Historical And Sustainable Architecture

Overview

This Historical And Sustainable Architecture MA program from New York University explores innovative ways to reconcile real estate development with historical preservation and environmental protection by recycling existing structures. The course of study combines academic training and research with experiential learning opportunities, and the program operates within the framework of New York University’s London program. 

British architects, designers, builders and developers are leaders in the field of adaptive reuse and sustainable architecture. For this reason, the program is based in London, where our faculty consists of the city’s innovative architects and designers. Working under restrictive historic protection orders, these designers have successfully reused both important and modest older buildings, adapting them to new uses and integrating them into new projects built around, over, and even under historic structures.  Our students will have the rare opportunity to study with these leading practitioners. 

The curriculum also proposes to extend sustainable practices beyond architecture and building into the realm of urban design. Students will examine successful strategies for reviving entire districts, cities, and regions around repurposed historic buildings in areas as diverse as the London Docklands, the Puerto Madero neighborhood in Buenos Aires, and the older industrial regions of Germany. These examples suggest new possibilities for post-industrial, “Rust Belt” cities in the U.S., such as Buffalo and Cleveland, where the numerous historic buildings provide resources to be adapted for new uses, not liabilities to be demolished. 

Career opportunities

Graduates will shape the urban environment as architects, city planners, public administrators, non-profit advocates, public and private consultants, and real estate developers.