Overview
MArch Urban design course is a 12-month full-time programme concentrating on advanced graduate level urban design. Its overall objectives are as follows:
- To establish a broad basis of debate on the critical environmental, social, cultural and design issues confronting contemporary urban societies, and the role that urban design can play in addressing these fundamental issues.
- To fill the gap between architecture and planning. Architecture primarily concerns the design of individual buildings and seldom has the mandate to challenge the nature of the city itself. Conversely, planning deals with the city as a whole but generally stops short of specific design interventions, leaving open the question of what alternative spatial forms the future city might take. The course aims to fill this academic and professional vacuum.
- To search for sustainability. The course is committed to develop an understanding of urban environmental issues. It is a complex undertaking to address the issue of sustainability at the urban scale, yet it is a matter of the utmost priority, since it is of little use to design individually sustainable buildings if the dysfunctions of urban systems as a whole remain unchallenged.
- To encourage experimental design. The course emphasises the importance of design creativity, in keeping with the spirit of intellectual freedom, wit and experimental urge, which has given the Bartlett its international reputation. Within a common framework of taught inputs, the course emphasises the overriding importance of initiative and creativity, of students developing their own agenda and idiosyncrasies. Urban design is not an exact science: it depends heavily upon imagination, experimentation, and taking the risk of pushing the envelope far beyond the limitations of current thinking and contemporary practice. Design does not start with data collection; it starts with invention, which is then tempered by analysis and critical design thinking.
- To apply theory to specific projects. The course is project-oriented - it explicitly calls for design proposals rather than purely theoretical work. This does not preclude fundamental research but stresses the importance of its connection to the broader decision-making context of a complex design project.
More generally, the MArch Urban Design programme aims to develop
the individual student's skills in a focused manner in order to prepare her/him
for further academic studies or for practice. The course consists of students
who have a wide knowledge base derived from their prior educational and
professional experience drawn from other programmes from both the UK and
international schools.
The course aims to take advantage of this diversity: design teaching is structured around a number of different Urban Design Units and the wide range of pedagogical positions offered by these units echoes the diversity of students' backgrounds, fostering a rich intellectual environment where students can develop their creative and critical abilities.The aim of this course is to bring students to a point where they can demonstrate a fully professional approach to Urban Design at different scales and the integration of an in-depth research investigation (with an emphasis on sustainability) within a physical design proposal.
On successful completion of the course, it is intended that each student will have achieved an advanced understanding of, and have significant abilities in:
- Experimentation with different approaches to design and representation in order to find an appropriate method of working.
- Integration of analytical research within the urban design projects, actively utilising data from a wide range of sources and fields such as history, theory, communications, sociology, architecture, engineering, landscaping, economics, political science, etc.
- The production of an intensive series of design projects which lead to a comprehensive urban design project by the end of the year, as well enter into specialised areas in some detail.
- Production of work in a variety of appropriate media, including analogue and digital drawings, physical and computational models, photography, animations, film, etc.
Structure
MArch Urban Design uses a modular structure based on a credit system where the total number of credits over one year is 180 credits.
At the beginning of the academic year, within the first 5 weeks of term 1, the students are requested to take part in 3 short and intensive workshops, followed by a 4th workshop at the beginning of term 2. After the initial period of 5 weeks, in the first part of term 1, the students start working, with their allocated tutors, on the 4 key modules of the course.
Modules
BENV UD
1.0 History
and Theory of Urban Design
Credits: 40
Assessment:
Coursework
Term 1+2
BENV UD
2.0 Strategic
Urban Design
Credits: 40
Assessment:
Coursework
Term 1+2
BENV UD
3.0 Detailed
Urban Design
Credits:
40
Assessment:
Coursework
Term 1+2
BENV UD
4.0 Urban
Design Report
Credits:
60
Assessment:
Coursework
Term 3 + summer term
Content
BENV UD
1.0 History
and Theory of Urban Design
This is a lecture-based module which
provides the students with a general introduction to the history and theory of urban design. The content of the lecture series varies to some extent from year
to year, to reflect the evolution of design programme topics, but it typically
includes lectures on the history of urbanism (focusing on the last 100 years
and particularly on contemporary developments) and on current theories related
to urban fesign, such as space syntax, generative systems and theories related
to the issue of sustainability.
The pedagogical aim of this module is to provide the students with an introduction to the history and theory of urban design, with specific emphasis on contemporary issues and on fields of knowledge that are pertinent to their design investigations.
The intended learning outcome of this module is for students to acquire a knowledge and understanding of the history and theory of urban design, as well as their applicability to urban design project work.
BENV UD
2.0 Strategic
Urban Design
This is a studio-based module that leads
the students, by means of a series of design programmes, through the successive
phases of an urban design project, from the initial research and conceptual
stage down to a strategic design proposal. This research and design project
includes a field trip.
The pedagogical aim of this module is to make students develop comprehensive urban design projects that are both analytically rigorous and creative in terms of design.
The intended outcome is for students to acquire a knowledge and understanding of the range of urban design skills required for each stage of project development, from basic research to overall strategic design.
BENV UD
3.0 Detailed
Urban Design
This is a studio-based module that leads
the students, by means of a series of design steps, from the strategic urban design level of module BENVUD 2.0, to a detailed level of physical design.
The pedagogical aim of this module is to make students develop detailed urban design projects that are both analytically rigorous and creative in terms of design.
The intended outcome is for students to acquire a knowledge and understanding of the range of skills required to develop a detailed urban design proposal.
BENV UD
4.0 Urban
Design Report
This module provides
the pedagogical context for the students to prepare the final element of the
coursework, the Urban Design Report, which consists partly of a design
component and partly of a written component. Students are expected, with the
support of their tutors, to be highly self-motivated in the course of this module, proposing their own topic of investigation and design. This topic can
either be a continuation of the design work that was initiated earlier in the
year within modules BENVUD 2.0 and BENVUD 3.0, or a completely new design
project. The
subject of the Urban Design Report is negotiated between the student and his or
her unit tutors, in coordination with the Course Director.
Design component
The design part of the Urban Design
Report is to be presented in the form of a pin-up presentation during the final
end of year crit as well as in the form of a hard-copy portfolio.
Written component
The written part of the Urban Design
Report is a 5,000-10,000 word illustrated document. It must describe the
initial ideas that underpin the urban design proposal, the design investigation
and associated information that has been gathered during the process and a
conclusion that summarises the way in which the design work informs the initial
ideas.The pedagogical aim of
this module is to encourage students to engage with analytical rigour and
design originality in an individual piece of research and design development.
The intended learning outcome of this module is for students to acquire a knowledge and understanding of the research methods and design skills required to produce a major written and design thesis.
Staff
The MArch Urban Design course is run by a full-time Course Director, assisted by a Course Coordination Tutor. The design 'Unit' (approximately 10 students per Unit for MArch Urban Design) is the basis of design teaching and learning. Every Unit is taught by two design professionals who are part-time academics.
Staff teaching on the programme currently include:
Professor Colin Fournier
Programme Director
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Colin's profile
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Colin an email
Graciela Moreno
Programme Coordination Tutor
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Graciela's profile
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Graciela an email
Dragana Antic
Programme Tutor
Monika Bilska
Programme Tutor
Nicholas Boyarsky
Programme Tutor
Ilaria di Carlo
Programme Tutor
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Ilaria an email
Kristijan Cebzan
Programme Tutor
Jason Coleman
Programme Tutor
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Jason an email
Robert Dye
Programme Tutor
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Robert an email
Daewha Kang
Programme Tutor
Jonathan Kendall
Programme Tutor
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Jonathan an email
Camila Sotomayor
Programme Tutor
Situated in London and at UCL, the MArch Urban Design programme is also able to draw on a wide range of other academics and others visitors, such as established urban designers in practice, who give weekly talks and advice on student work during external critics.
External examiners for the programme have similarly been drawn from a wide range of internationally-renowned institutions and individuals, and in recent years have included Dr Grahame Shane, Graham Morrison and Christopher Colbourne.
Applying
Application procedures, fees, funding and scholarships
For information, please see the faculty admissions information here.
Programme-specific information follows below.
Prior qualifications
The course provides a forum for graduate students from a variety of backgrounds - architectural design, the social sciences, planning, engineering, transportation, landscaping, geography and art history are all examples. However, prospective students should be prepared to engage with a course which has a strong emphasis on the design and visual representation of urban form, and so a background in a related design or visually-orientated field will be an advantage.
As well as this diverse disciplinary background, the student cohort of 50-60 individuals also comprises a dynamic mix of UK, EU and international participants from all parts of the world.
Contact
Should you have any query on this programme, please contact the Programme Administrator, or the Programme Director.
Opportunities
The MArch Urban Design provides the skills required in order to prepare students for further academic studies or for practice.
A student having completed the course will be equipped to undertake research in the field of urban design, and be able to evaluate or develop work in practice. Graduates of the course have gone on to pursue careers in a wide variety of fields, including:
- Further PhD studies and academia
- Urban design and planning practice
- Politics and policy
- Film-making, photography and creative practices
Graduates of the March Urban Design have, for example, gone on to become eminent urban designers in their own right as well as partners and practitioners of renowned architectural and urban design practices.