The CUCD engages in research that is related to our four core focus areas which include, capacity building, community engagement, historic preservation and sustainable and resilient design. As such, the CUCD has the dual mission of researching strategies for these categories of community development as well as applying this knowledge in practice through design. The CUCD utilizes the resources of the School of Architecture, the University as a whole, as well as its network of associated professionals to develop multi-disciplinary teams of faculty, students and professionals able to meet the specific challenges each project presents.
Tools:
Research Grants
Research Assistantships
Publications
Architecture and Urban Design Projects
Digital Mapping and Modeling
Projects:
2018 – Sustainable Village and Learning Community, Arcahaie, Haiti: Planning work began in the Summer of 2018 in Haiti with a cross-disciplinary team of architects and engineers from the University of Miami and the State University of New York (SUNY). This project will focus on vocational training and will occupy 40 acres of land near the town of Luly. The community aims to be both environmentally and economically sustainable. Students can focus on a variety of trades, including construction, nursing, hospitality, applied technology, agriculture and the performing arts. Phase one of construction is scheduled to begin in 2019. The project's primary funder is the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
Project Lead: Steven Fett. Collaborators: Scott Shannon, Maren King, and Doug Daley (SUNY ESF faculty) Chris Ritter, Jose Venegas (SoA Alum) Bernute Augustin, Sheng Qian (SoA students).
2018 – Abu Dhabi Medical Health Sciences Campus: Graduate and undergraduate students recently collaborated with the CUCD on a design for a medical campus in Abu Dhabi. Working alongside assistant director Steven Fett and researcher, Zhao Pei, a handful of talented and motivated students focused intensely for five days to produce a plan and illustrative drawings following an ambitious medical program provided by the School of Medicine. The conceptual plan referenced the Fareej, a vernacular, small-scaled residential block pattern common in the Emerites. This pattern is typified by strong geometric forms and numerous internal courtyards.
Collaborators: Steven Fett, Zhao Pei, Xiying Li (alum), Andrea Hernandez, Shannar O'Connor, Sheng Qian, Jinyi Xu, Abulaziz Alenezi, Catalina Ruiz and Bo Xuan.
2017 – Green Orizzont: Coconut Grove’s New Prototype Home: Objectives for this project included the conceptual and schematic design for two homes on one lot in Miami’s Coconut Grove neighborhood. Green Orizzont, a social and environmentally conscious developer sought the services of the CUCD to design a pair of innovative, technologically advanced “green” homes that could serve as a model of inspiration and change for a historic neighborhood under increased development pressure.
Project Lead: Steven Fett. Collaborators: Yue Pan, Aky Fernandez and Jingyi Xu.
