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Cites are the most complex creations of humankind. They are formed through the cumulative efforts of countless people over
deep time. They are landscapes transformed by the construction of infrastructure, public spaces and the assembly of vast numbers of mundane buildings and architectural treasures. Within this material city flows the restless living city in all its diversity and variety. Cites are indeed complex.

In the Design Cities module students will engage in the exploration and analysis of the city and be challenged to design
a spatial intervention that engages with the urban condition that their studies has uncovered. They will also become familiar with the role of an architect in the process of urban change that engages the efforts of many diverse professions and interests, often working in conflict one with another. Delight at the remarkable human achievement of city making should not blind us to the problems that beset society and the city. Economic, social, cultural, and environmental problems are made manifest in the way we design, manage and live in cites. The architect may conceive the city as a purely spatial creation; we will discover that it is also built politics.

London is embedded in the name of the school it is also our study laboratory, muse, inspiration, and home. In 2020 Design Cities will, for the second time, turn our collective attention to the study of the London Borough of Hackney.

Design Cites is a foundation for the entire two-year LSA programme. It aims to provide students with the urban design skills required by the best architects; to provide the urban research to inform the Design Think Tank project that follows on from Design Cities; and the urban analysis to support design projects throughout the two-year LSA programme. Above all it is intended to inspire students to delight in a lifelong exploration of humankind’s greatest collective creation.