URBAN DESIGN ASSISTANCE

Urban Design Assistance is a long-standing activity of the Architecture and City and Regional Programs. This assistance is available to local governments, neighborhood organizations, urban design firms and development companies. Projects must support our academic mission by contributing directly to urban design instruction or research.

Urban Design Instruction
Selected projects for urban design instruction are organized either within Architecture Studios, City and Regional Applied Planning Studios, or Urban Design Workshops. A semester's lead time at a minimum is required to incorporate a proposed project into the curriculum.

Projects appropriate for Architecture or Planning Studios must be large enough and complex enough to engage 8 to 12 graduate students and faculty for a sixteen week semester. These studios usually require three or more group site visits, collection of information from local sources, and meetings with local groups. In addition, student research assistants are usually required to prepare materials before the semester begins and to produce final reports and graphics after the studio is completed. Sponsors of projects are required to fund these expenses. While students may be divided into teams, studio pedagogy generally results in the production of several different proposals to the same problem. Studios provide exceptional ways for providing sponsors with a wide range of alternatives to serve as vehicles for discussion and consensus building. Recent Studio projects include:

Brownfield District to In-Town Business Park, Moultrie, Georgia
Fort Valley Brownfield District Plan, Ft. Valley, Georgia
Cuyler-Brownsville Affordable Housing Development, Savannah, Georgia
Crabapple Zoning and Subdivision Study, Fulton County, Georgia
Downtown Athens East Urban Design, Athens, Georgia
Hahira Town Plan, Hahira, Georgia
Midtown Arts District, Atlanta, Georgia
South Downtown Redevelopment, Atlanta, Georgia

Projects appropriate for Urban Design Workshops may vary in size and complexity, requiring a single student to do independent work under the supervision of a faculty member or as many as 8 to 12 students under the supervision of a single faculty member or a faculty group. Whereas Studio projects must be limited to one semester, Workshops may continue for two semesters or more. Whereas Studios tend to produce multiple proposals, Workshops can be more focused and develop a single plan in more depth. Workshops are often an appropriate vehicle for involving community members and other stakeholders in design charrettes. Most Workshops require funding in the form of Sponsored Instruction in addition to covering the expenses of student research assistants as needed. Recent Workshop projects include:

Site Redesign and Development, Mary-Lin School: The Mary-Lin Trust
Growth Management, Samborondon, Ecuador: Mayor Yunez
Oglethorpe University Development Plan Options: Cousins Properties
From Dead Mall to Town Center, Rockdale County: The Georgia Conservancy
Blueprint Midtown Special Studies, Atlanta; Midtown Alliance

The Urban Design Studios and Workshops do not provide professional services in competition with professional design and planning firms. The work by the Studios and Workshops may be for the primary purpose of analysis to better understand a project, concept studies and alternatives to better visualize and understand possible futures, implementation strategies to better understand the project scope, fiscal requirements, or legislative initiatives.

Urban Design Research
Projects that either require a more advanced level of study than can be expected by students or that do not fit the Studio or Workshop schedule or pedagogy may be better served as research projects. Individual faculty members undertake sponsored urban design research projects through the Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development in the College of Architecture or though the Georgia Tech Research Corporation.

Questions regarding Urban Design Assistance may be directed to Ellen Dunham-Jones, Director of the Architecture Program at 404-894-1095 or ellen.dunham-jones@arch.gatech.edu or directly to faculty members. To request Urban Design Assistance, please complete the attached form and return by e-mail to: UrbanDesign@coa.gatech.edu

Request Urban Design Assistance (*.pdf)