University of California, Berkeley

UC Berkeley’s Summer Institute in Environmental Design is an intensive six-week program for anyone on the fast track to launching an environmental design career – in architecture, landscape architecture, or urban planning. 

International students are welcome and encouraged to apply. Previous design experience is welcome but not required. The program runs full-time and in-person from July 6 to August 14, 2026.

Each program includes a lecture series, a design or planning studio, media workshops, and site visits. By fulfilling the program requirements, students earn a certificate of completion and graded credit on an official UC Berkeley transcript. All classes are held in Bauer Wurster Hall, College of Environmental Design’s home on the UC Berkeley campus.

Benefits of attending the Summer Institute

• Learn the fundamentals of environmental design
• Experience the culture of design and planning studios
• Craft your portfolio under the guidance of faculty mentors – for graduate school and job applications
• Meet students on similar career tracks and connect with practitioners in the field
• Earn college-level credit on an official UC Berkeley transcript

Summer Institute alumni have been accepted to graduate programs at Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Rice, University of Illinois, University of Michigan, University of Pennsylvania, University of Washington, Yale, and at UC Berkeley.

Attend one of three cohorts

Berkeley’s Summer Institutes give participants from all academic backgrounds the opportunity to test their enthusiasm for the material and culture of one of three main disciplines in environmental design. Summer Institute participants explore the methods and theories of the fields, experience the culture of design and planning studios, connect to top faculty and practitioners, and build a portfolio for graduate school application.

The Summer Institute in Environmental Design consists of three cohorts. Each participant will choose one of the following:

As part of INCITY you’ll gain practical, hands-on experience in sustainable city planning and urban design through projects, including natural systems, infrastructure, land use, demographics, and policy in the San Francisco Bay Area. Under the guidance of faculty mentors, you’ll develop in-depth recommendations, analyses, and proposals that address major themes of planning practice, including housing, transportation, and environmental justice.

INCITY is for you if you have a bachelor’s degree and are considering a career in urban design or city planning. You’ll have the opportunity to build a quality portfolio that you can use for graduate school applications or to pursue a job in the field. We don’t expect you to have any built environment experience, but an intense curiosity and a willingness to learn the tools that will prepare you for graduate school or a career in the discipline.

INLAND is an immersive program in which students are introduced to the fundamentals of landscape architectural practice through research, making, and experimentation. In a collaborative studio environment, you’ll engage with the concepts of ecology, public space, community, and sustainability at multiple scales of design.

INLAND immerses you in landscape architecture on a graduate-degree level. This course is for you if you have a bachelor’s degree in any field and are considering a career in landscape architecture. You’ll have the opportunity to build a quality portfolio for graduate school or wherever the next step of your professional development takes you.

Lastly, INARCH is an intensive program that will immerse you in the foundational theories, tools, and practices of architectural design. Through studio work, media labs, lectures, readings, and field trips, you will explore architecture as a form of cultural and spatial inquiry.

INARCH is geared towards post-baccalaureate students who are considering graduate study in architecture. Successful students build a quality portfolio that can be used for further academic pursuits on a graduate level as well as job applications.