise in responsible land use. Student teams comprising at least three disciplines will have two weeks to devise a comprehensive design and development program for a real, large-scale site full of challenges and opportunities. Student teams from Taubman College have won the national competition and placed in the top tier of finalists in each of the last two years (2011-2012).
University of Michigan Master of Urban Design 2014-2015 | Page 10