Introductory Summer Program Offers Architecture and Urban Planning Tracks

This 5-week pre-professional Introduction to Architecture summer programs is being offered both online and through in-person sessions at Columbia GSAPP from July 6 to August 5, 2022. Two areas of focus⁠ in architecture and urban planning⁠ offer students a glimpse into these fields through credit-eligible courses featuring lectures, discussions, and group projects. The Hilyard Robinson Scholars Program—an initiative intended to promote diversity, inclusion, and equity by introducing career paths in architecture and its related fields—offers a number of full-tuition scholarships.

The architecture track focuses on contemporary processes of architecture design. The 3-credit design studio explores how architects serve as translators between virtual and physical environments. The program may introduce entirely new methods of working for students without prior experience in architecture and support the development of a portfolio for those interested in pursuing graduate study in architecture.

The urban planning track includes lectures, discussions, field trips, and collaborative research related to housing, community development, food access, adaptation to climate change, and transportation. Students learn more about urban planners’ unique role in shaping outcomes around sustainability, equity, and justice and how their work affects residents, businesses, and communities.


M.S. Computational Design Practices Program Launch

The first cohort of Columbia GSAPP’s new Master of Science in Computational Design Practices program begins with an intensive 7-week summer session. The program, which is directed by Professor Laura Kurgan, extends and integrates disciplines between architecture, data visualization, and urban planning—focusing specifically on computational design practices for the built environment at multiple scales. The semester session includes the “Methods as Practices, Practices as Methods” colloquium led by Adjunct Assistant Professor Dan Taeyoung which will explore the question: What is computation, what are its methods, practices, and politics?


Interdisciplinary Workshops

Faculty from the Master of Architecture, M.S. in Urban Planning, M.S. in Architecture and Urban Design, and M.S. in Historic Preservation programs are leading four interdisciplinary workshops this summer, which are open to currently enrolled students at Columbia GSAPP.

The Farm to Building: Design-Build with Earth and Fibers workshop led by GSAPP Assistant Professor Lola Ben-Alon and Adjunct Assistant Professor Tommy Schaperkotter, with fabrication support from earthen construction expert Lehm Ton Erde. The collaborative hands-on workshop will offer students the opportunity to learn a range of earth-based construction techniques while creating a small-scale pavilion on Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty campus.

The Battle for Streets: Reclaiming our Right of Way workshop led by Majed Abdulsamad ‘17 MSAUD will organize discussions, critiques, and analysis of the role and evolution of streets in New York City. The workshop will rely on research and data published by the National Association of City Transportation Officials and the Global Designing Cities Initiative, which published the Global Street Design Guide. The workshop will organize site visits to gather data, which will later be synthesized to better understand the forces fighting over curb and street spaces, the economic value of streets and sidewalks, and the place of streets in public life.

The Envisioning Community-led Climate Adaptation and Housing Mobility in San Juan, Puerto Rico workshop will be led by Hugo Sarmiento in partnership with La Corporacion del Proyecto ENLACE del Cano Martin Pena (ENLACE) and faculty at the Graduate School of Planning at the University of Puerto Rico Recinto de Rio Piedras. The workshop will consist of a series of site visits and workshops to study how organizations like ENLACE are innovating land management strategies that support climate adaptation and housing mobility. It seeks to explore the question: How can land management strategies such as community land trusts support climate adaptation and housing mobility in flood-prone communities with histories of spatial exclusion and colonial oppression?

The Atlas of Dust workshop led by Jorge Otero-Pailos will include hands-on training in laser scanning and photogrammetry led by Professor Jorge Otero-Pailos in collaboration with the CyArk Foundation. Focusing on Columbia University’s campus, students will experiment with various digital imaging techniques to isolate the layers of dust on the buildings so they can be visualized independently. These layers will then be correlated with data on historical weather and pollution for further analysis and interpretation. The workshop will result in interactive 3D scans of buildings that allow the public to visualize the patterns of pollution and understand their meaning and value for understanding climate change.