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Program Director: Ann Komara
Program Advisor: Patricia McKissock
Telephone: 303-315-1000
Email: ann.komara@ucdenver.edu 

Program Description

The Master of Urban Design (MUD) is an intensive, calendar year, post-professional degree program for students already holding a first professional degree in architecture, landscape architecture or urban and regional planning (e.g., BArch, BLA, MArch, MLA or MCRP/MURP or equivalents). Students enrolled in masters programs in the College of Architecture and Planning can apply and enter the MUD program concurrently to complement and complete their primary studies with the additional degree. The interdisciplinary urban design program uses Denver as an urban laboratory but the globe as a reference, educating future designers about the unique place the city holds in addressing the critical problems of our time.

The program began in 1969 and is one of the oldest in the United States. It counts several hundred alumni practicing around the world. Our student body is extremely diverse, with recent students from Bangladesh, China, Colombia, India, Iran, Japan, Libya and Saudi Arabia. These students join our domestic students to examine contemporary urbanism and design practice through an interdisciplinary, studio-based curriculum taught by a multi-disciplinary faculty. Coursework is capped off by the required Advanced Travel Studio held each summer, when students experience other urban locations and study urban issues in dynamic, context-based locations. Locations range from international cities such as Shanghai, Copenhagen and Barcelona, to North American cities such as Washington, D.C.

The program is organized around three central themes reinforced by core studios and seminars.

Sustainable Cities

We take a holistic approach to designing the livable city. Since more than half the world’s population lives in cities, with that number set to increase to two-thirds by 2030, we must anticipate the ecological impacts of our design decisions. In preparation for a post-carbon era, we address concerns related to climate change, energy usage, public health, food production and resource availability through an integrated approach to the design of urban settlements. Our students re-imagine and re-interpret urban systems - from transportation networks to hydrological systems to zoning codes to social movements - with the goal of creating cities that are at once socially just, economically diverse and ecologically resilient. These challenges are unprecedented and must be urgently addressed: we believe that urban designers are ideally positioned to meet them head on.

Local to Global

Urban designers must recognize the interrelated local and global impacts of their actions and understand the interdisciplinary nature of urban problems. We address design issues at all scales, from the individual public space to the neighborhood and city to the regional and global. Our approach acknowledges that all sites are embedded within larger systems, an ecologically grounded concept we engage in all our studios. In the fall and spring studios, students examine the Denver metropolitan area, a progressive, yet prototypical, urban laboratory experiencing significant growth and development and home to every urban condition imaginable, from dense downtown infill to sprawling edge cities to the New Urbanism-inspired Stapleton airport brownfield redevelopment. The Front Range is a national leader in design and planning innovation, as represented by the multi-billion dollar FasTracks transit project, Denver’s groundbreaking citywide form-based code, Boulder’s open space acquisition policies and energy municipalization effort, Arvada’s GEOS net-zero energy neighborhood, and Fort Collins’ closed-loop brewery-oriented development. Students apply the skills and knowledge gained in their local study in the summer term in an advanced travel studio. Recent projects have studied the dense urban core of Copenhagen, Denmark, in partnership with faculty affiliated with the Danish Institute for Study Abroad (2014-16), and the role and design of streets as public spaces in Barcelona (2018).

Innovations in Practice

We train our students to become critical, reflective professionals with a deep understanding of urban design theory and practice to lead contemporary urban thinking. All our graduates are prepared to address the most complex social-ecological problems of our time well with exceptional technical, verbal and graphic communication skills. Our curriculum is informed by innovations in current practice: we undertake real projects with real clients. Each year, we bring in renowned practitioners from leading design firms to teach courses, give lectures, and serve as jurors in urban design studios. We see high demand for graduates who possess multiple talents, a broad understanding of urban planning, architecture, landscape, real estate development, and urban politics and economics, and the ability to work not only with design professionals but also engineers, policy makers, environmental scientists and the public. Students are required to select two electives from a multidisciplinary array offered in the College of Architecture and Planning. Importantly, our CAP Internship Program aims to place qualified students into internships in some of the region’s top design firms. Participating firms have included: AECOM, Civitas, Inc., Design Workshop, DTJ Design, Norris Design, RNL/Stantec and Tryba Architects. Based on a competitive application process, college units including the Colorado Center for Community Development (CCCD) frequently hire MUD students as research assistants (RAs), and the departments of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Urban and Regional Planning may hire qualified teaching assistants (TAs) from our incoming MUD students.

Prerequisites

Students are required to hold a first professional degree in architecture, landscape architecture or urban and regional planning (e.g., BArch or BLA from an accredited program, MArch, MLA, MURP/MUP or equivalents).

Admissions

The Master of Urban Design program accepts applications for fall semester entry. The program does not encourage entry to the program in any spring semester due to the specific sequencing of the classes, however, current CAP students may begin classes in spring term based on advising.

CAP students can enter the MUD with advanced standing through a concurrent degree program mapped with their primary degree program in the College of Architecture and Planning. For more information on the MArch+MUD, MLA+MUD or MURP+MUD, visit the college website.

The priority deadline for all applicants is February 15; final deadline is March 15. The requirements the admissions committee considers are:

• Evidence of a professional degree (BArch or BLA from an accredited program, MArch, MLA, MURP/MUP or equivalent)
• At least a 3.2 undergraduate or graduate cumulative GPA
• Your statement of purpose, which should include your educational and professional goals
• Résumé (which describes your educational and professional background)
• A portfolio that includes examples of student and/or professional projects
• A list of courses that you have taken that relate to design and planning (current transcript for CAP students)
• A writing sample from previous professional or academic work
• Graduate Record Exam (GRE) scores if available (not required for admission)
• English language proficiency (TOEFL) scores are required for international applicants when English is not their first language. Please see International Admissions website for current minimum score requirements.

Program Requirements

The requirements for the post-professional Master of Urban Design (MUD) degree depend on your current standing and educational background. The basic study plan is a 36-semester-hour plan that includes two open elective courses. Students obtaining a first professional degree in the University of Colorado Denver College of Architecture and Planning may enroll in the MUD concurrently, with the degree to be completed at the end of their primary degree program. CAP students may receive up to 12 semester hours of advanced standing.