Cornell AAP to Launch First New York City-based High School Summer Program
The College of Architecture, Art, and Planning (AAP) is adding a new summer intensive for high schoolers interested in studying the collective aspirations, methodologies, and processes involved in the design of cities.
Looking toward next summer, Cornell AAP recently announced an opportunity for rising high school juniors and seniors to join City Visionaries, the newest addition to the Gensler Family AAP NYC Center's (AAP NYC) immersive slate of New York City-based programs. City Visionaries complements a number of other summer programs offered across the college's departments, but is the first to be held beyond Cornell's Ithaca campus.
According to City Visionaries Director Milton S. F. Curry, Professor of Architecture and Senior Associate Dean at AAP, the program aims to open young minds to the possibilities of studies and careers related to urban development in a uniquely dynamic and challenging context: New York City.
Curry explains that "in an era in which cities and their diverse populations are the driving force of cultural and social change, it is critical that our youth understand the complexities of urban development and the opportunities for them to help society by becoming the next generation of developers, planners, architects, and designers. It is essential that they are connected with communities and users, as well as conversant in the technical and creative demands of these professions."
Students beginning the program in July 2026 will take an intensive five-week curriculum that reflects Cornell AAP's interdisciplinary approach to design education and establishes foundational concepts, precedents, and practices through work completed both in and outside the classroom. Located at AAP NYC's new home at the Tata Innovation Center on Cornell Tech's Roosevelt Island campus, City Visionaries exposes young people to collegiate-level studio and classroom environments, introduces them to practicing artists, designers, and practitioners, and provides first-hand encounters with select urban spaces in Manhattan that prompt direct observation, experience, and analysis. In addition to fundamental fluencies, students develop skills in new and conventional practices in making, as well as spatial and digital literacy. The program concludes by asking students to apply all they've learned from course materials, exercises, discussions, fieldwork, and site visits to a culminating individual or group design project.
Students visit Montauk Cutoff, an abandoned railway in the Long Island City Industrial Business Zone.
Students pin up their final project, which explores children's experiences of the public realm and proposes alternatives for mobility, play, and belonging in East Harlem.
The Gensler Family AAP NYC Center is located on Cornell Tech's Roosevelt Island campus.
Students head toward Nobuho Nagasawa's Luminescence on a walking tour of Hunter's Point South and Long Island City.
A student presents a collaborative final project exploring environmental spatial practices in urban design.
Flexible classroom and event space on the fourth floor of the Tata Innovation Center, shared by the Gensler Family AAP NYC Center and Cornell Tech.
AAP students cross the walking bridge at 144 Vanderbilt during a tour led by SO – IL architects, who collaborated with a Brooklyn-based developer to design the building.
A scale model of East Harlem.
Students visit Montauk Cutoff, an abandoned railway in the Long Island City Industrial Business Zone.
Critical thinking and learning to articulate original ideas both visually and verbally is another throughline that carries over to a key takeaway for students — a college-ready folio. Along with strong application materials and the beginnings of an individualized creative practice, those who complete the program also receive an official AAP Summer Program Certificate of Completion.
"Participants in the program will leave with a broader understanding and exposure to all of the inputs that make up the process of building large urban projects in cities like Manhattan," says Curry. "They will also gain confidence in their capacity to contribute to the design and conceptualization of public art, civic space, and programming that benefits all constituencies and communities."
Led by Cornell AAP faculty, the program's goals align with the college's ongoing commitment to supporting dynamic, interdisciplinary learning for individuals of all interests, backgrounds, and aspirations. Applications open on December 1 for the session beginning in July 2026. The early application deadline is February 27; the regular application deadline is April 17. For more information about City Visionaries and AAP's other summer offerings, please visit the AAP Summer Programs website.
City Visionaries: Summer Program for High School Students
Program Dates
July 6–August 7, 2026
Program Hours
Weekdays 10 a.m.–4 p.m.
Location
Gensler Family AAP NYC Center, Cornell Tech Campus, Roosevelt Island, New York City
Type
Non-credit certificate program
Program Contact
Sydney Boyd, sydneyboyd@cornell.edu
Application Timeline
Applications Open: December 1, 2025
Early Application Deadline: February 27, 2026
Regular Application Deadline: April 17, 2026
