Urban Soil Studies: From Field to Lab to Design

Aimed primarily toward soils and plant growth, Landscape Architectural Design and the Curation of Urban Landscapes, and taught collaboratively by a landscape architect, multiple noted soil scientists, ecologists and other guests, this course will provide basic understandings of soil and other growing media in relation to plant growth, for the purpose of designing, constructing and maintaining or curating urban landscapes.  Inherent in the course content, students will examine and critique current practices within landscape industries, primarily within urban, post-industrial environments. Though global conditions will be touched upon and may be selected as student research topics, the course will focus on practices within the United States.

The course is broken into three parts: 1) Soil Fundamentals 2) Current Culture, Practice, Critiques, and 3) Future Potentials.  

SOIL FUNDAMENTALS will include lectures and readings on soil formation, characteristics, chemistry and biology, and plant-soil relation-ships, and the role of carbon and carbon sequestration. This introduction will include a field trip to observe a variety of soil types and conditions within a forest, and one to observe the relationship between tree roots and soils at the Arnold Arboretum. This will segue into human practices with a session on prehistoric and ancient Human-Soil relationships.

CURRENT CULTURE, PRACTICE, CRITIQUES will focus on the development of landscape architecture and soil science, as well as the collaborative planting-soil-related practices used in the design, gardening, landscape and construction industries today; this will include deep critiques and potentials for improvement or innovation.  Topics covered will include site evaluation and hidden implications that can be found within historic soils maps, soil testing processes, soil design typologies, soil blending processes on and off-site, compaction ranges, potable water chemistry, and circumstances involving chemical contamination, and the role of phytoremediation. We will also cover project documentation processes like procurement, soil plans and details, specifications and field quality control during construction.  

FUTURE POTENTIALS will include topics looking toward the future innovations and research, including practical recommendations for funding research including ongoing research within forms and basics associated with grant writing. This portion will conclude with presentations from students’ research throughout the course.
 

Landscape Architecture & Urban Planning and Design Option Studio 1601

Refugees in the Rust Belt

More than 114 million people worldwide have been forcibly displaced–the highest number ever recorded. Among them, millions of Muslim refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, Iraq, and Myanmar have resettled in the United States, where cities–not camps–become their new homes. This project-based studio explores how design, planning, and policy can help Muslim refugee communities build thriving lives across Upstate New York’s Erie Canal corridor, linking Albany, Utica, Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo.

Once the industrial heartland of the state, these cities now face population decline, aging infrastructure, and thousands of vacant lots. Yet they have also become some of the most welcoming places in the country. Refugee families are revitalizing neighborhoods, opening businesses, and establishing mosques, halal markets, and community spaces, while still confronting challenges of housing quality, mobility, employment, and access to culturally appropriate services.

The class unfolds in four phases:
Phase 1 (Introduction) introduces the refugee resettlement process in the U.S., exploring best practices for integration and principles for ethical engagement with Muslim communities.

Phase 2 (Cultural and Spatial Research) investigates cultural and spatial traditions from refugees’ countries of origin (including housing typologies, public gathering spaces, and faith-based institutions) to identify design principles that can inform resettlement strategies in host communities.

Phase 3 (Spatial Atlas) maps settlement patterns and everyday geographies (i.e. where Muslim refugees live, work, shop, and worship). Students will assess the supply and condition of affordable homes and explore design approaches that reflect multi-generational living, privacy needs, and family-centered space.

Phase 4 (Proposals) develops multi-scalar interventions that integrate cultural infrastructure and foster belonging, from housing prototypes and adaptive reuse strategies to corridor frameworks and policy recommendations. A special emphasis will be placed on housing as both a foundation for stability and a catalyst for community life.

A regional field trip through the corridor cities will connect students with resettlement agencies, Muslim community leaders, land banks, and municipal partners, revealing how design can advance inclusive, culturally grounded arrival cities that uphold the dignity and aspirations of Muslim refugees and the communities that welcome them.

Fortress of Solitude

“Soon, plausible alternatives to our world will emerge. You may have failed in this one, but what if you had a million new chances in a million different worlds?”

This course explores new approaches to interpreting, conceiving, and describing landscapes and architecture, along with the emotions they evoke. While traditional representation methods will remain dominant for some time, they often create a one-way cognitive experience with an “emitter” and a “listener” who barely interact. Game technologies allow for the creation of realistic, dreamlike, utopian, and dystopian universes. It is possible to use, disregard, twist, bend or re-invent the laws of physics, the flow of time, the hazards of weather, the perception of depth, but most importantly, it permits absolute freedom.

Just as Rome wasn’t built in a day, meaningful connections will develop through studies in representation across art, film, and -not surprisingly- video games. Through exploring, designing, and constructing virtual “altered states,” you’ll acquire techniques to mature your ideas from early preparatory work through to deployment. This journey emphasizes imaginative solutions over technical prowess. Think of virtual fabrication as a mental blueprint, where elements must be arranged and framed thoughtfully–unless, of course, you want them to be jarringly noticeable.

Some topics we’ll cover include:

The project:
Build a “Fortress of Solitude” – a purely virtual, emotional space for self-reflection, detached from the real world. This space doesn’t have to be “pleasant”; while it could be peaceful and contemplative, it might also evoke discomfort, anger, or conflict.

The tools:
Our primary software tools will be Unreal Engine, an industry-standard real-time 3D engine for game world creation and simulation (easily transferable skills to other engines), and Cinema 4D, chosen for its stable and intuitive workflow. Students may use other 3D packages if preferred.

Nevertheless, the most vital tools will be a pencil, a sheet of paper, and your mind.

Class structure:
Each weekly class will have two parts: one focusing on theory, methods, and critique, and the other on technical skills, where you’ll apply what’s been studied so far. Occasionally, the structure will vary–routine is not the French way. There will be 3 assignments before the “Grand Finale”.

Class requirements:
Given the technical nature of this course, a relatively recent computer will be necessary. Review the minimum system requirements.
 

Designing Critical Practices

Today, landscape architecture is a field in active transformation. At a broad scale, the climate crisis is transforming the built and natural environment surrounding us—putting frontline communities at risk of warming, expanding oceans, inland flooding, and pollution, scorching our cities and open spaces, destroying the foundation of global biodiversity, threatening agricultural production, and entirely reconstituting what it means to design for places in the midst of profound and uncertain change. At the same time, shifting market forces, supply chain crises, technological advancements, diversifying client pools, and evolving societal attitudes toward open space are reshaping practice as we know it, rapidly expanding the reach and scope of design services while grappling to value them appropriately.
 
The ground has shifted beneath us, and the way we have practiced landscape architecture for the last century is no longer applicable. Our context requires a new approach, affecting both the work of design and the structure of the business itself. For too long, self-regard and siloed competition across the design fields have prevented us from looking elsewhere for inspiration—but today, emerging professionals and leaders alike have much to learn from the business models, operational structures, and management structures of firms in creative industries, technology, manufacturing, and beyond.
 
The central premise of this course: to prepare students for a changing market, we will honestly examine the current state at play in the design industry, analyzing a wide cross-section of firm typologies and scales, while also looking beyond the field for inspiration. We will investigate these ideas through detailed case studies, guest lectures, workshops, discussions, assignments, and student-led research.
 
The course is divided into two sections (1) Contemporary Landscape Architecture Practice Today and (2) Looking Outside the Field. The first examines methods and structures for practicing landscape architecture today and the second looks outside the field. Students will use the ideas shared during the two modules to imagine alternative frameworks for practice. Throughout the semester, students will be asked to consider both the broader forces affecting design today and real, actionable ways to meet these challenges through practice, culminating in a final project that will be shared and presented to the class for discussion.
 
In-class participation is essential for this seminar. Each section will begin with an in-person workshop designed to orient students with strategies, terminologies, and goals for the content to follow.

This course assumes entry-level familiarity with the basics of professional practice in landscape architecture—including business types, design phases and processes, RFP/Q processes, and other essential elements of contemporary landscape architecture firms. At the beginning of the semester, we will briefly review these fundamentals of practice, including workplace culture, systems, norms, and team hierarchies, in order to set the stage for examining new modes of practice.

Transportation Justice and Equity

The AICP Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct identifies five principles to which people who participate in the planning process should aspire, including that “People who participate in the planning process should work to achieve economic, social and racial equity” and should “[s]eek social justice by identifying and working to expand choice and opportunity for all persons.” How should transportation planners in particular implement this charge? In this project-based course, students will engage with the arguments of moral philosophers including John Rawls, Amartya Sen, and Iris Marion Young to formulate their own definitions of equity and justice that are grounded in their understanding of that scholarship. They will apply those frameworks and definitions to propose plans and frameworks for public engagement and project evaluation for real clients working on current transportation projects in locations across the United States.

Urban Design Principles and Practices

This interdisciplinary course introduces students to urban design including its history, principles and processes, and impacts on people, places, and communities.

Over the course of the semester, students will gain a foundational understanding of the history and evolution of the field and the modes and methods of practice through readings and presentations, conversations with practitioners, interactive class discussions and workshops, and site visits. Students will acquire knowledge about the field, learn about professional resources and tools, and develop skills to navigate and participate in urban design processes and projects.

Throughout the course, we will explore the role of urban design in cities and society. We will consider the actors involved and intersections with architecture, landscape architecture, public policy, real estate development, urban planning, and other disciplines. We will examine the influence of culture and history, economics, and politics, and the benefits of advocacy and public engagement to advance ambitious civic visions and create beautiful, inclusive, and resilient places.

Each student will develop, practice, and refine skills of observation, inquiry, and critique via the semester-long research, evaluation, and documentation of a completed Boston development. Weekly prompts will help students integrate and apply ideas and lessons learned from readings and discussions and communicate them verbally, visually, and in writing. Students will share and discuss their progress with the class via informal presentations and pin-ups throughout the semester. Instructor and peer feedback on these and weekly assignments will contribute to and inform each student’s production of a detailed, illustrated case study about their project which is due at the conclusion of the semester.

This course is open to anyone interested in learning about design and the urban environment. Urban design is, by nature, experiential and visual. Prior experience with design, planning, and visual representation is not required, however a keen curiosity and desire to observe, explore, and learn is expected.
 

Introduction to Real Estate Finance, Development, and Management

Behind every building is a vision.  Discover how to bring yours to life.

Real estate is an exciting and highly entrepreneurial field, where success hinges on the ability to manage projects with skill, diligence, and vision.  This course offers a comprehensive journey through the world of real estate finance, development, and management, using case studies, hands-on financial modeling, and interactive exercises to prepare you to excel in this dynamic field.

You’ll explore the full lifecycle of real estate investments–acquisition, renovation, operation, and disposition–across key property types, including residential, retail, industrial, office, and mixed-use.   You’ll learn how projects get built: from market analysis and site selection to project feasibility and construction.  In addition, you’ll acquire tools of investment analysis and learn how to raise capital through debt and equity partnerships.

Taught by a practitioner in the field, this course equips you with the knowledge and skills to transform your vision into real estate developments and investments that shape communities and create lasting value.

This course welcomes cross-registered students. Interested students should e-mail the instructional staff at [email protected] and attend the first day of class. Detailed instructions for filing your petition will be provided during class. Petition approval depends on space availability and a review by the instructional staff.

Disciplinary Elasticity and Alternative Practice

This class aims to expose students to many ways of approaching, starting, developing, and leading a practice. This course hypothesizes that only by being exposed to dozens of different ways to grapple with creating or transitioning a practice can someone begin to chart their own path. Apart from charting a path, practice is equally, if not more, about how one negotiates and reacts to unforeseeable opportunities and obstacles. Reaction is as important as action, and they are intimately intertwined. As the word denotes, practice is a form of constant learning and learning from real-time conditions, which the practitioner often cannot imagine beforehand. Only by addressing ‘real world’ market conditions does one learn the skills required to develop a robust practice and start to recognize the emergent market patterns that often define practice. The ‘theory of practice,’ especially concerning domains compelled to engage and create in the physical world, is a quizzical field of study. Attempting to ‘teach’ practice, a process that embodies learning through action, is to make academic something intended to be explored outside the hallowed walls of academia. The theory of how to swim is not the same as practicing swimming. An overly theorized approach to practice removes the student from the actual source of learning while indoctrinating an ideology often supporting the professionalization of practice over the exploration of emergent characteristics of practicing. This course is not about ‘teaching’ practice but instead learning from the experiences of a wide variety of guest practitioners to develop a broader definition of practice and a greater understanding of the types of contextual and self-imposed obstacles that exist, some of which are manageable while others prove insurmountable.

Architecture Option Studio 1313