Do Trees Dream While in Electric Sleep? Work by Maira Yasir. Alter Worlds (Entertainment Module) Image courtesy of UCLA Architecture and Urban Design

Summer 2020 proved to be a season of tackling the unknown as the pandemic impacted architectural academia. With nearly all summer programs pivoting and transitioning to remote learning, popular summer programs aimed to find a way to motivate students during such challenging times with online experiences that allowed them to explore digital possibilities within architecture. 

UCLA's IDEAS Summer studio shares with Archinect, "This year's IDEAS Summer Studio "X-WORLDS" marked the first entirely virtual introduction to the one-year Master of Science in Architecture and Urban Design (M.S.AUD) program at UCLA Architecture and Urban Design. The six-week program provided an immersion into the intersecting worlds of each of the four M.S.AUD research studios: Entertainment, Mobility, Technology, and Urban Strategy." 

Archinect connected with the team from UCLA's IDEAS Campus Summer Studio to learn about the program's goals and highlight the work of student participants created during their six-week online program.

This year’s IDEAS Summer Studio “X-WORLDS” marked the first entirely virtual introduction to the one-year Master of Science in Architecture and Urban Design (M.S.AUD) program at UCLA Architecture and Urban Design.

This year's MSAUD summer term featured four studio modules, giving students form each studio an opportunity to engage the program's research topics: Technology, Entertainment, Urban Strategy, and Mobility. "However, common to all the studios is a focus on technological innovation and future speculation, as we all search for the urgent agendas and new media at the edge of architectural practice."

The IDEAS campus has positioned itself as an incubator for students and faculty. This year's summer programming explored digital tools that allowed students to focus on technological innovation and future speculations. Recognized as one of the leading research institutes within architectural academia, this six-week online program offered students the opportunity to immerse themselves into the "intersecting worlds of each of the four M.S.AUD research studios: Entertainment, Mobility, Technology, and Urban Strategy."

Although in-person programs and student showcases have changed in 2020, institutions like UCLA have found ways to present their programs  and celebrate student outcomes in a comprehensive virtual format. 

Program instructor Yara Feghali shares, "The format this summer was a series of short modules through which each group of students would be exposed to in a different order. Surprisingly the results from each module outcome vary depending on the modules taken before it. The designed courses had direct influences on each other generating discourse through structure and not only content."

This year's program brief asked students, "what does it mean for architects to envision, design, build, and visualize worlds?"

This year's program brief asked students, "what does it mean for architects to envision, design, build, and visualize worlds?" The M.S. AUD Summer Studio used short, intensive models to "serve as primers for the research studios' year-long briefs, with students exploring worldbuilding through the tools and perspectives that each student offers."

Studio instructors focused on exposing students to specific methodologies within the M.S.AUD research studios: Entertainment, Mobility, Technology, and Urban Strategy. "Core to the M.S.AUD program is a spirit of collaboration and synergic conversation, both within the studios and between them," explains Valerie Leblond, Program Director. "It is also a chance for students to get to know their faculty and peers, initiating ideas, conversations, and friendships that will grow and develop over the coming year." 

Instructors: Benjamin Ennemoser, Yara Feghali, David Jimenez Iniesta, Nathan Su

Program Director: Valerie Leblond

Robotics Lab Manager: Tyson Phillips

Students: Srujana Bhoopanam, Kejia Cai, Jiayan Cao, Chia Yu Chen, Xiangyang Chen, Yueh-Hui Chen, Yujin Chen, Yejin Choi, Muyan Duan, Niveditha Elango, Junjie Fang, Jianing Gao, Yuntao Gao, Zixuan Gong, Chhavi Goswami , Lianqin Huang, Zhang Jieyi, Yumin Kim, Yenchun (Elsie) Lai, Byeong Uk (Daniel) Lee, Li Li, Hanshi Li, Yuang Li, Chih-Ping Liu, Deshun Liu, Jingli Lu, Tian Luo, Zeynep Ege (Ege) Odabasi, Sidney Josselyn Ortega, Shervin  Peyghambari, Tianren Shao, Xuhao Shen, Xiaoyi Shen, Ting Su, Miao Tan, Yuchen Tian, Yuxin Tian, Hanxue Wu, Kangnan Wu, Tianzhi Xiao, Jiarui Xu, Mingyang Xu, Tianyang Xu, Xiaohan Xu, Tianlang Yang, Maira Yasir, Hongchi Zhang, Zixuan Zhang, Yicheng Zhao, Yaxu Zheng.

About the Program

The M.S.AUD is a one-year post-professional degree program that leads to a Master of Science in Architecture and Urban Design degree. The program is located at UCLA Architecture and Urban Design’s IDEAS Campus, a state-of-the-art incubator for collaborative, cross-disciplinary design research. Led by professors who are experts in their respective fields, students join a team of educators and industry partners to question, challenge, and expand the current conventions of architectural practice. As a global hub of innovation, Los Angeles is a place where things get launched. We try to capture that spirit through our research at the IDEAS campus.

To learn more about the program and explore UCLA's robust program offerings click here.