Cmty Dev & Apld Econ: SL:Community Design Studio

Problem-based community design studio course with research on existing conditions, needs assessment, sense of place, and development of sustainable and integrative design solutions and processes. Prerequisites: CDAE 1150, CDAE 1010, or equivalent.

Open to Degree and PACE Students

Community Design is the practice of designing cities, towns, villages, and neighborhoods. Community Design is integrative and multi-disciplinary since it must consider and synthesize such factors as local economics and commerce, real estate and land values, city planning and policy, the construction of infrastructure and streets, ecology, hydrology, power systems, communication systems, community and social services, horticulture, geology, climate change and natural hazards, cultural values, local customs and practices, human nature, sociology, gender and class, politics, not to mention the subtle art of creating beautiful, durable, convenient, affordable, sustainable, and delightful places to live, play, and work. This course will include project work both in and out of class, field trips, research, discussion, peer review, lectures, and student presentations.Assignments will include a sequence of individual design exercises that lead to a larger all-class design project. This all-class project is usually a real world project and we usually have real people from the community to advise us and review our work. Each class will include a combination of presentations, skills development, and in-class studio time with desk crits and group work.

The goals for this class are for students to: Gain a broad understanding of the practice of community design (a.k.a. urban design); Develop a working and practical understanding of community design theory by reviewing concepts, models, and best practices; Build real-world skills through design exercises and a design project. Those real-world skills include: Design drawing and graphic communications Design process including program development, site analysis, community engagement, research, solutions testing, critique and design development, and especially the synthesis and tradeoffs of seeking to address multiple constraints and objectives Research and observation of urban design in practice