The studio combined research and urban design around the theme of ‘urbanization and eco-sensitive terrain’ for the city of Udhagamandalam in Tamil Nadu. The first part of the studio was a collective research effort that analyzed selected cities and contemporary projects around the world that addressed these challenges. The studio included a trip to Tamil Nadu to visit Udhagamandalam, where participants analyzed the urban situations by reading the place through various lenses and provided design solutions while discovering cutting-edge precedents of sustainability in the cultural landscape. The studio engaged individual and group design projects for Ooty. A series of lectures from experts working in this field visited the studio to share the most current data and thinking on the overwhelming challenges the city and region faced over the next fifty years
 

STUDIO PROCESS

Analysis:
Working as a studio, students explored social and physical aspects of the neighborhood through maps, demographics, diagrams, photographs, and physical models. The analysis provided an opportunity for students to learn about the community. More importantly, effective representation of conditions set the frame for the future. Analysis was the foundation upon which urban design and development proposals were grounded.

Urban Design Framework:
The students transformed issues and objectives into a unified vision for their projects with a series of strategies and an urban design framework. The urban design framework established a vision for future projects.

Urban Design Project:
In the final phase, students focused on detailed site-specific recommendations, placemaking, and representation.