The Urban Design Program at Columbia originated in 1935 when a postgraduate curriculum was funded by the Carnegie Corporation in order to Òenlarge the range of studies offered to architectsÓ within fields of urbanism and housing. In essence, these goals remain central to the program today. The original experiment was dominated by the personages of Henry Wright, Werner Hegemann, and Carol Aronovici. Their focus was on the social and physical form of the emerging twentieth century metropolis, with considerable influence from the English experience of the previous several decades.
Over time, the present Urban Planning Program evolved from
these beginnings, with some ambiguity between urban ÒdesignÓ and
Òplanning.Ó By the 1960Õs, both disciplines had arrived at separate
identities. A separate Master of Science for Urban Design was
initiated in the 1964-1965 school year, with Percival Goodman as a
prime pedagogical force. He was joined for several years, by Jacob
Bakema of the Netherlands. During this time the program tended to be
influenced by the cultural critique of the Team Ten group in Europe,
within the framework of the growing problems associated with urban
ÒrenewalÓ and urban dispersal in the United States. Between 1972 and
1974, the program was restructured under the directorship of Romaldo
Giurgola, and then again in 1974 under Alexander Cooper, a member of
the New York City Planning Commission. With the involvement of
Stanton Eckstat, the program was heavily refocused on urban design
practice, as it had evolved in New York City during the Lindsay
Administration. This approach held until the early 1990Õs, when the
present curriculum was initiated. A circle is complete, and the
program now engages the urban consequences of the same period which
witnessed its formation.
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