Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture and Design and HSE Graduate School of Urbanism launch collaborative international Masters program Advanced Urban Design.
The program is designed for bachelors, researchers, and young professionals. Within two years students will master best practices in the area of urban planning under the guidance of acclaimed tutors from Russia and other countries, investigate conditions of growing cities focusing on unstable socioeconomic contexts.
Moscow, as a growing metropolis with a population of over 12 million people, provides a perfect setting for a thorough investigation of modern conditions and the development of multifaceted project proposals. Invited speakers and inspiring guests will engage students in a projective exploration of trends and themes that will be affecting the urban realm in coming decades. The program features the academics from the HSE University Russia and the Strelka Institute; invited lecturers from the MIT (USA), TU Delft (the Netherlands), the Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies of the Erasmus University (the Netherlands), Politecnico di Milano (Italy); and practitioners from the leading firms in Rotterdam, Vienna, Zurich and Moscow.
The program will provide an opportunity to study the cities in transition while living and working in the center of Moscow, one of the largest and the most paradoxical world metropolises. The program will organize field trips to smaller cities and villages of the Moscow region, providing safe thematic tours off the beaten tourist track.
Complementing the Russian experience a two-week research trip to Johannesburg, South Africa, guided by the tutors from the University of the Witwatersrand, will further develop students’ ability to orientate themselves well in the fluid conditions of non-Western countries. Johannesburg and Moscow form a semantically interesting pair, allowing for engaging comparative studies and cross-cultural projects.
Strelka Institute educational program has been developed from the educational program which was started by Rem Koolhaas to the educational system, which has a particular method that is transmitted through the universities partners both in Russia and abroad. Advanced Urban Design in Graduate School of Urbanism will be the first Master’s program with the participation of Strelka Institute. Graduate School of Urbanism has become the first academic partner of Strelka Institute educational system.
Alumni will receive an MA degree in advanced urban design and obtain the state-recognized diploma from National Research University Higher School of Economics. The program was conceptualized by Anastassia Smirnova (Strelka Institute) who is also a methodologist and program director. Advanced Urban Design program combines strong academic curriculum of the HSE University Russia with project-oriented approach of Strelka Institute.
Applications are welcomed from any graduate or young professional who are planning to work on complex and multidisciplinary urban projects in fast developing cities in Asia, Africa and the Middle East and/or with a specific interest in the Russian market. The program starts in Autumn 2016. Studies will be conducted in English.
For further information visit Strelka Institute site.
