In fall 2023, the world-renowned architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) ran the design studio of the Masters of Tall Buildings and Vertical Urbanism (MTBVU) program, a first-of-its-kind collaboration between the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) and the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT). The design studio culminated with final reviews of “Nova Pro Forma,” a pioneering exploration of the pro forma aspects of tall building design.

Under the guidance of three senior colleagues at SOM: Scott Duncan, design partner; Jorge Rovira, associate principal; and Jason Fisher, associate principal, the Nova Pro Forma design studio tasked students to reimagine the tall building as the embodiment of emerging and entirely new uses that speak to novel modes of working and the ecological imperatives we confront today. Students chose from six “alternatives,” developing both an architecture and a nova pro forma, based on the following business cases for tall structures:

• Carbon capture;
• Energy generation;
• Energy storage;
• Food production;
• Server farming;
• Medicine; or
• An amalgam of the above to support multifamily housing.

Applications for the MTBVU program, the world’s first multidisciplinary advanced degree focused specifically on the high-rise and the role of urban density in future cities, are currently being accepted. The final deadlines for applications are 15 April for international students and 1 August for domestic students. This new design- and research-based program brings together students and professionals from architecture, real estate, engineering, urban design, construction management, business, finance, and other backgrounds in a unique learning environment built to foster interdisciplinary research and experience. The MTBVU program is led by Dr. Antony Wood, CTBUH president and director of MTBVU, and Dr. Yohan Kim, CTBUH academic coordinator and assistant director of MTBVU.

The program welcomes applicants holding an accredited professional degree in architecture, urban design, and other related fields, such as real estate, engineering, business, etc.