Urbanism

The urbanism concentration gives students in the College of Architecture and Design a mechanism through which to develop a deep understanding of how architectural thinking impacts the myriad conditions of urbanism across multiple contexts. This concentration prompts both analytical and speculative work related to the richly layered processes that define the continuing formation of the city at multiple scales, from individual buildings to the larger metropolitan and regional scale of cities. Students are asked to reflect on the larger roles and responsibilities of architecture in the contemporary city: in the arenas of urban development and growth; on infrastructure and land use; on the impact of urbanism on natural resources; and on questions of density and spatial patterning. Students doing design and research in the concentration will actively develop new knowledge regarding the complex relationships between economic, political, technological, and social conditions that are endemic in the urbanisms of North America and globally.

The urbanism concentration offers opportunities for topical study such as, but not limited to:

History and Theory of Urbanism
Urban Design, Landscape, and Infrastructure
Urban Morphology
Comparative Research and Understanding Between Cities
Walkable Urbanism
The Impact of Automobility on Spatial Ordering
Transit-Oriented Development
Urban Housing
Development
Networks and Systems

Potential Resources:

UTK Smart Communities Initiative
Regional Planning Agencies in Knoxville
Regional Planning Agencies in Nashville
Regional Planning Agencies in Chattanooga
Nashville Civic Design Center
Urban Land Institute
Vanderbilt University Real Estate Development Program

To be included in the concentration, all courses must be approved by the Architecture Graduate Studies Chair in consultation with the faculty and will be based on the content of the specific course the student completed. Documentation will be kept by the School of Architecture, but it is the student’s responsibility to solicit approval through the advising process.

Six credit hours from one of the following:
- ARCH 571 (6 credit hours)
- ARCH 583 (6 credit hours)
- ARCH 598 (6 credit hours)
- ARCH 599 (in Urban Design) (6 credit hours)
Plus six elective credit hours from one of these courses or similar courses per advising process:
- ARCH 515 (3 credit hours)
- ARCH 525 (3 credit hours)
- ARCH 550 (3 credit hours
- ARCH 552 (3 credit hours)
- ARCH 554 (3 credit hours)
- ARCH 555 (3 credit hours)
Of the six elective credit hours, up to three credit hours may be from:
- ARCH 526 (3 credit hours)
- ARCH 529 (3 credit hours)
- ARCH 591 (1-9 credit hours)
- ARCH 592 (1-9 credit hours)
- ARCH 593 (1-9 credit hours)
- LAR 526 (3 credit hours)
Of the six elective credit hours, up to 3 credit hours may be from approved courses in other departments, such as:
- Geography: GEOG 441 (3 credit hours), GEOG 442 (3 credit hours), GEOG 449 (3 credit hours), GEOG 541 (3 credit hours), GEOG 641 (3 credit hours)
- Landscape Architecture: LAR 525 (1-6 credit hours), LAR 583 (3 credit hours)