DIRECTOR: Ms. Danielle Smoller, New York

The Shape of Two Cities: New York/Paris Program is the School's program for undergraduate students from colleges and universities around the country. The program's goals are to introduce the fields of architecture, planning, and preservation; encourage their exploration in the contexts of history, theory, and practice; and identify and analyze their interrelationships, especially in regard to the making of cities. The in-depth course of study is suited to students without previous academic experience in design who are interested in architecture, planning, or preservation as a career, students in the liberal arts who are interested in approaching urban and historical issues from an architectural and urban planning perspective, and students with previous design experience who would like to develop additional studio skills in preparation for application to graduate school. All classes are conducted in English.

The program offers a two-semester curriculum that immerses participants in the rich physical and intellectual urban environments of New York and Paris. Instruction draws on the resources of Columbia University and its faculty, and the architectural communities of New York and Paris. During the first semester, students live and study in New York and enjoy the resources of Columbia University and the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation. The second semester is spent in Paris at Reid Hall, Columbia University's center for French studies, located in the heart of the Montparnasse district.

Students in the program enroll in either the Architecture Option or the Urban Studies Option and share in a core of courses while embarking on their specializations. First-term core courses are A6769-History of the American city, A4028- Building New York, and A4027-Architecture, planning, and preservation: New York. Second-term core courses are A4030-The development of Paris, A4031-History of the European city, and A4029-Architecture, planning, and preservation: Paris. These courses ground the program in a rigorous review of urban history and urban form, provide the academic structure for the students' comparative analysis of New York and Paris, and complement the liberal arts curricula of participating colleges.

The Architecture Option combines class and studio work to introduce design, architectural theory, and structural concepts. Through a series of increasingly complex projects that are focused on New York and Paris, design studios emphasize form and space-making and the formulation of public and private spaces as they relate to urban morphology. Representational and analytical drawings and model-making are woven into studio projects as a means of developing and criticizing design concepts.

The Urban Studies Option emphasizes workshop and seminar work to introduce its fields, which are placed in the contexts of urban and architecture history, historic and contemporary approaches to planning and preservation, and analysis of the social and cultural development of New York and Paris. The first term prepares students to embark on a major independent research project in Paris around a theme developed through discussion with the faculty. This option emphasizes the combination of research and field analysis as a means for developing urban planning and design strategies.

Admissions

The program is designed for students who have at least completed their sophomore year or recent graduates at an accredited college or university. Previous study in architecture, planning, or preservation is not required. Applicants must have the written support of their home institution.

To apply for admission, the student should submit the following materials online to the Office of Admissions: application form, official transcript of academic record, letter of recommendation from the major adviser or an academic dean supporting the application to the program and attesting to the student's ability to live and study abroad, and nonrefundable application fee.

Admissions decisions are mailed out shortly after all application materials are received.

Program Requirements

All students applying to the program must choose either the Architecture Option or the Urban Studies Option. Each option provides 32 points of course work to be completed in two terms. Courses are taught by faculty members of the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, and by professional architects, planners, and preservationists in both cities.

Core Courses

Architecture Option Courses

Urban Studies Option Courses

Courses of Instruction

TERM I: NEW YORK

Urban Studies A4043 Urban studies workshop. 4 pts
Ms. Baratloo.

Reading and discussions focused on issues and theories of urban planning. Data and site analyses of the New York City district guide students in their development of a planning intervention.

Architecture A4000 Design studio. 4 pts
Ms. Smoller.

Introductory studio on the analysis, representation, and design of architectural projects for New York City. The studio combines long-term projects with sketch problems. Tutorials and lectures on graphics skills.

Architecture A4027 Architecture, planning, and preservation: New York. 3 pts
Ms. Buttenwieser and Ms. Willis.

A survey of past and present work in the three disciplines that emphasizes their interdisciplinary nature. Guest lecturers represent public and private efforts in New York's planning, design, and historic preservation. Special attention is paid to the theories of design, planning, and historic preservation that have shaped the 20th-century city. Class projects are prepared by teams that include members from both architecture and urban design options.

Architecture A4028 Building New York. 3 pts
Mr. Dolkart.

The evolution of building form and urbanism in New York City, 19th century to the present, as demonstrated by a survey of the city's building types, 19th century to the present, and including residential, commercial, and institutional architecture: Based on lectures and tours.

Planning A6769 History of the American city. 3 pts
Ms. Wright.

The process of continuity and change in American cities from the colonial period through the 20th century, covering industrialization, political conflict, reform movements, geographical and ethnic diversity, bureaucratic rationalism, and urban culture, with focus on how physical form responded to or influenced social and political forces over time.

TERM II: PARIS

Architecture A4010 Design studio. 4 pts
Mr. Salomon.

Analysis and design exercises lead students from an understanding of Paris as a city to an architectural proposal for a specific site.

Architecture A4029 Architecture, planning, and preservation: Paris. 3 pts
Mr. Uyttenhove.

An examination of theories and practices of architecture, planning, and preservation in Paris and its region, focusing on 20th-century and contemporary developments.

Architecture A4030 The development of Paris. 3 pts
Ms. Katz.

A discussion of the 2,000-year development of Paris through a combination of lectures and site visits. Emphasis on the interrelationship between the evolution of architecture and the urban fabric.

Planning A4031 History of European cities. 3 pts
To be announced.

Focus on the historical development of the physical form, architecture, and infrastructure of European cities. Cultural, social, and political contexts of the development of European cities are reviewed, as are the procedures used to reorganize the cities' forms over time.

Planning A4044 Urban studies workshop. 4 pts
Mr. Njoo.

A sequence of exercises introduces students to different modes of urban analysis. A reflexive "reading" of the city accompanies the student's own site research as they address a specific urban problematic.