Travel Study Opportunities

• Hands-on study of the food systems, travel, and local tourism economy in a very diverse part of the Mediterranean.
• Stay at Atkur, a peaceful vacation village by the shore, with frequent day trips to other part of the peninsula
• Produce and share planning and design policies that promote sustainability and adaptation to climate change 
• Contribute content for a book for local officials and advocates on adapting traditional touristic economies to sustainable tourism and local self-sufficiency in response to climate change

The course focuses on planning in the face of tourism development pressures and rapid climate change, particularly in coastal areas. Growth management, economic planning, sustainable practices, urban design, food systems, and historic rehabilitation are major areas of emphasis.

Research and application of strategies to adapt local economies and environments to climate change are primary in this course. We will do this through studying economic diversification; identifying and enhancing place character and identity; defining and encouraging appropriate types of alternative tourism sectors (in particular, rural tourism, agricultural tourism, food tourism, and eco-tourism) and alternative tourism approaches (light tourism and slow tourism). Understanding the Turkish planning and design culture, and its regulations and traditions, through contact with various interest groups, and studying the local and national politics will be an important learning outcome. 

Students will craft regional economic strategies, develop land use policies, write guidelines for creating development codes (form-based codes in particular), and prepare detailed urban design schemes for key areas, based on research, site observations, and summaries of 20 years of previous study abroad courses to this area. The results will contribute to a book for the municipality.

View Program Details

• Work on public space design assignments in Mexico City and engage with renowned local design and planning professionals
• Take excursions around Mexico City and nearby locales in the region
• Enjoy a mix of in-studio presentations, site visits, walking tours, and field data collection activities
• Stay in student lodging located in compelling and diverse core urban neighborhoods
• Work in small interdisciplinary groups and engage with students from other programs within the College of Architecture and Planning

As cities worldwide continue to urbanize, having great public spaces available to all citizens is critical. However, not all public spaces are successful for various reasons, so urban planners and urban designers must facilitate their revitalization and understand how to plan and design them as successful places from scratch. To do this, urban planners and designers must know the principles, tools, and methodologies for planning, analyzing, and designing great public spaces. Learning how to do this will be the focus of the Mexico City studio.

Specifically, these are the primary learning outcomes for the Mexico City Public Space Studio:

Planning and design excellence. Students will be able to:

• Identify, organize, and assess existing physical, social, economic, political, cultural, and regulatory constraints and opportunities.
• Identify and comprehend the various layers, systems, and elements of the urban fabric (both natural and human-made) that constitute a project area and its surrounding context.
• Evaluate alternative planning and design strategies before selecting sound solutions that address the site and program.
• Develop cohesive, foundational planning and design solutions that address problems and maximize opportunities for positive change.

Communication skills. Students will be able to:

• Prepare and present organized, professional, engaging, confident, and compelling verbal presentations that explain complex ideas and concepts to a wide variety of audiences.
• Construct a well-organized, legible, and coherent visual presentation that explains complex ideas and concepts in an efficient and effective manner.
• Clearly articulate and document the iterative process of developing and refining various planning and design concepts and schemes.
• Constructively critique the work of others while actively listening to, seeking out, and responding to constructive criticism from peers, instructors, and other experts.
• Act as a respectful member of groups or teams, considering multiple viewpoints and strategies, and collaborating in a professional, pro-active, positive manner.

Professional expertise. Students will be able to:

• Assess personal and professional predispositions to reflectively participate in a discourse on the motivations, intents, and effects of urban planning and design intervention.
• Critically develop and apply ethical frameworks to appropriately respond to culturally, socially, and economically diverse conditions.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the responsibilities of urban planning and design with respect to public health, safety, welfare, equity, and other factors.

View Program Details

• Private group visits to internationally recognized architectural sites: Hvitträsk, the residential compound and studio of Eero Saarinen, and Alvar Aalto's home and studio in Helsinki.
• Guest lectures by Finnish scholars on the history of Helsinki's urban design, and Helsinki's 21st Century Sustainable plan.
• Private tours and guest lectures on the history of Finnish furniture design (Artek, etc.).
• Meetings with designers and tours of their offices (landscape, architecture, planning).
• Excursion to Tampere, Finland with guided tour / visit to local design firm.
• Full day of sketching and study at Suomenlinna, UNESCO World Heritage site in Helsinki Harbor.

The Finland program is committed to interdisciplinary learning and teaching Architecture and Landscape Architecture students study as a team collaborating with faculty to develop an appreciation of landscape, architecture, and urban design as a unified project. The whole truly is greater than the sum of the parts. This approach has proven itself in past summers as an excellent educational experience for everyone involved.

The cultural and design traditions of Finland are introduced within an interdisciplinary framework. There are two distinct yet integrated components to the program with a total of 6 elective credits available. Component I is Analytical Graphics for 3 credits and Component II is History and Theory also for 3 credits. Professor Komara directs Component I and Professor Mäkelä Component II. For both the sketching and history/theory components, students are exposed to critical ideas and practices that will enable them to apply what they are learning to their design pursuits and thinking about how we shape and engage our built environment.

The Sketching and Analytical Graphics Component will be the main interpretive and analytical research instrument and provides the critical thread running through both classes of the program – we sketch to study the sites and structures. The assignments for the sketchbook are predicated on the idea that drawing codifies thinking and is an essential design tool. Studio training traditionally included the development and refinement of the skill of visually recording and analyzing impressions, details and images of a place. Questions include "What does it mean to 'read a site" and whose lens is beige foregrounded?". Assignments employ a traditional approach to study exemplary design through analytical sketches and measured drawings.

For the History and Theory Component, architecture, landscape, and urbanism are of central concern. The work of Alvar Aalto is very accessible including Finlandia Hall, House of Culture, Otaniemi Campus, and Aalto Home and Aalto Studio. This is an exclusive opportunity to study first-hand the work of an internationally influential architect. Most importantly, the work is experienced in the cultural, urban, and landscape settings for which it was intended. Most importantly, the design work is experienced in the cultural, urban, and landscape settings for which it was intended. For example, since the 1990s areas of Helsinki have been redeveloped with sustainable goals and ideals for civic life; these are accessible and provide stunning examples of contemporary design innovation.

Commentary and lectures on the specific buildings and sites is delivered by the faculty while at each place, with supplementary materials provided via handouts / Canvas. Further, lectures by guest speakers cover key topics and are delivered in the buildings as we visit, or in a more formal office or lecture setting.

The main part of the program will be spent in and around Helsinki. Our program will be centered in the capital city of Helsinki with a population 0.5 million located in a beautiful archipelago setting. Helsinki provides a wonderful, pleasant, and safe urban experience. It is very much a nineteenth-century city possessing an eclectic character yet maintaining a distinctly contemporary Finnish identity, with clear expectations for how this history has forged a sensitive and sustainable lifestyle adapted to needs and ethos for the 21st century.

The number of participants will be limited to 12-14, allowing for an exclusive learning experience not possible with large groups or commercial tours. A smaller group also facilitates easier access to sites that may have restrictions for group sizes. Further, this “seminar format” ensures quality one-on-one contact with faculty and experts.

Faculty will meet with students twice prior to departure for preparatory meetings, and one additional meeting is required for orientation with the Office of Global Education.

View Program Details

• Interdisciplinary Work
• Digital Modeling and Fabrication
• Sightseeing across England and Scotland
• Craft and Making
• Collaboration with top universities in the region

The course will incorporate skills from various disciplines and will offer an interdisciplinary research environment across colleges and institutions. The class will run in partnership with Newcastle University. The course will feature workshops and lectures from local professors and practitioners who focus on ecological issues within the built environment.

Specifically, we will explore the fabrication potential of ceramics whilst engaging with local technologies and ecologies. The course will offer an opportunity for hands-on making with clay and will feature both individual and collective exercises that will help build an understanding of the material development process and the nuances of manual and digital clay making. Students will participate in workshops organized by faculty and invited guests that build skills in digital modeling and fabrication, ceramics and pottery making, clay 3D printing, glazing, and more.. The individual and group prototypes developed during workshops will result in a final exhibition, to be complemented with work produced in the corequisite course, ARCH3694/ARCH6760.

Students will engage in understanding the local context through visits to local biodiverse sites and will familiarize themselves with ecological and environmental issues. The course will encourage students to reflect upon social, economic, and political aspects that affect stewardship of the natural environment. Such topics will be explored through discussions and seminars aided by trips and site visits.

 

View Program Details

• Experience and document many of th emost notable works of architecture in the world. 
• Engage with Japanese communities to explore the consequences of tectonic culture in public and domestic space. 
• Particpate in joint exercises with students and faculty from Kyoto University. 
• Spend time in Tokyo, Miyajima, Naoshima, and Kyoto!

Across this two-and-a-half-week course, students will be immersed into the Japanese context, a building culture unlike any international peer. Through this immersion, students will embark on a series of three documentation and design prompts. These prompts, supported by tutorials, will be embedded in three disparate contexts and embedded within three distinct communities. Through these prompts, students will begin to understand the diversity of building culture within Japan.

View Program Details

Spend June in the mountains and work with a group of professional architects practicing in the Roaring Fork Valley. 

The Roaring Fork Maymester Workshop (AKA Aspen Workshop) was founded by CAP in the summer of 2011 to offer students a unique opportunity to work within the offices of local architectural firms and alongside some of the nation’s leading architects to gain insight into their design process, studio culture, and professional practice. 

This year, we are honored to design and collaborate with: Harry Teague Architects, Black Shack Architects, CCY, Studio B, and 1/1 Workshop. Over the three weeks, students will focus on one local project that will flow throughout and build on the participating firms to maintain an immersive approach to design thinking and execution.

The Roaring Fork Valley Workshop is a 3-week, extended study 6 credit hours that will fulfill an ARCH or Open Elective requirement.

The cost to attend the Roaring Fork Valley Workshop is $3,500 + housing.*

*When you apply, you will indicate your housing preference.

• Housing single occupancy - $1,659
• Housing double occupancy - $830

Apply for 2024 the Roaring Fork Valley Workshop. 

The deadline to apply is March 1, and decisions will be made by March 8.

Architectural Design in the Urban Context of Rome, Italy— June 5 - July 2, 2022
Open to all CU Denver graduate students | Application deadline March 1, 2022

The Rome study abroad program provides necessary travel/study benefits for an education in architecture. Lessons from the culture and the city frame a more specific understanding of historical buildings in contemporary context. Daily interaction, by means of exploring, sketching, measuring and observing, is intended to strengthen both the intellectual and intuitive abilities as design tools at the core of architectural academic program. Students will complete two elective classes. These classes will take advantage of Rome as a contemporary city where historical settings and modern times represent a whole. Particular focus will be on design analysis of that relationship, the relationship between the past and that which is emerging, and how it may manifest itself between architecture (a building) and the city (group form).

The Rome program offers something unique to students and is a program that is expected of any school of architecture. It offers content and travel experience, excitement, and intellectual challenges in addition to the obvious historical significance.

This study abroad represents a rare and exciting opportunity for explorations of sustainable development in the energy, urban design, and governance sectors in one of the most progressive parts of the world. Copenhagen is a laboratory of visionary urbanism and Denmark's countryside, and smaller cities are stunning examples of sustainable rural life. Copenhagen's diverse approaches and innovations across the spectrum of design and planning for urban spaces include creating integrated bicycle networks, public transit, pedestrian connectivity, high quality public space, pedestrian connectivity, and design innovations. The City of Aarhus is home to some of the world's most innovative water policy and management systems. The country's clean energy, water and transportation policies and practices are admired, studied, and imitated across the globe.

Urban design and urban planning students will head to Barcelona, Spain in the summer of 2022 for an interdisciplinary studio focused on learning the principles, tools, and methodologies for planning, analyzing, and designing great urban public spaces.

The first phase of the studio focuses on public space fundamentals by exploring the history and evolution of Barcelona’s urban fabric and its numerous parks and plazas and the urban issues facing the city today; understanding the principles of public space planning and design; and learning how to design and execute public space assessments in a variety of urban contexts.

The second phase focuses on creating a public space concept plan and design for a specific site in the city’s dynamic Poblenou neighborhood, including site assessments and analyses, a public engagement pop-up event, engaging with local design and planning practitioners, and an iterative process to produce a public space and urban design concept plan for a locally based client.

Master of Urban and Regional Planning program

Instructor: Korkut Onaran

In the summer of 2019, Planning Project Studio students traveled to Dillon, Colorado to focus on reimagining Dillon's downtown core and working towards diversity and self-sufficiency in the community. As part of the initial work, students revisited Summit County’s planning agenda and reviewed the potential role of Dillon in the area’s economy in relation with surrounding towns, including Frisco, Breckenridge, and Silverthorne. Some of the key challenges identified by the students were Dillon’s seasonality and dependence on summer tourism, its shortage of workforce housing, the fact that it is relatively unknown even to Colorado residents, and the town’s lack of a distinct public realm. As part of the studio, students provided a vision for the future of Dillon and laid out key goals for the city to pursue, including diversifying the local economy, creating a more self-sufficient economy, increasing workforce housing, and working towards more equitable income distribution. The class also identified target areas and industries for the town to focus on such as tech and small businesses, arts/culture/music, the outdoor industry, and culinary enterprises.

Master of Urban and Regional Planning program

Instructor: Ryan Sotirakis

In the summer of 2019, Planning Project Studio students undertook a multi-faceted project in Leadville, Colorado the highest town in North America. After an initial “first impressions” site visit, students researched the community’s recent planning efforts, demographics, land uses, and development history. Early meetings with Leadville’s town and county planners, economic development officials, elected officials, and affordable housing groups helped define the scope of the studio project. Some of the key challenges identified by the students and the client were Leadville’s serious affordable housing shortage, lack of safe and convenient bicycle and pedestrian routes through town, and a general lack of policy consistency and funding availability for housing and infrastructure projects. Building on previous efforts by several MURP Capstone projects, students provided a vision for the future of Leadville and laid out key goals for the city to pursue, including the design of a new mixed-income residential community, town-wide redevelopment and infill design guidelines, policy recommendations for economic development, housing creation and transportation goals, and creation of a cohesive network of non-automobile mobility throughout town and connecting to the larger regional trail system.

Master of Urban Design program

Master of Urban and Regional Planning program

Instructors: Jeremy Németh, Ken Schroeppel

Urban design and urban planning students engaged in an intensive 25-day program studying "Streets as Public Spaces" in Barcelona, Spain during Summer 2018. Streets traditionally had three main functions: as routes for mobility, as public gathering spaces, and as building frontages, but these functions have become separated throughout the course of the 20th century in many cities worldwide. However, due to various political, cultural, and economic reasons, Barcelona has managed to preserve the harmony among the three functions in many of their streets, resulting in an urban fabric that is the envy of the world. In the first phase of the studio, students learned the principles of public space design and then used this knowledge to conduct public space assessments of various site in Barcelona. The second phase of the Barcelona studio gave students the opportunity to use the public space analysis and design concepts and methodologies gained in the first phase on a real site in Barcelona—the historic Can Ricart site in the Poblenou neighborhood. Working in interdisciplinary teams, the students prepared three urban design visions that reimagined the public realm in the Can Ricart site and surrounding blocks.

 

Master of Urban Design program

Master of Urban and Regional Planning program

Instructors: Jeremy Németh, Ken Schroeppel

Urban design and urban planning students engaged in an intensive 24-day program in Barcelona, Spain during Summer 2019 that focused on the revitalization of underperforming public spaces. As cities worldwide continue to urbanize, having great public spaces available to all citizens is critical. However, some public spaces aren’t successful for various reasons, so urban designers and planners must facilitate the revitalization of these important community places. In the studio’s first phase, students learned the principles of public space design and used that knowledge to develop and conduct public space assessment methodologies at various sites in Barcelona. The second phase consisted of the preparation of a Revitalization Plan for Park del Centre del Poblenou, an underutilized park that is physically and psychologically isolated from its dynamic surrounding neighborhood, a historically industrial area that is transforming into a more dense and diverse urban area. The students’ recommendations for revitalizing the park were given to a local neighborhood advocacy organization, the studio client, to help them as they work with the city to redesign and revitalize one of their most prominent neighborhood parks.

 

This Immersive Semester represented a rare and exciting opportunity for in-depth explorations of urban space and design in one of the most hurricane-ravaged areas of the United States. In this immersive semester, we investigated and observed San Juan, Ponce, and other coastal communities up close to explore human settlement and investigate how different approaches and responses to climatic and geographic conditions, public space, the layout and organization of the communities, and the island’s infrastructural systems contribute to livability. Puerto Rico has a varied and rich history and is a place with many significant challenges. These challenges include food insecurity, mounting debt, and a declining population. Hurricane Maria highlighted almost all of the issues and has opened the door for meaningful change to occur and help Puerto Rico move into a prosperous, sustainable and equitable future. As future landscape architects, we are tasked to change the places people live in, co-evolved with and are an inseparable part of. Understanding those places in-depth, their stories and histories, and their physical and cultural contexts is a central and critical requirement if we want to make meaningful change – in practical as well as in ethical terms.

 

 

The studio focused on sustainable tourism planning, the study and practice of reducing environmental and social impacts of tourism, while achieving benefits for both the place and tourists. Sustainable tourism planning involves research on impacts from touristic activities; development of business practices to minimize and mitigate negative impacts; creation of financial sources to support environmental management and preservation; inclusion of all stakeholders; and a long-term vision for sustaining people and place. The course began with a traveling orientation and comparison of three tourist locations; Athens, Naxos, and Santorini, during which students employed systematic observations of street life, creative writing, and sketching to digest what they experienced. The studio then located to the study area, the beach town of Nea Kydonia near Chania, Crete. For two weeks, students analyzed quantitative data from local and national governments, collected additional mixed-methods data through interviews, primary data collection on housing, businesses, and transportation infrastructure, and participant observation, and met daily to report and brainstorm on the economic, social, and environmental future of the area in order to develop their recommendations. The studio presented their preliminary findings and recommendations to the municipality and community and used the discussion and feedback to guide the final report.