How are cities designed, and who gets to shape them? In this course, students investigate Seattle's past, present, and future through field trips, hands-on projects, and conversations about what makes a city work. They'll venture beneath the streets on the Underground Tour, explore Indigenous history on the UW campus, visit the Arboretum and MOHAI, and meet real planners at City Hall. Along the way, students examine building materials up close, learn architectural drawing, and dig into tough questions about sustainability, fairness, and how planning decisions affect everyday life.
The course is collaborative and hands-on throughout. Students sketch, build, debate, and problem-solve together. In the final week, teams design and construct their own model cities from the ground up, complete with neighborhoods, parks, infrastructure, and policies they create themselves. The grand finale will be presentations to families and professional planners, giving students the chance to share and defend their vision for the cities of tomorrow.