Students with a professional degree or the equivalent in architecture, urban planning, or landscape architecture may apply for admission to this program, which leads to the Master of Urban Design (MUD) degree. This degree is awarded upon completion of a three-term graduate curriculum devoted to urban design.
The program leads to a STEM-designated, post-professional MUD degree with an emphasis on the physical design of the built environment, including issues of environmental sustainability and social justice.
The Master of Urban Design degree can be combined with study in other degree programs at Washington University, including architecture, landscape architecture, public health, and social work. To learn more, visit the Dual & Joint Degrees webpage.
These combined programs are of particular value to those who want to pursue an interdisciplinary approach to architecture and urban design and to prepare for a wide array of diverse career opportunities.
Chair
For a list of faculty members, please refer to the Architecture faculty page.
Master of Urban Design
Candidates for a Master of Urban Design (MUD) degree are required to complete a total of 42 units of credit. Course work covers the history and theory of urban form; urban sustainability; morphology and metabolism of urban form; basic tenets of urban planning; ecological systems; infrastructural urbanism; spatial justice; and community-engaged design. Course work is spread over the fall, spring, and summer semesters. In addition to required seminars, three urban design studios (including an immersive international travel studio) and a fall and spring workshop (the latter being a one-week field trip) are required.
- Pre-Semester Course: 3-week Skills Session + Orientation
Semester/Units
| Semester |
Units |
| Fall |
|
| Elements of Urban Design Studio |
6 |
| Metropolitan Urbanism |
3 |
| Metropolitan Development |
3 |
| Informal Cities Workshop |
1 |
| Urban Design Elective |
3 |
| Spring |
|
| Metropolitan Design Elements Studio |
6 |
| Metropolitan Sustainability |
3 |
| Lively Cities Masterclass |
2 |
| Urban Design Elective |
3 |
| Urban Design Elective |
3 |
| Summer |
|
| Global Urbanism Studio |
6 |
| Urban Design Research Theories & Methods |
3 |
| Total Units |
42 |
The studio sequence culminates in the required Global Urbanism Studio: a 14-week experience with immersive study in multiple global cities. Each year, the studio selects a fast-growing city in Asia, Africa, or South America to compare and contrast with other relevant global cities. These selected cities are marked by an active culture and a lively arts and design scene; their urban fabric is challenged by rapid growth, environmental stresses, social complexity, and the need for creative responses to the changing global climate. Recent studios have been located in Mexico City, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo, Johannesburg, and Dubai. This studio typically begins with three weeks of research and study, followed by five to eight weeks immersed in the selected cities — living, researching, observing, and designing. A concurrent research methods course teaches students how to conduct rigorous, thoughtful, and independent research on cities under social and environmental pressures.
The summer Global Urbanism studio builds upon the required fall break masterclass, focused on the study of informal cities. This sequence is intended to prepare students for a rapidly urbanizing world in which they will be developing projects with different relevant strategies and design approaches for cities that have hybrid conditions of formal and informal urbanism. This studio is further supported by lectures on the history and theory of global urbanism as well as a robust visiting international guest lecturer program that provides valuable local insight into the cultural, artistic, and social conditions of the city. The studio culminates in the publication of a studio research and design report that is focused on studying a series of global cities in comparative perspective, with each student creating a particular and site-specific proposition within one of the cities studied.
Master of Urban Design Studio Grade Requirement
A MUD student wishing to take the summer urban design studio (MUD 714) must have earned a minimum average grade of B- or better in the first two urban design studios (MUD 711 Elements of Urban Design and MUD 713 Metropolitan Design Elements). Students who do not fulfill this minimum requirement must repeat MUD 711 and/or MUD 713. If a student has not fulfilled this minimum requirement after repeating MUD 711 and/or MUD 713, they will be dismissed from the Master of Urban Design program.
The option to repeat a studio is contingent on a student having met the requirements of Academic Probation. A suspension or dismissal that is a result of the Academic Probation policy takes precedence over this Studio Grade Requirement policy.
Master of Urban Design Combined Degree Programs
The MUD program offers a series of combined degree programs, including the following:
- Combined Degrees in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts
- Combined Degrees With Other Schools at Washington University
These combined degree programs are of particular value to those who want to pursue an interdisciplinary approach to architecture and urban design or for those whose current degrees do not qualify them for the post-professional MUD. They prepare the student for a wide array of diverse career opportunities.
For a list of available courses, please refer to the Courses section of the Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design in this Bulletin.