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Beijing Urban Design Studio OpenCourseWare: Graduate Level Free Online Urban Design Course by MIT

Published Jan 21, 2009

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Broaden your knowledge and concept of urban planning with free OpenCourseWare offered by Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) Department of Urban Studies and Planning. 'Beijing Urban Design Studio' focuses on mutual understanding of planning and design within an international setting. The course would be suitable for real estate, planning and architectural graduate students.

Beijing Urban Design Studio: Course Specifics

Degree Level Free Audio Video Downloads
Graduate Yes No No Yes

Lectures/Notes Study Materials Tests/Quizzes
No Yes No

Beijing Urban Design Studio: Course Description

In collaboration with Tsinghua University, the focus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) 'Beijing Urban Design Studio' OpenCourseWare was a migrant village neighborhood in the city of Beijing and its rising population. Conducted by Professors Dennis Frenchman and Jan Wampler of MIT and Professors Zhang Jie and Shan Jun of Tsinghua University, students in the original course studied traditional and new sites in an effort to address the need for low-cost homes while respecting cultural customs and history. They were required to observe the site, including movement patterns, people and surrounding structures and then create design ideas. Student group collaborations helped foster an understanding of not only the site but also the social complexities involved. Team collaborations were presented as final proposals, which included design plans, sketches and digital models. The original 'Beijing Urban Design Studio' course's intention was to increase cooperation between two international countries (China and the U.S.) through shared projects in the planning and design of a site within a city. This course was taught via a lecture-studio format.

The OpenCourseWare includes assignments, a reading list, final student projects and an image gallery of student projects and travel photos. To find out more about MIT's project with Beijing, visit city issues related to development and design of Beijing course page.

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