Skip to content
UC Berkeley logo
  • Resources
  • Apply
  • Give
    • CED
      • About CED
        • Vision
        • People
        • Community
        • Our Spaces
        • Work at CED
        • Giving & Alumni
        • Visit Us
        • Contact Us
      • Academics
        • Degrees + Certificates
        • Summer Programs
        • Study Abroad
        • Courses
      • Admissions
        • Undergraduate Admissions
        • Graduate Admissions
        • Fees & Financial Aid
      • Advising
        • Undergraduate Advising
        • Graduate Advising
      • News + Events
        • News
        • Events
      • Explore
        • Student Work
        • Publications
      • Research + Design
        • Centers & Institutes
        • Research Collaborations
      • Resources
        • Announcements + Deadlines
        • Awards, Scholarships and Fellowships
        • Student Support
        • Environmental Design Library
        • Environmental Design Archives
        • Fabrication + Materials
        • IT + Computing
        • Careers
        • Student Fees and Waivers
        • Student Organizations
        • Facility Services
        • Building Safety
    • ARCH
      • About
        • Diversity
        • Leadership
        • Accreditation and Licensure
      • Degrees + Admissions
        • Admissions
        • Bachelor of Arts
        • Minor in Architecture
        • Minor in Environmental Design and Urbanism in Developing Countries
        • Minor in the History of the Built Environment
        • Minor in Social and Cultural Factors in Environmental Design
        • Minor in Sustainable Design
        • Master of Architecture (M.Arch)
        • Master of Advanced Architectural Design (MAAD)
        • Master of Science
        • Ph.D.
        • Concurrent Programs
      • Courses
        • 2023 Spring Courses
        • 2022 Fall Courses
      • People
        • Faculty
        • Emeriti
        • Students
        • Staff
      • Gallery
      • Advising
    • LAND
      • About
      • Degrees + Admissions
        • Admissions
        • Bachelor of Arts
        • Minor in Landscape Architecture
        • Master of Landscape Architecture
        • Ph.D.
        • Concurrent Degrees
      • Courses
        • 2023 Spring Courses
        • 2022 Fall Courses
      • People
        • Faculty
        • Emeriti
        • Students
        • Staff
      • Gallery
      • Advising
    • CITY
      • About
      • Degrees + Admissions
        • Admissions
        • Ph.D.
        • Master of City Planning
        • Bachelor of Arts
      • Courses
      • People
        • Faculty
        • Lecturers
        • Emeriti
        • Students
        • Staff
      • Gallery
        • Student Work
        • Faculty Work
        • Studio Work
      • Advising
    • URBANISM
      • About
      • Real Estate Development + Design
        • About MRED+D
        • Admissions
        • Courses
        • People
      • Urban Design
        • About MUD
        • Admissions
        • Courses
        • People
      • Sustainable Environmental Design
        • About SED
        • Courses
        • People
      • People
      • Gallery
      • Advising
  • CED
    • About CED
      • Vision
      • People
      • Community
      • Our Spaces
      • Work at CED
      • Giving & Alumni
      • Visit Us
      • Contact Us
    • Academics
      • Degrees + Certificates
      • Summer Programs
      • Study Abroad
      • Courses
    • Admissions
      • Undergraduate Admissions
      • Graduate Admissions
      • Fees & Financial Aid
    • Advising
      • Undergraduate Advising
      • Graduate Advising
    • News + Events
      • News
      • Events
    • Explore
      • Student Work
      • Publications
    • Research + Design
      • Centers & Institutes
      • Research Collaborations
    • Resources
      • Announcements + Deadlines
      • Awards, Scholarships and Fellowships
      • Student Support
      • Environmental Design Library
      • Environmental Design Archives
      • Fabrication + Materials
      • IT + Computing
      • Careers
      • Student Fees and Waivers
      • Student Organizations
      • Facility Services
      • Building Safety
  • ARCH
    • About
      • Diversity
      • Leadership
      • Accreditation and Licensure
    • Degrees + Admissions
      • Admissions
      • Bachelor of Arts
      • Minor in Architecture
      • Minor in Environmental Design and Urbanism in Developing Countries
      • Minor in the History of the Built Environment
      • Minor in Social and Cultural Factors in Environmental Design
      • Minor in Sustainable Design
      • Master of Architecture (M.Arch)
      • Master of Advanced Architectural Design (MAAD)
      • Master of Science
      • Ph.D.
      • Concurrent Programs
    • Courses
      • 2023 Spring Courses
      • 2022 Fall Courses
    • People
      • Faculty
      • Emeriti
      • Students
      • Staff
    • Gallery
    • Advising
  • LAND
    • About
    • Degrees + Admissions
      • Admissions
      • Bachelor of Arts
      • Minor in Landscape Architecture
      • Master of Landscape Architecture
      • Ph.D.
      • Concurrent Degrees
    • Courses
      • 2023 Spring Courses
      • 2022 Fall Courses
    • People
      • Faculty
      • Emeriti
      • Students
      • Staff
    • Gallery
    • Advising
  • CITY
    • About
    • Degrees + Admissions
      • Admissions
      • Ph.D.
      • Master of City Planning
      • Bachelor of Arts
    • Courses
    • People
      • Faculty
      • Lecturers
      • Emeriti
      • Students
      • Staff
    • Gallery
      • Student Work
      • Faculty Work
      • Studio Work
    • Advising
  • URBANISM
    • About
    • Real Estate Development + Design
      • About MRED+D
      • Admissions
      • Courses
      • People
    • Urban Design
      • About MUD
      • Admissions
      • Courses
      • People
    • Sustainable Environmental Design
      • About SED
      • Courses
      • People
    • People
    • Gallery
    • Advising
  • Resources
  • Apply
  • Give
Students showing final work

DISC: Design + Innovation for Sustainable Cities

  • CED
    • About CED
    • Academics
      • Degrees + Certificates
      • Summer Programs
        • Summer [In]stitute in Environmental Design
        • DISC: Design + Innovation for Sustainable Cities
        • embARC Summer Design Academy
        • Deadlines & Fees
        • Application & Admissions Requirements
        • Summer Programs FAQ
      • Study Abroad
      • Courses
    • Admissions
    • Advising
    • News + Events
    • Explore
    • Research + Design
    • Resources
  • CED
    • About CED
    • Academics
      • Degrees + Certificates
      • Summer Programs
        • Summer [In]stitute in Environmental Design
        • DISC: Design + Innovation for Sustainable Cities
        • embARC Summer Design Academy
        • Deadlines & Fees
        • Application & Admissions Requirements
        • Summer Programs FAQ
      • Study Abroad
      • Courses
    • Admissions
    • Advising
    • News + Events
    • Explore
    • Research + Design
    • Resources

Designed for college students interested in learning how to address the urgent issues of climate change, urban health and social equity through design of the built environment

Program date (on-campus program):

Spacing: medium

July 3 - Aug 4, 2023

APPLY NOW
Spacing: medium

Register for a virtual information session:

March 13, 2023, 4pm Pacific Time

DISC is an immersive, full-time program on the UC Berkeley campus, stretching over five weeks. The program fosters a multidisciplinary and international learning environment that empowers students with the tools and expertise necessary to craft innovative design-based solutions.

DISC is open to eligible students from any college or university. International students are welcome and encouraged to participate. No prior experience in design is necessary.

Guided by UC Berkeley faculty, expert professionals, designers, makers & entrepreneurs, DISC students confront the most pressing challenges facing cities. Through studio sessions, lectures, workshops and field work, students have the opportunity to test their own creative ideas while working with some of the most renowned researchers and practitioners from the San Francisco Bay Area.

DISC 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.

DISC is one of the courses highlighted by IARU, the International Alliance of Research Universities, a collaboration between 11 of the world's leading research-intensive universities. 

Spacing: medium

CURRICULUM

The program is built upon four main platforms:

  1. The Urban Innovation Seminar and Global Cities/Global Challenges Seminar establish the program's theoretical framework.
  2. The Studio Sessions and Digital Workshops are at the core of the program, honing fundamental making skills and empowering students to craft their own design solutions. Working in teams, students develop a project from design conception to prototyping, and present the final results of their work to instructors and guest critics.
  3. Field Work and Site Visits will give students an opportunity to engage directly with the dynamic built and natural environments of the Bay Area, using it as a living laboratory for study.
  4. The Guest Lecture Series exposes students to some of the most renowned and forward-thinking researchers and practitioners in the Bay Area.

Student Experience

Spacing: medium

Benefits of Attending

  • Identify and explore the major debates around global urbanization and sustainability.
  • Understand the potentials and limitations of design and technology interventions.
  • Construct a project that spans from concept to design to plan to fabrication.
  • Connect with a network of highly engaged peers, faculty and practitioners.
  • Earn college-level credit on an official UC Berkeley transcript.

Upon completion of the DISC program, participants graduate with a strong understanding of urban dynamics and a broad toolkit with which to confront "wicked problems", as well as compelling artifacts for their academic portfolio. DISC alumni are prepared to become the next thought leaders and game changers in the shaping of our built environment.

Explore

See what DISC students worked on in the past years. Click on a link and see the studio syllabus, content of digital workshops, weekly progression, guest speakers, student schedule, as well as photos of field trips, reviews, and student work.

  • DISC 2022 blog
  • DISC 2021 blog
  • DISC 2020 blog
  • DISC 2020 virtual open house
  • DISC 2019 blog
  • DISC 2018 blog
  • DISC 2017 blog
  • DISC 2016 blog

Watch a short video about DISC:

Spacing: medium
APPLICATION & ADMISSIONS
Deadlines & Fees
International Students
FAQs
Spacing: medium

FACULTY

Gabriel Kaprielian
Lecturer in Summer Session, Director of DISC Program
Gabriel Kaprielian is a designer, urbanist, and artist based in the Bay Area. With degrees in both architecture and city planning, his creative work and research focus on resilient cities, sustainable design, emergent technologies, and digital fabrication.

His professional experience includes traditional architecture practice with award-winning firms, social focused architecture as a Design Fellow for Architecture for Humanity, urban design in the public sector, and as an Artist-in-Resident at Autodesk’s Pier 9 Workshop in San Francisco. In addition to serving as the Director of DISC in the College of Environmental Design, Gabriel has served as a lecturer at a Cal Poly, California College of the Arts, UC Berkeley, and is currently Assistant Professor of Architecture in the Tyler School of Art at Temple University. Gabriel holds a BArch from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, CA, and MArch and MCP from UC Berkeley.

Headshot Ghigo DiTommaso
Ghigo Ditommaso, GLOBAL CITIES / GLOBAL CHALLENGES LECTURER
Ghigo DiTommaso was trained as an architect in Florence, where he picked up the tools of the trade while feeding a strong interest in urban history and theory.

Licensure in hand, he moved to Barcelona to become part of its thriving design community. There he worked with prominent Catalan architects on numerous award-winning projects while also conducting research at the EtsaB School of Architecture and teaching at the ESDi School of Design. Based in the Bay Area since 2010, he has been a core member of the Rebar Art & Design Studio and more recently of the new San Francisco offices of Gehl Studio, where he continues to practice the profession. At CED, while serving as Program Director of Disc*, he also collaborates with the LAEP department as a lecturer and project researcher. Ghigo holds a BArch and an MArch from the Facoltà di Architettura di Firenze, and an MSArch and PhD from EtsaBarcelona.


Applications for summer 2023 are open

APPLY NOW

If you like to receive deadline reminders, updates and more information, please add yourself to our mailing list.

Questions? Email summerdiscovery@berkeley.edu

Berkeley CED Logo

COLLEGE OF ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN
University of California, Berkeley
230 Bauer Wurster Hall #1820
Berkeley, CA 94720-1820

  • ARCH
  • LAND
  • CITY
  • URBANISM
  • Contact
  • Visit
  • For Faculty & Staff
  • Linkedin
  • Accessibility
  • Nondiscrimination
  • Privacy

© 2023 UC Regents; all rights reserved.     Credits