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Disc*(Design & Innovation for Sustainable Cities) is an intensive five week summer program that explores an interdisciplinary and multi-scalar approach to design and analysis in the urban environment. Through a combination of design and digital fabrication, studio sessions, lectures and seminars, demos and workshops, field work and site visits, students will engage in the discourse of urban innovation while gaining hands-on experience developing design proposals.

The program is built upon four main platforms. The Urban Innovation Talk - Keynote Lecture Series introduces students to some of the most forward-thinking researchers and practitioners from the Bay Area design community. Fieldwork + Site visits give students an opportunity to engage directly with the dynamic built and natural environment of the Bay Area, while meeting with expert guest speakers. The Global Cities/Global Communities + Urban Innovation Seminars are meant to develop a theoretical framework for understanding the complex urban issues that face cities and strategies for design. The Studio + Digital Workshops are at the core of the program, building skills and offering a hands-on makerspace for creative work to take place. Working in teams, students develop a project from design conception to final prototyping and present the final result of their work to instructors and guest critics.

Disc* participants graduate with a stronger understanding of urban processes and a broad toolkit with which to tackle its urgent demands, as well as compelling artifacts for their academic portfolio. Students master the theory and skills necessary to effectively represent their design ideas and become the next thought-shapers and game-changers in environmental design.

All classes are held in Wurster Hall, CED's home on the UC Berkeley campus. Disc* participants who fulfill the program requirements receive a certificate of completion and 1 unit of credit with a letter grade on an official UC Berkeley transcript.