Master of Urban Design

Students with a professional or pre-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 Master of Urban Design 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 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 credits. Coursework 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. Coursework 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.

Students in the class of 2027 and beyond must fulfill the following degree requirements. For past requirements, consult Prior Bulletins.

Requirements: 42 credits

The studio sequence begins with a community-focused project in St. Louis, next investigates a growing North American city (such as Los Angeles, New York, or Atlanta) through systems-based thinking and design, and culminates in the required Global Urbanism Studio: an immersive study abroad experience in collaboration with global design and sustainability experts. Each year, the Global Urbanism studio is sited in a fast-growing city to study in depth and 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, Bangkok, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo, Johannesburg, and Dubai. This studio typically begins with two to 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 workshop, focused on the study of informal cities, and the immersive spring break Lively City course in places such as Copenhagen, London, or Miami, focused on public space research and design. 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 and varying social and environmental design challenges. 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. 

Master of Urban Design Studio Grade Requirement

A MUD student wishing to take the summer urban design studio (URBDES 7014 Global Urbanism Studio) must have earned a minimum average grade of B- or better in the first two urban design studios (URBDES 7011 Elements of Urban Design and URBDES 7013 Metropolitan Design Elements). Students who do not fulfill this minimum requirement must repeat URBDES 7011 Elements of Urban Design and/or URBDES 7013 Metropolitan Design Elements. If a student has not fulfilled this minimum requirement after repeating URBDES 7011 Elements of Urban Design and/or URBDES 7013 Metropolitan Design Elements, 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
  • MUD/Master of Architecture
  • MUD/Master of Landscape Architecture
• Combined Degrees With Other Schools at Washington University
  • MUD/Master of Social Work

These combined degree programs are of particular value to those who want to pursue an interdisciplinary approach to architecture and urban design. 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.