Cornell University: New M.S. in advanced urban design launches at Cornell AAP in NYC

The College of Architecture, Art, and Planning has announced a new post-professional Master of Science in Advanced Urban Design program. Based in New York City at the Gensler Family AAP NYC Center, this specialized three-semester course of study sits at the intersection of design, community, ecology, and technology in order to ask big questions, address contemporary challenges, and invigorate public spaces with creative and critical research and design practices. The M.S. AUD program is directed by Architecture Associate Professor Jesse LeCavalier and promotes design approaches that operate between scales to connect grounded local conditions with the possibilities of larger systems, all in support of imagining and pursuing more just, nourishing, and inspiring urban futures.

“By understanding our urban world better, we are not only encouraged to be better stewards today, we are also inspired to imagine what cities and communities could be tomorrow,” says LeCavalier. “The new M.S. AUD program at AAP NYC is an opportunity to get involved with the forces shaping the processes we call urbanism. The program’s emphasis on connecting emerging tools with people, systems, and design will position graduates to engage these processes in meaningful ways.”

The new program uses the city as a laboratory to explore the processes by which urban transformation happens through three instructional tracks: engaged design studios; tools / methods courses; and theory / analysis seminars. Engaged design studios provide opportunities to work on existing challenges with stakeholders and practitioners. Tools and methods courses expose students to a range of skills related to the intersection of design, data, and technology. And theory and analysis courses situate the technical components of the program in broader social, political, and economic contexts, as well as within the various forms of practice that comprise urban design.