Master of Architectural Studies Urban Design

The GSA’s Master of Architectural Studies programmes are aimed at graduates of architecture and allied disciplines who, following the completion of their professional education, wish to extend knowledge and skills in undertaking further specialised study, either to develop existing professional and research interests or to move into new areas of practice. 

Uniquely positioned within a wider community of artists and designers at The Glasgow School of Art, the Programmes offer students the opportunity to develop their creative practice in architecture while building their academic and professional networks. 

This one-year (three semester) series of taught programmes combine individual specialist study, through an independent research project, with the opportunity to share knowledge and experience and to collaborate with fellow students in a cross-disciplinary context.

Students studying Urban Design are involved in the creative exploration of the complex interrelationships between urban form and the daily activities of citizens in designing settings for joyful urban life – with Glasgow as a location rich for student investigations.  

The theory of Urban Morphology (Kropf, Moudon, Tarbett) provides students with a consistent approach to the description of urban form and associated open spaces. The study of Urban Design regards the masterplan – for new streets, open spaces, neighbourhoods and districts of the future - as an artistic creation, with its more or less detailed design prescriptions or ‘urban rules’. The masterplan orchestrates subsequent design of individual buildings and open spaces by others. The teaching balances theoretical and practical knowledge in Urban Design.

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