The Summer Immersion Studio is an introduction to the key ideas and techniques in Architecture and Landscape. Open to students 18+, from current undergraduates to mid-career professionals, the course is suitable for anyone interested in a focused introduction to the discipline. Taught by Faculty from Graduate Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Urban Design, students will emerge with a command of essential skills and a small body of work suitable for use as the foundation for a graduate application portfolio. Students receive individualized, one-to-one technical instruction in drawing, modeling, fabrication workflows, and portfolio development, building both conceptual and technical fluency in preparation for graduate-level study.
The studio is organized around a four-part framework: four weeks, four design exercises, four New York-based site visits, and four architectural techniques. Each week introduces a new design prompt paired with a specific method of architectural production, while field-based sessions connect studio work to the city’s architectural environments.
Situated in New York City, the studio extends beyond the classroom by engaging the city itself as a site of learning. Field-based sessions and site visits encourage students to observe, analyze, and document architecture directly, connecting studio investigations to the spatial, material, and urban conditions of the city. By working across studio and city, students develop the ability to analyze and interpret architecture at multiple scales, while gaining firsthand exposure to diverse architectural environments that shape contemporary practice.
The course emphasizes iterative making and critical thinking, encouraging students to explore analog and digital media as complementary tools of design thinking. Lectures and reviews with invited Pratt faculty provide additional academic mentorship and insight into graduate-level expectations. The studio culminates in a design exhibition and a carefully curated, individually developed portfolio that documents each student’s work, preparing students for applications to graduate architecture programs.
Summer housing at Pratt Brooklyn is available to SCPS Summer Intensive students (credit or noncredit) for an additional fee and is arranged through Pratt’s Residential Life and Housing Office (RLH). Before applying for housing at Pratt Brooklyn, you must first register for the course(s) of your choice. If you are interested in on-campus housing at the Brooklyn campus, please contact SCPS-NonCredit@pratt.edu, and we will connect you with Pratt’s Residential Life and Housing Office.
Faculty Highlight
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Hart Marlow
Interim Assistant Chairperson of GALAUD; Adjunct Associate Professor – CCE; SCPS Lecturer
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Brook Boughton
Visiting Assistant Professor; SCPS Lecturer
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Olivia Vien
Adjunct Assistant Professor; SCPS Lecturer; K-12 Center Instructor