48-658 Codes, Zoning and the Built Environment

6–9 units, Carnegie Mellon University

This course explores the systems of economic, political, social, and regulatory forces driving the production of contemporary architectural projects. It critiques these systems, examines alternatives, and tests interventions in pursuit of value propositions outside of the bottom-line driven norms of late capitalism. What do design economies driven by equity, circularity, ecology, pluriversality look like? Through lecture and discussion, real world case studies in both for-profit and non-profit sectors, both locally and internationally, students explore the process of project development from multiple perspectives and gain insight into dynamics that determine if, how, and when projects are realized as well as relationships among various stakeholders, including architects, developers, and communities.

Prerequisites: none listed

Offered: Spring 2027, Spring 2026

Courseweave needs JavaScript to show sections, workloads and planning tools.