Curriculum

The core of the Urban Studies curriculum is our signature urban research studio, in which you will analyze and participate in actual urban situations through a combination of desk research, field work, and multi-sited interventions. It differs from an architecture/urban design studio in that we approach design as a practice that is inextricable from and determined by social, political and economic fields. The research studio allows for different outcome formats, such as essays/written reports, installations and happenings.

Additionally the curriculum consists of lecture courses, seminars, a design studio, thematic workshops and skill-based training sessions. Occassionally we organize a master class, and we do not shy from experimental teaching methods, such as reading retreats.

The curriculum combines individual and group study. You will be studying in a small group of no more than twelve students and will be supported by regular consultations with the faculty.

The program consists of 120 ECTS divided in four semesters.  

Semester 1

  • Studio 1: Urbanization (8 ECTS)
  • Urban History and Theory (6 ECTS)
  • Art and The City (4 ECTS)
  • Debates in Planning (2 ECTS)
  • Drawing (1 ECTS)
  • Urban Geography (2 ECTS)
  • Model Making (1 ECTS)
  • Computer Software (1 ECTS)

Semester 2

  • Studio 2: Urban Futures (8 ECTS)
  • Urban Ethnography (4 ECTS)
  • Urban Models (4 ECTS)
  • Housing: Design and Politics (3 ECTS)
  • Urban Tourism and Consumption (2 ECTS)

Semester 3

  • Urban Design Studio (8 ECTS)
  • Studio 3: Production of Urban Space (8 ECTS)
  • Urban History and Theory 2 (3 ECTS)
  • Master’s Thesis Seminar (5 ECTS)
  • Contesting the City (2 ECTS)
  • Observing the City (1 ECTS)
  • Practice (1 ECTS)

Semester 4

  • Master’s Thesis Studio (30 ECTS)

Additionally, you will collect 15 ECTS in general subjects.