The New York City-based Master of Science, Advanced Urban Design program (M.S. AUD) uses the tools of design to connect ecology, technology, and community in pursuit of more just and nourishing futures.
The program advocates an approach to urban design that challenges the status quo by supporting students in developing critically engaged and radically imaginative spatial practices.
It offers a specialized course of study at the intersection of urban systems, ecologies, technologies, and data to ask big questions, to address contemporary wicked problems, and to invigorate public realms.
Participants in the program deepen their understanding of a range of conceptual topics while developing abilities to uncover, visualize, and translate data into designs of material, spatial, and experiential consequence. The program supports citizen-urbanists interested in making a difference through design in pursuit of new forms of engaged spatial practice. Graduates of the program will be agents of urban change, equipped with advanced skills and with expanded knowledge to apply those skills in meaningful ways.
The M.S. AUD program is directed by Jesse LeCavalier and supported by faculty active in New York City and at the Gensler Family AAP NYC Center.
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The Gensler Family AAP NYC Center
Located at the AAP NYC Gensler Family Center in the Tata Innovation building on the Cornell Tech campus on Roosevelt Island, our New York City-based offerings expand education with first-hand experience, immersion, collaboration, and connection across disciplines and industries.
Current and recent faculty include Vishaan Chakrabarti, author of A Country of Cities and founder of PAU; Damon Rich, MacArthur Fellow and cofounder of Hector; Jae Shin, Rose Fellow and Hector cofounder; Shachi Pandey, founder of MUD Workshop. Students have rich elective offerings at Cornell AAP NYC. Recent instructors include Peter Eisenman, Cynthia Davidson, James Lowder, Gina Morrow, Jessica Ngan, and others.
Students with design and research interests related to urban design, urban sustainability, infrastructure systems, community engagement, visualization, and data are strongly encouraged to apply to the M.S. AUD program.
This intensive design research program in urbanism is open to individuals holding a professional Bachelor of Architecture degree, a professional Master of Architecture degree, or a professional degree in adjacent design fields (e.g. M.L.A., M.U.D). Students with professional or terminal degrees in related design fields (e.g., M.F.A.) will also be considered.
The M.S. AUD is designated as a STEM program in Architectural and Building Sciences/Technology (CIP code 04.0902) making international graduates eligible to extend their F-1 visas for up to three years to work in the United States.
Curriculum
The M.S. AUD program is embedded in New York City and grounds students in the processes by which urban transformation happens through its three instructional tracks: engaged design studios; tools and methods courses; and theory / analysis seminars.
Engaged design studios give students a chance 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 and data.
Theory and analysis courses situate the technical components of the program in broader social, political, and economic contexts.
These courses are enriched by a dynamic offering of electives and housed in the lively and active context of the Gensler Family AAP NYC Center.
