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The Graduate Architecture program
offers two degrees: Master of Architecture
(M. Arch.) (first-professional), and
Master of Science (M.S.) in architecture
(post-professional).
master of architecture
(first-professional)
The Master of Architecture, a first-
professional degree, is a NAAB accredited
84-credit, three-year program that
maintains a mission to train students as
leaders in the professional practice of
architecture with substantive methods
of design and inquiry. The program is
intended for students holding a four-year
undergraduate, non-professional degree in
any field. This program aims to establish a
student’s professional education with new
forms of thinking and practice and to help
students develop a lifelong relationship to
their respective fields.
Core design studios and seminars
in history and theory, computer media,
and building technologies in the first
three semesters prepare students for the
comprehensive architecture project in the
fourth semester. This combined design
and integrated building-systems course
integrates all related disciplines into the
single project. The final two semesters
are dedicated to advanced-option studios
and seminars where students can explore
a range of options within all four areas of
the curriculum.
master of science, architecture
(post-professional)
The 36-credit, three-semester (summer,
fall, spring) post-professional program
aims to expand a student’s previously
established professional education into
new forms of thinking and practice.
Open to students holding a five-year (B.
Arch.) or equivalent (M. Arch.) degree
in architecture, the program helps
students develop a lifelong relationship
to their specific interests in architecture.
All students are exposed to relevant
issues through rigorous history and
theory electives, lectures by prominent
scholars, computer-technology courses
emphasizing critical thinking, and studios
requiring integration of theoretical and
technical knowledge. The program begins
with an intensive summer semester
concentrating in design, digital media,
and theory. The second semester’s
advanced option studios are integrated
with those taken by the master of
architecture (first-professional) students.
The culmination of the program is a
thesis project on a student-developed
specialized area of research.
Right: Nima Farzaneh