ARCHITECTURE
In post-Katrina New Orleans, opportunities abound for students to become involved in reshaping a major American city. At Tulane, we not only enable a student’s development as an architect, but also further the discourse in our discipline by engaging the culture around us and expanding the traditions of architectural thought and practice.

Now more than ever, Tulane’s School of Architecture prepares students for positions of leadership in their communities and in the design professions. Tulane’s School of Architecture offers a five-year masters program for undergraduates.

URBANbuild
Students engaged in URBANbuild studios are deployed to neighborhoods throughout New Orleans to develop creative and sustainable urban design strategies, innovative designs for new housing, historic property inventories, and proposals for site-specific urban interventions and large-scale mixed-use urban environments.

As an integral component of the URBANbuild program, students will also design and construct a prototypical house for each of the study neighborhoods in partnership with community non-profit agencies that specialize in affordable housing and neighborhood redevelopment. URBANbuild is a laboratory for city research and design, a real generator for urban transformation and revitalization, and a program which directly engages students in the processes of digital fabrication, materials’ research and advanced construction processes and technologies.

Tulane City Center
The Tulane City Center houses the School of Architecture’s urban research and outreach programs. Programs of the City Center share a focus on improving cities through fostering global urban research, the development of flexible and innovative urban strategies, and the provision of environmentally and culturally informed principles to guide the design and revitalization of the contemporary metropolis. All students in the School of Architecture will spend at least one semester of their education directly engaged with programs of the City Center. The City Center is an affiliate of CITYbuild, a nationwide coalition of university-based programs focused on urban research and design-build.

TRUDC
Tulane Regional Urban Design Center (TRUDC) enlists graduates and students of the School of Architecture to work with communities in Louisiana, the Gulf Coast, and other areas to improve and develop their urban potential. TRUDC’s recent history has been marked by exceptional opportunities in Asia, thanks to its strategic partnership with the American Planning Association. Recent projects in the Yangtze Delta have explored the issues of rapid urbanization of China and included discussions with a range of design professionals and Chinese Government and Planning Officials. Many of the issues the TRUDC introduces and explores in Asia are also being studied in Southern Louisiana’s small rapidly growing communities. Open to new ideas, these communities give students the opportunity to become involved in real-world planning projects across the Gulf Coast Region.

Degrees
Master of Architecture (five-year program)
Master of Architecture I (three and a half-year program for those who have previous college degree)
Master of Architecture II (advanced studies for those with professional degree)
Master of Preservation Studies