{"id":2480,"date":"2026-02-27T17:30:29","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T17:30:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/cast\/?p=2480"},"modified":"2026-03-06T09:53:03","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T09:53:03","slug":"arc-626-multispecies-design-and-the-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/cast\/2026\/02\/27\/arc-626-multispecies-design-and-the-city\/","title":{"rendered":"ARC 626 – Multispecies Design and the City"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Instructor: Mark Shepard<\/em>
ARC 626: Situated Technologies Graduate Design Research Seminar<\/em>
Spring 2025<\/em><\/p>

DESCRIPTION:\u00a0<\/b><\/p>

Contrary to the commonly held belief that cities are agents of ecological degradation, recent research has found that urban areas are surprising refuges for biodiversity. These urban environments, evolving more rapidly than their rural counterparts, have become hubs of evolution where species quickly adapt to new environments, forming complex and dynamic ecosystems. However, despite this flourishing urban biodiversity, this remains largely ignored in traditional approaches to architecture, urban design, and planning, which have typically focused on accommodating human needs while neglecting the diverse communities of species that also inhabit the city.<\/p>

This seminar investigates theories of multispecies design and interspecies interaction through the development of design criteria for (and with) nonhuman urban inhabitants. We will examine the design of spaces that not only accommodate but also engage both human and nonhuman urban life. Students will collectively research and develop a \u201cfield guide\u201d that presents design criteria for more than human urban environments. Readings spanning the fields of philosophy, anthropology, science and technology studies, animal studies, environmental humanities and art provide a transdisciplinary context within which these criteria will be considered. This seminar fosters critical thinking, ecological literacy, and the ability to synthesize scientific research into design applications. Co-registration with the spring 2026 Situated Technologies Design Research Studio is highly recommended but not required.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tARC 619: Architectural Geometry and Construction\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t
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Instructor: Nick Bruscia | Type: Seminar
\nThis technical seminar introduces computational modeling and simulation in architecture, focusing on geometric principles and digital workflows that connect form-finding, material behavior, and fabrication through algorithmic modeling and physics-based simulation tools.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tRead More \u00bb\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tARC 404: Digitizing and Designing Toward Spolia\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t
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Instructor: Nick Bruscia | Type: Studio
\nThis studio explores the design and construction of dry-stacked masonry systems using recycled architectural stone, combining digital scanning, computational modeling, and mixed-reality tools to translate irregular salvaged materials into structurally legible assemblies.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tRead More \u00bb\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tARC 606: Mediating and Remediating Gowanus\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t
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Instructor: Mark Shepard | Type: Studio
\nThis graduate design research studio investigates green infrastructure and environmental sensing systems for multispecies urban environments, focusing on ecological restoration and responsive landscape interventions along Brooklyn\u2019s Gowanus Canal.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tRead More \u00bb\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Instructor: Mark Shepard | Type: Seminar
\nThis seminar explores theories of multispecies design and interspecies interaction in urban environments, developing design criteria for more-than-human cities through interdisciplinary research spanning philosophy, anthropology, environmental humanities, and science and technology studies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":639,"featured_media":2486,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_header_footer","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-courses"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/cast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/cast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/cast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/cast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/639"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/cast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2480"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/cast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2480\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2552,"href":"https:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/cast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2480\/revisions\/2552"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/cast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/cast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/cast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/cast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}