Related Programs, Labs and Centers
Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture (AKPIA)
Established in 1979, the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture (AKPIA) at Harvard University and MIT is supported by an endowment from His Highness The Aga Khan. The program is recognized today as a leader in the study of architecture and urbanism in the Islamic world. A considerable number of our PhDs and SMArchS (Master of Science in Architectural Studies) graduates are teaching in leading universities in various parts of the Islamic world and in the West, while a few are curators in major museums, and most are either self-employed as designers or employed in architectural and construction firms.
The Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture (AKPIA) at MIT is dedicated to the study of Islamic architecture, urbanism, visual culture and conservation, in an effort to respond to the cultural and educational needs of a diverse constituency drawn from all over the world. The aim of the program is to concentrate its teaching and research activities in the following directions:
- To enhance the understanding of Islamic architecture and urbanism in light of critical, theoretical and developmental issues.
- To support research at the forefront of the field in areas of history, theory and criticism of architecture and urbanism.
- To explore approaches to architecture that respond critically and thoughtfully to contemporary conditions, aspirations, and beliefs in the Islamic world.
- To provide an extensive base of information about architecture in the Islamic world and to share it with scholars, teachers, and practitioners from everywhere.
Along with the focus on improving the teaching of Islamic art and architecture and setting excellence as the standard in professional research, AKPIA also continually strives to promote the visibility of pan-Islamic cultural heritage.
Academic Programs in AKPIA
Ph.D Program in History Theory and Criticism, with a concentration on Islamic Architecture and Urbanism
The History, Theory and Criticism discipline group admits students to conduct doctoral studies in the history and theory of architecture and urbanism in the Islamic world. Usually, one student a year is admitted and funded through AKPIA's endowment.
Master of Science in Architectural Studies, (SMArchS) offers a concentration in Architecture and Culture in the Islamic World as an area of study in the two-year degree programs. AKPIA scholarships are made available for concentration in Islamic architecture and urban studies to students formally admitted to the SMArchS Program.
Post-Doctoral Fellowships for Research in Islamic Architecture
AKPIA sponsors a postdoctoral fellowships program at MIT. The program is intended for young scholars who are engaged in research on Islamic architecture and urbanism. One or two fellowships are granted every year.
Center for Real Estate (CRE)
Location: Building W31
The Center for Real Estate (MIT/CRE) was established in 1983 within the School of Architecture and Planning to join academic and industry resources in addressing the changing issues and needs of the built environment.
The Center for Real Estate is a focal point for real estate education and research at MIT. Since it was established in 1983, MIT has awarded the Master's degree in Real Estate Development to almost 600 graduates of the program, ten percent of whom also received joint degrees from associated departments at MIT. The one-year program was the first of its kind and has served as a model for graduate degree programs at other universities both in the U.S. and abroad.
The Center has also supported the work of more than a dozen doctoral students concentrating in real estate. It sponsors non-partisan research by its distinguished faculty on critical issues in real estate. This research is essential to promoting new knowledge, advancing teaching techniques, and bridging the gap between theory and practice.
Media Arts and Sciences and the Media Lab
Location: Wiesner Building, E15
At MIT, the phrase Media Arts and Sciences signifies the study, invention and creative use of enabling technologies for understanding and expression by people and machines. The field is rooted in modern communication, computer and human sciences, and the academic program is intimately linked with research programs within the Media Laboratory. Computers and computation are the most prominent common denominators of this multi-disciplinary merger of previously separate domains. For underlying the explosive advances of the various technologies involved, they are discovering and cultivating a new set of shared intellectual and practical concerns that are becoming the foundations of a new academic discipline. In its simplest form, the field of Media Arts and Sciences can be thought of as exploring the technical, cognitive and aesthetic bases of satisfying human interaction as mediated by technology. In more forward-looking terms, it addresses the quality of life in the information-rich environment of the future.
SIGUS
SIGUS-the Special Interest Group in Urban Settlement-links housing and community interests in the Departments of Architecture and Urban Studies. It offers workshops, short courses, and carries out research stressing participatory methods in promoting affordable and equitable housing. SIGUS started in 1984 and grew out of experience in developing countries and has evolved to include the developed countries with a commonality of issues and approaches.
SIGUS explores the new professionalism emerging for architects and planners. It offers a linked series of interactive, hands-on workshops throughout the year. The "SIGUS-way" typically hosts a 2-week, field-based workshop in January, held in collaboration with a partner university abroad. The theme is then explored through shorter activities at MIT, bringing in resource people who have effectively linked theory and practice. Previous workshops were developed around the theme "Rebuilding Communities", and were held in Vietnam (Ho Chi Ming City), Thailand (Chiang Mai) and Cambodia (Phnom Penh), and most recently in the Philippines (Manila). Special workshops are held focused on current concerns, for example, “Rebuilding Kabul” exploring ways to reestablish the destroyed housing areas, and “The Tsunami Challenge: After the Tent” which offered teams the opportunity to develop ideas and present in Washington.
Current SIGUS interests include research on tools for empowering users, community based participatory techniques for preparing development plans and self-built housing processes exploring homecenters as effective support elements. Third World slum improvement was prepared for the Cities Alliance, a joint World Bank and UN Habitat initiative, and features a web site and CD resource for practitioners. A new program, the Louisiana Lift House Initiative, is focused on sustainable housing in the coastal areas of southern United States. It provides support to TRAC, a local mitigation NGO, and to Oxfam American, in four areas: 1 - development of a prototype ‘lift’ house which is cultural sensitive, hurricane safe, energy efficient, and tailored to volunteer participation; 2 - improving the permitting process to upgrade housing quality through increased code compliance; 3 - an outreach program to the informal DIY builders; and 4 - testing of innovations in construction and materials in a demonstration housing program.
SIGUS offers related presentations throughout the year, and formal courses on low income housing in developing countries. In the fall, an introductory course on structuring low-income housing projects provides a comprehensive setting for understanding third world development issues. A course on tools and techniques for the "new participatory practitioner" is offered in the spring.
SIGUS is coordinated by Reinhard Goethert and supported by student assistants from the Department of Architecture and the Department of Urban Studies and Planning. An alumni network is maintained through SIGUS Net, which provides outside support for SIGUS activities.
