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University of Washington CBE - Ecological Design Master Studio and Travel Program
Education and Career AdvancementThe Scan Design Foundation Interdisciplinary Master Studio by the University of Washington College of Built Environments combines international study experience with multi-disciplinary collaboration on local projects to develop planning and design solutions for Seattle’s public realm. The program has been supported by SDF since 2008.
Before the studio, students travel to Copenhagen, Denmark to visit the office of the renowned Copenhagen firm Gehl Architects and see the city through its people-centered urban design lens. For two weeks, students are immersed in the design and planning strategies that make this one of the leading cities in bicycle and pedestrian planning and one of the “most liveable” in the world through site tours, office visits and lectures with the municipality and leading firms and practitioners that focus on public space, bicycle urbanism, climate adaptation, and urban play. Upon returning to Seattle, students focus on applying the lessons learned to a local site, and continue to benefit from the involvement of a Danish Master Teacher acting as visiting instructors and critics. Past Master Teachers include Louise Grassov of Schulze + Grassov, members of Gehl Architects, and Bianca Hermansen of Cititek. Past project partners include the City of Seattle and the International Sustainability Institute and the International Living Futures Institute.
This program is led by Professor Nancy Rottle, RLA, FASLA (Professor, Department of Landscape Architecture; Director, Green Futures Research and Design Lab; Adjunct Professor, Departments of Architecture and Urban Design and Planning).
During the study tour, students experience the Scandinavian approach to the design of public spaces which are multi-layered, deeply complex, and designed with elegant simplicity. This people-first approach also strives to accommodate ecological function and climate adaptation without sacrificing one aspect for another. Through sketching, diagramming, note-taking, and photography, students document these approaches as precedent for their studio work.
Following the trip, the studio begins in Seattle during the autumn quarter. During the studio, the students focus on applying lessons learned during the trip to a local site with the guidance of the studio faculty and the continued involvement of a Danish Master Teacher. Each year the studio takes on a different theme based on the project site and needs, but all are grounded in the approaches and experiences from the study tour. This involves working at various scales from districts to design details without compromising human use and ecological function.
For more information on this program contact Professor Nancy Rottle.
2023: Connect! Design Proposals for a Climate-Responsible North I-5 Lid
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2022 Bellingham’s New Waterfront: Proposals for a Model Climate District
The 2022 Scan Design Foundation Master Studio in Urban Design and Landscape Architecture spent Fall 2022 imagining new futures for the Bellingham Waterfront, a post industrial brownfield site at the mouth of Whatcom Creek.
> Read More2023
The 2023 ScanDesign Interdisciplinary Master Studio envisioned how a “lid” over I-5 between the UDistrict and Wallingford might serve to:
• CONNECT and strengthen the neighborhoods
• CONNECT via safe, low-carbon active transportation systems
• CONNECT and create new equitable housing, green and public spaces that cultivate a caring urban culture
• CONNECT places where people live to where they work, play, shop, create, and find services
• CONNECT human health with health of other species, supporting biodiversity
• CONNECT people in the city to Seattle’s natural context
• CONNECT present needs with those of the future, for both local and global intergenerational equity.
2022
In September 2022, studio participants traveled to Denmark and Sweden. The study tour focused on ecologically adaptive design, green stormwater management and the more ineffable elements of design that work for people — design for community and for a joyful and playful public realm. The group analyzed how these elements work together to create vibrant public space that is both physically resilient and strengthens community resilience by fostering community connections, connection to the land and an understanding of waste, energy, water and other critical systems.
In their travels, students explored many sites by bike, foot and rail that share several of the key opportunities and constraints present on the Bellingham Waterfront. This formed a base of knowledge that informed site design back in Washington.
Once back in Seattle, the students completed precedent studies, visited the Bellingham waterfront, met with community members, and analyzed the underlying site context. This research created the foundation for the development of group site proposals. During the quarter students received a wealth of feedback and insight from master teacher Louise Grassov, and countless community representatives, and design professionals both in Washington and Denmark.
2019
The 2019 Travel Study team travelled to Copenhagen and Malmö as inspiration for their project focus at their home port in Seattle. Through their travels, 16 graduate students utilized this experience of Scandinavia to work at the district level in Seattle's Capitol Hill. Topics of focus included ecological design, promoting vibrant neighborhood social life, and utilizing the Gehl and Schultze + Grassov methods for studying public space. These ideas were considered to improve the quality of life and create sustainable, healthy cities, specifically within the Capitol Hill neighborhood--in essence fostering the idea of "life between buildings".
POROUS PUBLIC SPACE: CLIMATE ADAPTATION THROUGH PUBLIC SPACE DESIGN FOR CAPITOL HILL
2018
The 2018 Studio Project was forecasted to redesign the 15th Ave East commercial node in a way that retained the neighborhood's soul and history while also cultivating a more "public life" culture. Their work was grounded in expressed wishes of the local neighborhood residential and commercial community that was garnered in a workshop in Spring of 2018. The participants of the workshop addressed safety, green space, small businesses, job development, and thoughtful density as their top priorities and concerns. The Studio explored how they can address these desires and will proposed policies, plans designs, and guidelines for improvements to 15th Ave East street and the public realm.
EQUITABLE PUBLIC SPACE - Environmental Justice Through Policy and Design
2017
For the two-week Travel Study Program, 21 graduate students from Landscape Architecture, Urban Planning, and Construction Management traveled to Copenhagen, Malmö, and the Danish Island of Bornholm. The program focused on urban greening, stormwater mitigation, and social amenity in public spaces. Students had the opportunity to study with Louise Grassov, of Gehl Architects and Schulze + Grassov.
The 2017 studio project re-envisioned Seattle's Belltown neighborhood public spaces. The Seattle 2030 District and Seattle Public Utilities have set goals for managing Belltown's stormwater, potable water use, and combined-sewer overflow events. Students were able to use what they learned in Copenhagen and Malmö regarding how to manage and store stormwater.
Students worked in different groups to focus on the needs and opportunities within District Frameworks - water, mobility, deep context, social amenity, and ecology. Each framework responded to the goals of the Seattle 2030 District and Seattle Public Utilities.
Greener Belltown: Bluer Sound - City/Nature for Climate Adaptation
2016
23 graduate students from the College of Built Environments and College of Engineering attended the Travel Study Program in Copenhagen and Malmö. The program focused on the Øresund region of Denmark and Sweden. Students were able to study with Louise Grassov, of Gehl Architects and Schulze + Grassov.
The studio project site for 2016 was the Nørrebro Station area in Copenhagen. Students were introduced to design concepts related to climate resilience, urban greening, and and community resilience.
2015
This year, 27 graduate students from Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Urban Planning attended the two-week Travel Study Program. The students traveled to Copenhagen, Samsø, and Malmö and had the opportunity to be taught by Bianca Hermansen.
The Travel Study Program focused on resilient community spaces with an emphasis on sustainable building, adaptive reuse, and climate mitigation. The many tours, workshops, and lectures helped to prepare and inspire students for their First Hill neighborhood project back in Seattle.
Through use of the International Living Future Institute's Living Community Challenge standards and Gehls' 12 Quality Criteria, nine student teams created "resilient and equitable public space" designs for Seattle's First Hill neighborhood. In their projects, students had to engage the concepts of urban intensification, affordability, cultural connections, community diversity, climate change adaptation, and food security.
Public Spaces | Public Life - Cultivating the Community Commons: Climate, Culture + Craft
2014
Before the start of the fall quarter, 25 graduate students from Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Civil Engineering, and Urban Planning attended the Travel Study Program. These students traveled to Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Malmö where they visited urban waterfront environments and learned from Gehl Architects, including Bianca Hermansen.
As the removal of the Alaskan Way Viaduct and the Seawall replacement make way for a new public space, this year's Master's Studio project had students designing for Seattle's Central Waterfront. Specifically, students focused on sites located on the northern part of the Waterfront.
The Waterfront public space project encompassed "tri-partite goals," which included developing a multi-dimensional space that invites play activities, reclaiming the Waterfront as ecological space, and identifying strategies for connecting the Waterfront to the bay and the rest of the city. The "tri-partite" project goals stemmed from the priorities of the Central Waterfront Committee.
Public Spaces | Public Life - Blue Urbanism: Inviting Urban Play on Seattle's North Waterfront
2013
25 graduate students from UW's Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Urban Planning traveled to Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Malmö for the Travel Study Program. Students explored public space concepts of Gehl Architects and had the opportunity to study with Bianca Hermansen and Lars Gemzøe.
For two weeks, the group of students attended field studies, lectures, and workshops led by Gehl Architects that featured city officials, transportation planners, and local architects. The trip also included visits to multiple architectural offices (COBE, Dorte Mandrup, Tradje Natur), the Royal Danish Playhouse, Tietgenkollegiet, and Bo01 in Malmö.
Upon returning to Seattle, the students began work on the University District Neighborhood Project. By using the public space ideas they learned while in Scandinavia, students were assigned to design urban public spaces for the rapidly changing University District. Students focused on developing "building, street, and park designs that provide needed services while integrating artful play into the transitioning district."
Public Spaces | Public Life for the University District -- Urban Play
2012
Prior to the beginning of autumn quarter, 23 graduate students from Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Urban Planning participated in the 2012 Scan Design Foundation Travel Study Program. The trip focused on the urban planning, architecture, and public spaces of the Øresund region.
The subsequent interdisciplinary studio and the mix of students shaped the diversity of the trip itinerary. Through study of the built environment in Copenhagen, Helsingør, and Malmö, students were introduced to ideas and concepts that transcended and united the three disciplines, and encouraged a broader, multi-disciplinary approach to design.
The trip introduces the students to the public space ideas championed by Jan Gehl and Gehl Architects. The principle that design should encourage "life between building" to improve people's quality of life and create sustainable and healthy cities was illustrated both in lecture and on the group experience. During the trip, students were afforded the unique opportunity to study with Allison Dutoit, Bianca Hermansen, and Lars Gemzøe, founding and principle members of the internationally acclaimed Gehl Architects office.
Public Spaces | Public Life for the University District -- West of 15th
2011
The 2011 Travel Study Tour was held September 2-18, 2011. 21 graduate student from the University of Washington's College of Built Environments: Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Urban Planning & Design studied exemplary urban and regional planning strategies in Copenhagen, Denmark. Students were immersed for two weeks in the famous Danish networks of public space and the culture's emphasis on bicycle and pedestrian planning.
In Copenhagen, these students were led by the renowned urban planning consultants Gehl Architects, who introduce the group to their working methods. Other highlights included tours of redeveloped neighborhoods, the waterfront, plazas, and parks.
After returning from the trip, the group continued working in the Scan Design Master Studio course to study and design public spaces in Seattle's Central waterfront, with the goal of creating a socially vibrant, ecologically healthy public realm.
Public Spaces | Public Life for Seattle's Central Waterfront
2010
The 2010 Travel Study Tour was held September 3-19, 2010. 17 Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Urban Planning, Real Estate, and Civil Engineering students toured the Øresund region. The group was led by Associate Professor Nancy Rottle and Professor Sharon Sutton and further guided by the professional staff of Gehl Architects, Copenhagen's bicycle planners, designers of the innovative Western Harbor project, and Louise Lundberg of the Scandinavian Green Roof Institute.
The group heard lectures on the cities' historical development and contemporary planning issues, became privy to design approaches taken in successful projects, and heard personal perspective on Danish ways of living. They walked Copenhagen's pedestrian network, sketched and analyzed its public spaces and cycled on the city's separated bicycle tracks to experience its renewed neighborhoods, innovative architecture, repurposed waterfront and restorative parks and gardens. They toured exemplary housing projects in both Denmark and Sweden with a focus on sustainable practices and closely examined the design treatment of space that contributes to urban conviviality and civic sensibility.
Several waterfronts were visited and analyzed to inspire new ideas along Seattle's waterfront. Field exercises with Gehl Architects taught the students urban analysis methods used by this internationally-acclaimed firm, solidifying for the students its unique Danish design perspective.
The 2010 Interdisciplinary Master Studio was held Fall Quarter 2010. The students benefitted from the "Master" interaction with Gehl Architects. Gehl Associates Bianca Hermansen and Louise Grassov both worked directly with the students on design suggestions for the district and site plans. Each also gave presentations and suggested design exercises for the students while visiting during the term. During the visits, they both worked directly with the groups and with all students individually to help them apply Gehl's working methods and principles.
Public Spaces | Public Life for Seattle's Central Waterfront
The interdisciplinary student teams proposed bold, well-considered solutions to the challenges of designing humane, sustainable pedestrian space along Seattle's waterfront. Their work from the term is represent in this final document.
2009
The 2009 Study Tour was held September 4-20, 2009. 24 Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Urban Planning students toured the Øresund region. The group was led by Associate Professor Nancy Rottle, Assistant Professor Peter Cohan, and further guided by the professional staff of Gehl Architects, Copenhagen's bicycle planners, Malmö’s mayor, and designers of the innovative Western Harbor project.
A combination of lectures and tours gave students an understanding of the historic and contemporary forces which have influenced patterns of development in Copenhagen and Malmö, sketching and analysis exercises gave them a chance to read and interpret these patterns in the urban fabric. Together, the group walked through Copenhagen’s vibrant, historic core, sketched and analyzed how the city’s great squares and streets support a dense and rich urban experience, and cycled on the city’s bike tracks to explore its regenerated neighborhoods, striking architecture, active waterways, and tranquil parks.
The group traveled to Malmö to better understand the supportive relationship these two cities have, and they gained a unique perspective on how this relationship has and will shape the character of both cities and the region itself. They listened to the perspectives of planners, designers, and local residents on a range of issues rooted in an ethic of sustainable urban design, touching on a wide range of interlinked topics including: community-centered ecological design solutions; low-tech green roof innovations; low impact transportation strategies; and regional network planning.
Through the experience of innovative projects, exposure to the experience and knowledge of professionals, and immersion in the daily patterns of city life, students gained valuable understanding of Danish culture and lifestyle. Students relished the uniquely Danish opportunity to explore the city by bike - many listed this as one of the highlights of the Scan Design trip - and one student commented that “having a bicycle to travel around the city really helped me feel like I was joining in with the culture of the city and understanding the city the same way a local resident does every day.”
Final Itinerary for 2009 Travel Study Program
In coordination with Gehl Architects and with the support of the Scan Design Foundation and the UW College of Built Environments, the 2010 Scan Design Master Studio recently published a compilation of graduate student research and design. This interdisciplinary studio included students from the departments of landscape architecture, architecture, and urban planning, and was led by Professors Nancy Rottle and Kathryn Merlino with the assistance of teaching assistant Heide Martin. Bianca Hermansen of Gehl Architects acted as a visiting instructor, and Professor Peter Cohan assisted in leading a study tour to Copenhagen.
2008
In the kick-off year, 28 students studied the design outcomes of Gehl Architects' and others' work with the goal of creating better public spaces and more sustainable, humane cities. The group was led by Associate Professor Nancy Rottle and Assistant Professor Kathryn Rogers Merlino. Gehl Architects helped to set up and host the two-week travel study program. Students stayed primarily in Copenhagen, but there were excursions to see exemplary projects outside the city. The student travel to Denmark is a focused study of the Danish approach to creating successful public space and walkable, bikeable cities.
The Green Futures Lab worked with the Copenhagen firm of Gehl Architects to develop pedestrian plans and recommendations for Seattle's downtown. Over 50 students from the Lab were trained by Gehl Architects to collect data on environmental quality and existing pedestrian use of public open space, and worked with the firm to develop design solutions for a more vibrant, pedestrian-friendly urban environment. The International Sustainability Institute of Seattle helped coordinate the efforts of the studio team, Gehl Architects, and the City of Seattle. GFL interns assisted with the production of this study while working at Gehl Architects.
The Travel Study Trip was enormously successful. The students that participated in the Travel-Study Program are profoundly enriched by the breadth and depth of experiences provided for them in Denmark, including lectures, guided tours, field exercises, and social events. They have great respect for the design examples that they witnessed.
The students’ design work in the autumn Interdisciplinary Master Studio showed significant influence from their Fall 2008 travel-study experience and the Master Teaching of Louise Grassov from Gehl Architects. The interdisciplinary student teams proposed bold, well-considered solutions to the challenges of designing humane, sustainable pedestrian space in Seattle, which we presented in Public Spaces | Public Life for Seattle's South Downtown, a beautiful color booklet to the City of Seattle - Department of Transportation.
Learn more about these programs:
University of Washington - College of Built Environments
