Moscow's Strelka Institute and the HSE Graduate School of Urbanism Launch a New Course in Advanced Urban Design

Written by James Taylor-Foster
Published on March 04, 2016

The Moscow-based Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture and Design and the HSE Graduate School of Urbanism have launched a new collaborative international Masters programme entitled Advanced Urban Design. The two-year English language program, specifically designed for Bachelors, researchers and young professionals, intends to guide students through best practices in the area of urban planning. Under the guidance of a collection of tutors from Russia and around the world, the course aims to investigate conditions of growing cities by focusing on unstable socioeconomic contexts.

Alumni will receive a Masters (MA) degree in Advanced Urban Design, and obtain a state-recognized diploma from the National Research University Higher School of Economics. The programme, conceptualized and programmed by Anastassia Smirnova (Strelka Institute), combines the strong academic curriculum of the HSE University Russia with the project oriented approach of Strelka Institute.

According to Smirnova, "we live in a New Renaissance era that requires professionals with broad horizons and very diverse knowledge and skills. This unique program fosters professionals with the conceptual type of thinking who can pursue serious research as well as design and create incredible new things. No matter how much the world will change—and it certainly will change—these designers will be in demand everywhere; they will form new professional agenda."

According to Alexei Novikov, Dean of the Graduate School of Urbanism, "the concept of urban education in the GSU aims at creating a common language between architects, urban planners, sociologists and urban developers. It is essential that the students learn the interdisciplinary field of urbanism. Strelka’s methods, as well as the creativity and open-mindedness of its experts, can be perfectly combined with a strong academic curriculum of the Higher School of Economics".

The CEO of Strelka Institute, Varvara Melnikova, has said that "the current strategy of Strelka Institute is to develop from the educational institution to the educational system, which has a particular method that is transmitted through the universities partners both in Russia and abroad. ‘Advanced Urban Design’ in the Graduate School of Urbanism will be the first Masters programme with the participation of the Strelka Institute that will be conducted outside the Institute. The Graduate School of Urbanism has become the first partner of Strelka’s educational system because we share same values, and the National Research University Higher School of Economics is considered one of the strongest and most advanced universities in Russia."

The National Research University Higher School of Economics is one of the largest universities in Europe and the only one research centre in the field of socio-economic studies in Russia. The HSE University Russia collaborates with leading economists, sociologists, historians, philologists, linguists, mathematicians, physicists and engineers, urbanists, designers and IT experts. The HSE provides education at all levels, from Lyceum to Graduate School. The HSE operates more than 100 research institutes and centres, and more than 20 international laboratories led by foreign scholars, including the Nobel and the Fields medal laureates.

The Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture and Design is an international educational project, founded in 2009. Strelka incorporates an education programme on urbanism and urban development for international students, provides consulting services, publishes books on modern issues of architecture and design, and hosts a public summer programme which is open to the public and free of charge. Strelka has been listed among the top-100 best architecture schools, according to Domus magazine. In 2014 it was curating the Russian pavilion for the XIV Venice Architectural Biennale. Alexander Mamut is The Head of the Board of of Trustees of Strelka Institute.

The HSE Graduate School of Urbanism is an independent learning and research division of the National Research University Higher School of Economics. Founded in 2011, the School takes a multidisciplinary approach towards studying and planning modern cities, using the excellent foundation that one of Russia’s top universities has formed in the humanities and socioeconomics. The School’s mission is to create a centre in Russia for learning and research in urban studies and urban planning. It is envisioned that this centre will respond to the needs of the 21st century cities and the corresponding era of megacities that are home to tens of millions of people with diverse interests and aspirations. As of late-2015, the Graduate School of Urbanism has launched three graduate-level courses in city planning (Masters programme’ Urban Development and Spatial Planning’), participated in dozens of research and planning projects at the regional and federal level, and carried out research and consulting work at its laboratories.