Urban Design: The Architecture of Urban Space

Studio leader: Dr. Dario Schoulund 

Studio assistant: Sameeya Moola

The goal of this studio is to grapple with the dialogues and relationships amongst the main components of urban space production, namely architecture, green spaces, infrastructure and public space. We will focus in understanding those conditions (by studying and later designing) that lead to urban places that are more meaningful, those that create good conditions for urban life. As a primary goal, this studio aims to expand design thinking beyond the architectural realm. It proposes that good architecture is primarily a city-committed endeavour that may not even be of a high-aesthetic profile, but rather a component that is in dialogue and that collectively builds the desire vision. This necessarily means working in the larger scales, beyond the specific site.

In this studio, there will be a multidisciplinary approach: we will learn about infrastructure, green spaces, and the public space that binds these with the architecture and in turns informs the nature of the buildings. Not surprisingly, prospective students for urban design courses often emerge from fields such as landscape architecture, civil engineering, urban geography and more consistently from architecture. These fields and their preoccupations will be our design materials and together create the architecture of urban space. So, it is important not only to move outside the specific site, but to start building interest in these fields. The great urban designers of our times never look at an urban issue from a single perspective; instead ask questions to all pertinent aspects, even those more abstract like heritage, history, social rites and similar. They also look at useful data when available, but heavily rely in observation, in-situ engagements and experiences that could be adapted to local needs. Urban designers cover all variables with a design lid. This means that design skills and creative thinking are the drivers of urban projects and that as such is not different from the design processes that you are by now proficient.