Architecture and Historic Urban Environments MA

UCL (University College London)

The Architecture and Historic Urban Environments MA pioneers a fresh and critical approach to architecture and historic urban environments at a world-leading architecture school in London. Using London as an outstanding laboratory for learning, students are encouraged to interrogate the past through a rigorous analysis of the present, identifying and addressing historical inequities – environmentally, racially, spatially, and socially – ingrained in the urban fabric and common to all cities. Supported by an outstanding team of award-winning tutors comprising internationally renowned designers, historians and researchers, students learn innovative strategies of research and practice to engage with key issues concerning urban and cultural heritage alongside the theory and practice of surveying, recording, mapping, analysing and designing. The Architecture and Historic Urban Environments MA’s research unit partner, the Survey of London, is internationally acknowledged for its authority and accessibility, and has no parallel in any other world city. Throughout the course, students are encouraged to develop their own creative practice and critical voice, which are expressed fully in the production of a Final Project that responds to the course’s aims of building equitable futures from inequitable pasts, and informs their future spatial practice. This architecture master’s course is designed for students interested in historic preservation, urban regeneration, and heritage-led design, equipping them with interdisciplinary skills to become leaders in the built environment across local and global contexts. Applications are welcome from architects, urban designers, or those in related design fields, and from those who can demonstrate the benefits of bringing associated skills to the kinds of urban issues that are studied. In the past, this has included artists, curators, product designers, furniture makers, photographers, geographers and historians. We welcome students from all countries, especially where there are strong tensions between development pressure and retaining continuity in urban forms and cultural values. This programme is also available on a modular (flexible) basis, with a duration of 5 calendar years.