Curriculum
The MUD program is centered on a core sequence of three studios and seminars through which students develop the skills to make design proposals for a diverse range of urban conditions within the contemporary metropolitan landscape. Urban design is approached through a full range of scales: from the mega-region to the district, from the district to the street, and ultimately, to the design of the public realm as the place of lively and vibrant community life.
Studio Spotlights
Check out the studio site for We the People: Capital Urbanism in Washington, D.C., where students researched the tensions, needs, and opportunities in the historic Anacostia neighborhood.
This interdisciplinary, systems-based urban design studio reimagined St. Louis as a laboratory for creative thinking around sustainable innovation in the food system.
Program Requirements
Our program leads to a STEM-designated, post-professional Master of Urban Design degree, for individuals holding professional degrees in architecture, landscape architecture, or planning with an emphasis on physical design of the built environment who are interested in issues of the metropolitan landscape.
The program is 42 credits, spread over the course of two semesters plus the summer.
Credits may not be transferred from another institution into the MUD program. Potential candidates must apply directly to the program.
Studio Sequence
711: Elements of Urban Design Studio (Fall)
This studio explores contemporary, postindustrial metropolitan conditions in and around the Midwest and St. Louis region. Students focus on infrastructural urbanism at multiple scales, and the natural and built systems of the postindustrial urban landscape. Issues of equity and access are critical. Students may travel to U.S. cities such as Baltimore, Detroit, Kansas City, New Orleans, and Pittsburgh.
713: Metropolitan Design Elements Studio (Spring)
This studio engages the scale of the district and the design of public space, more fully considering the public policy, cultural, economic, and real estate conditions of cities. It involves travel to large North American cities such as Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Toronto, and Washington, D.C. plus a spring break Lively Cities public life workshop in a major global city (past destinations include Copenhagen, London, and Rotterdam).
714: Global Urbanism Studio (Summer)
This is an immersive, summer-long experience, typically based in global cities marked by an active cultural scene, but with a complex, challenging urban fabric. In 2022, students traveled to Thailand to observe the Chao Phraya River from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, and conducted a comparative analysis during a second trip along the Mississippi River, from New Orleans to St. Louis. Past studio locations include Accra, Cape Town, Dubai, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, Kampala, Mexico City, Shanghai, Singapore, and Tokyo.
Electives
Students have the opportunity to establish areas of concentration through three urban design electives in related areas within the Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design, as well as through the schools of Law, Business, Engineering, and Social Work (which includes the Institute for Public Health). With faculty approval, students can craft an individualized experience according to their interests and needs through the combination of electives.