The Urban Innovation Seminar provides a framework for discussing and contextualizing studio work. Each week, new topics will be introduced to ignite lively and engaging student discussions. In preparation for every session, students may be assigned “readings” and writings on the selected topics including an understanding of the urban environment as a complex system of economic, ecological, and social patterns in constant flux, examining the forces at play in the shaping of the urban environment’s patterns, and exploring design and technology as a catalyst to make our cities more just, livable, and resilient.
The Global Cities / Global Challenges Seminar addresses some of the most pressing challenges global cities are facing today. Through a series of lectures on the past, present, and future of urban regions across various continents, discussion will focus on the many wicked problems cities are tackling. The seminar will also expose students to a series of success stories, showing how things can really change for the better through the agency of environmental design.