Dear Friends & Colleagues,

The Columbia GSAPP Urban Design Program invites your recent and not-so recent grads to apply to join us in New York City for our 2019-2020 year.

The Urban Design Program focuses on cities and regions as agents of resilient change, and on the role of design in redefining 21st century landscapes. The one-year postgraduate degree spans three intensive semesters and is open to young professionals holding architecture or landscape architecture degrees. The Program frames Urban Design as both an inclusive, activist, tools-based practice for specific sites and communities, and as a critical project examining urban form, knowledge and research. Our Alumni work across the globe in leading local, national and international organizations and firms, in public and private sectors, bridging across disciplines, institutions, and communities to help design robust and equitable places to live and prosper.

Our program has a diverse faculty whose collective expertise combines theory and practice in vital ways, touching on ecology and ecosystems, digital media, social justice, and hard and soft infrastructures. Our recent – and continuing – faculty include Michael Murphy, co-founder of the global design practice MASS Design; Geeta Mehta, co-founder of Asia Initiatives; Damon Rich, co-founder of the Center for Urban Pedagogy, and now co-leading Hector Urban Design, Planning and Civic Arts, and Cassim Shepard, founding editor of Urban Omnibus, filmmaker and urban observer. The Program is directed by Kate Orff, Founder of SCAPE; Director of the Center for Resilient Cities and Landscapes at GSAPP; and author of Petrochemical America and Toward an Urban Ecology.

The Urban Design studios and seminars, complemented with the offerings of the GSAPP and the University – including the Earth Institute – offer unparalleled opportunities to learn about and embrace change in the Anthropocene. Other research opportunities for students include the Hudson Valley Initiative, an effort that enables UD and GSAPP students to explore real-world issues alongside community-based organizations in our region; and the Center for Resilient Cities and Landscapes, which helps global communities thrive in an age of climate uncertainty through convening workshops and pressing for the design, funding, and implementation of innovative infrastructure projects in a range of contexts.

Last but not least, New York City is one of the most exciting places to live and study, a perfect place to meet a new global cohort of designers and thinkers. Please encourage your students and graduates to apply – financial aid and scholarships are available as part of the application process. For more info, check out the UD website, and get started on the GSAPP online application system.

Sincerely, David Smiley, Architect, Ph.D. Assistant Director, Columbia Urban Design