Special Study Opportunities

The curriculum emphasis highlights the city’s historical layers, the Roman heritage, the Byzantian and Ottoman, in terms of urbanization in Turkey’s first certified “slow city. The slow city movement features locally grown food, sustainable living, and decisions made within a local community context. Students learn about urban planning and design policies and their effects.

Lessons from the culture and city frame a specific understanding of historical buildings and architectural design styles. Classes take advantage of Rome as a contemporary city where historical settings and modern life form an integrated whole.

Studies provide a broad introduction to the cultural and architectural traditions from the vernacular to urbanism, from temples and palaces to the hectic pace of urban Bangkok. Many of the most significant accomplishments in the history of global architecture are represented in this location, where cultural and architectural history spans thousands of years. Students investigate the process of globalization and urbanization and the impact of the built environment.

Mayan architects have been wrestling with volcanoes, earthquakes and mudslides for millennia. Similarly, CU Denver students face these challenges as they conduct research and build a school using locally owned, sustainable materials and techniques. They explore all phases necessary to modern design builds: design phase implementation, estimating, scheduling and project management skills required in traditional construction.

Finland is recognized internationally for the quality of its design and particularly admired relationship to nature. Students meet and engage with local design professionals and Finnish students. The interdisciplinary lectures, tours, and excursions provide a broad introduction to Finnish design culture; from saunas to urbanism, from forks to chairs, from medieval stone fortresses to unique wooden churches, from the traditional landscape to the formal garden, from national romanticism to modernism and the contemporary scene. In the sketching component of the courses, faculty teach students techniques for recording and analyzing designs, and support development of a “personal drawing style” for each student   

This summer intensive course is a joint urban and regional planning and urban design studio held in Barcelona, Spain. Students spend the week touring Barcelona and learning the principles, tools, and methodologies for planning, analyzing and designing great public spaces. Weekends are free for students to explore. 

The Aspen Summer Design Program is a one of a kind opportunity to live and study in Colorado’s Roaring Fork Valley. Students learn under the tutelage of three of the states’ most recognized and influential architects by embedding for a week in each office, and working on a unique design project. This environment allows students to see first hand how these professionals approach both the practice and discipline of architecture.

Urban development is a complex phenomenon with political, economic, social, and aesthetic implications. It is guided by hundreds of decisions taken by hundreds of social actors. Planning and design is a multi-dimensional endeavor with multi-dimensional implications. It is crucial for a planning and design professional to understand the concerns of all the above-mentioned concerns and to grasp how they are manifested in urban developments.

Planning Project Studio focuses on putting the planning knowledge learned thus far into practice by involving in planning and regulation process as an integral part of urban life. The studio will focus on preparing comprehensive plan revisions for the Town of Dillion, Colorado. As part of the initial work, we will revisit Summit County's planning agenda, review the potential role of Dillion in the area's economy in relation with surrounding towns, including Frisco, Breckenridge, and Silverthorne. Diversifying the tourism economy, addressing housing problems and creating sustainable land use patterns shall be underlined as well.