David Cooke
Hometown Adelaide, Australia
Undergrad Degree Master of Planning, University of Adelaide | Bacheor of Architecture, University of Adelaide | Bachelor of Design Studies, University of Adelaide
Thesis ”Short Term Games, Long Term Gains: A plan to foster Adelaide’s Urbanity and Identity through the Commonwealth Games.
urbanity and identity through the Commonwealth Games”
Top 3 Favorite Cities Boston | Barcelona | Adelaide
Currently Urban Designer, Architect, Planner
“After working within commercial architectural practices for 15 years, the MUD experience was everything that I wanted it to be. It cracked my mind open and put me back in touch with the real reasons why I entered the design profession. It was life changing. The knowledge gained from Berkeley along with the networks established have become the new benchmark for current and future projects I am involved with.
The Program is well structured with a good balance of academic and practical teaching and knowledge sharing. The ability to guide your own learning within the thesis and studio is a major advantage.
The MUD program opened my eyes to the urban challenges that are facing cities throughout the world and provided me with the knowledge, experience, skills and confidence to contribute to city urban solutions. The program was the catalyst for the establishment of my own practice, City Collective, which is based on the holistic design approaches and responses to city scale problems addressed within the MUD program.“
Feng Chen
Hometown Ningbo, China
Undergrad Degree B.L.A., Zejiang Forestry University | M.L.A., Tongji University
Thesis “Permanent and Temporary: Utilizing Landscape to Guide the Urban Growth of Chinese County-Level Cities”
Top 3 Favorite Cities Shanghai | New York | Barcelona
Justin Kearnan
Hometown Boston, MA
Undergrad Degree Master of Architecture, Wentworth Institute of Technology | Bachelor of Science of Architecture in Urbanism, Wentworth Institute of Technology
Thesis “Reasserting Urbanity - A manifesto towards the essential urbanization of the 21st century American city”
Top 3 Favorite Cities Boston | Savannah | Berlin
Ken Hirose
Hometown Tokyo, Japan
Undergrad Degree Bachelor of Engineering, Tokyo Metropolitan University
Thesis “Public Space, Privately Owned: Evolving POPS to Accommodate the Changing Nature of Downtown San Francisco”
Top 3 Favorite Cities Tokyo | San Francisco | Sapporo
Currently Urban Designer/ Architect in Tokyo, Japan at Nhonsekkei, Inc.
‘My educational experience broadened my professional perspective as an architect and urban designer. I especially learned a lot from classes and students in the urban planning and landscape design, and they help me understand and propose integrated way of thinking with various scales and fields.”
Tom Van Pelt
Hometown Laguna Niguel, CA
Undergrad Degree Master of City and Regional Planning, California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo | Bachelor of Arts Political Science, San Francisco State University
Thesis “Arroyo Riverwalk - A New San Diego Neighborhood at the River’s
Edge”
Top 3 Favorite Cities Chicago | Edinburgh | Madison
Currently Planner, WRNS Studio, San Francisco, USA
“My time in the Master of Urban Design (MUD) program taught me to approach planning and design with a holistic understanding - integrating infrastructure, landscape, circulation, and program into public space design and architecture. My professional career has been largely focused on master planning and design projects for institutional campuses. I believe that campuses are concentrated, city-like places built around shared aspirations, identity, and values. The comprehensive viewpoint that I learned in the MUD program has allowed me to approach my work with a whole systems thinking - rooting design in the fundamentals of culture and place. The program also expanded my worldview, exposing me to people, places, and ideas that strengthened my understanding and appreciation of the profession. Both the faculty and my fellow colleagues all pushed me during the program, helping to refine my work and supporting my personal and professional development. I continue to count my colleagues as lifelong friends and the MUD community as a continual professional resource and sounding board.”
Rohit Tak
Hometown Pune, India
Undergrad Degree Bachelor of Architecture, Pune University
Thesis “Re-establishing Reciprocity between River and City, Mutha Riverfront, Pune, India”
Top 3 Favorite Cities Paris | San Francisco | New York
Currently Urban Designer, WRT Design, San Francisco
“On very important fact about the education in U C Berkeley is the emphasis on practicality and functionality of a well thought design. Many institutions give a lot of stress on the “ideas” stage of the studios but lack in bringing the work-ability and practical aspects of the design. College of environmental design at Berkeley, certainly balances these aspects and helps its students to be a competent professional. The professional experience and success which I am achieving so far has a lot of influence from the education I got in CED and this has a lot to do with the professors who inculcated the right values in me.”