Masters of Urban Design

Final Studio (UD732)

The Master of Urban Design Final Studio is related to the Annual Detroit Charrette held by TCAUP early in the winter term. For four consecutive days, TCAUP faculty and students work with distinguished design professionals from across the country and the Detroit region in formulating urban design strategies for areas in the Detroit metropolitan area that have been identified by public and private leaderships as potential sites for development. At the end of each Charrette, results presented to the public for discussion and review. They are then published for use by project stakeholders.

The Master of Urban Design Final Studio adopts the Charrette problem as its focus and enables students to identify aspects of the problem for continued research and design. In addition to participating in the Detroit Charrette, the studio has access to guest critics from among its participants, and enjoys the presence of the Charles Moore Visiting Professor, a leading urban designer who joins the MUD faculty during the Winter Term for studio desk crits and reviews.

Charrettes and studio design projects have included the environs of Detroit’s Tiger Stadium, Eastern Market, East Waterfront, West Waterfront, Cass Corridor, and Sports and Entertainment areas. Also studied has been the 15-mile corridor adjacent to Detroit-Metro Airport, site of the proposed “Aerotropolis.” In 2007, all of Downtown Detroit was subject to design work that grew from the research work of TCAUP’s Real Estate Certificate Program that identified the area’s potential for new housing, commercial, and entertainment development.