About the College
MISSION
The A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning (TCAUP) seeks to improve the human condition through thoughtful design and planning for the built environment. Its academic programs prepare graduates for positions of responsibility within a wide spectrum of professions, organizations, and institutions that shape the built environment at scales ranging from the local to the global. TCAUP conducts innovative design and policy research and serves the community, the state, the nation, and the world through outreach and partnerships.
In pursuit of these ideals for over 100 years, TCAUP offers students from the state, the country, and around the globe a complement of disciplinary and interdisciplinary degree programs ranging from pre-professional to post-professional to Ph.D. Our committed and energetic faculty, staff and students form a diverse, creative, and collaborative community within the University of Michigan, one of the world's largest research universities.
TRADITION AND TECHNOLOGY
Taubman College at the University of Michigan has a long educational tradition that combines design and technology. Today, it continues to foster a broad view of architecture and urban and regional planning in the context of a major research university where interdisciplinary initiatives are encouraged and supported.
ARCHITECTURE
The programs of our College are distinct but united by concern for the physical, constructed aspects of our environment. Industrial production, respect for craft and the desire to serve are deeply rooted in the region. The Architecture Program emphasizes the physical realization of ideas—where priority is placed not upon theory or practice in isolation but in the concrete and poetic possibilities of their integration. The hallmarks of a Taubman College education in architecture are integrated and comprehensive courses that value material sensibility and the process of building, as well as the history and theory of architecture and urbanism. The Doctoral Program in Architecture, one of the first established in the nation, develops these values and ideas at a more scholarly level, while fostering research.
URBAN AND REGIONAL PLANNING
Urban + Regional Planning Program gives students the opportunity to do significant interdisciplinary work emphasizing collaboration with local communities. This collegial community of inquiry is generously supported by the resources of the University of Michigan. Studying urban planning at Michigan prepares students for positions of leadership and management in public, private, and non-profit policy and planning organizations, as well as for careers in research and teaching.
URBAN DESIGN
The Urban Design Program relishes the challenges of and opportunities for designing cities. With cross-cutting concern for place, culture, economics, history, and theory, the program capitalizes on the global experience of faculty and students to prepare graduates to be leaders in shaping urban environments across the world. The program is intense, studio-focused, and far-reaching, emphasizing travel, reading, and design projects that engage metropolitan areas such as New York, Chicago, Detroit, Portland, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, and with an international study option extending to countries all over the world.
REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT
The College’s newest program enrolls graduate students in a curriculum that focuses on development and redevelopment of economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable places. The certificate program gives graduate students in professional programs such as urban planning, business, architecture, and law the opportunity to take a range of courses that deepen their skill and qualifications in real estate development and related fields.
ALUMNI
The University of Michigan has one of the largest alumni groups in the world. Taubman College of Architecture + Urban Planning maintains close contact with over 6,000 graduates in 60 countries throughout the world. These close connections provide the College with opportunities for applied research and provide students with opportunities for internships and jobs.
THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
The University of Michigan is one of the world’s most distinguished universities and is widely recognized as an international resource for learning, teaching, research, and service. The University established its position as a leader in higher education over a century ago by laying the foundation for the modern research university. With more than 6,400 faculty and 52,000 students at three campuses, it is an institution consistently ranked among the nation’s best universities.