MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE (MArch)
2023-2024 | Curriculum | 3-year program
RISD's Master of Architecture program is one of the few in the US embedded in a college of art and design. Here, architecture is taught in a way that understands the practice of design and making as a thoughtful, reflective process that both engenders and draws from social, political, material, technological and cultural agendas. The program aims to empower students to exercise their creativity by understanding their role as cultural creators and equipping them to succeed in the client-based practice of architecture.
The three-year curriculum builds on fundamental areas underpinning the creative practice of architecture: representation and fabrication; technologies and professional ethics; history and theory; and design and the process of projecting architecture. Throughout the program, ideas are expressed not only discursively but through actual production.
MARCH 3-YR PRELIMINARY YEAR | ||||||||
SUMMER | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Summer Foundation Studies Program | (9) | |||||||
MARCH 3-YR FIRST YEAR | ||||||||
FALL | WINTERSESSION | SPRING | ||||||
Graduate Core 1 Studio: Subjects. Tools. Process. | 6 | Elective | 3 | Graduate Core 2 Studio: Constructions | 6 | |||
Graduate Representation Studio: Drawings | 3 | Graduate Representation Studio: Models | 3 | |||||
Phenomena | 3 | Architectural Anatomy | 3 | |||||
Modern Architecture | 3 | World Architecture | 3 | |||||
Total CREDITS | 15 | Total CREDITS | 3 | Total CREDITS | 15 | |||
SUMMER | ||||||||
Professional Internship | (3) | |||||||
MARCH 3-YR SECOND YEAR | ||||||||
FALL | WINTERSESSION | SPRING | ||||||
Graduate Core 3 Studio: Cities | 6 | Elective | 3 | Advanced Studio | 6 | |||
Structural Design | 3 | Enclosure Design | 3 | |||||
Environmental Design | 3 | Graduate Seminar: Disciplinarity | 3 | |||||
Elective | 3 | Elective | 3 | |||||
Total CREDITS | 15 | Total CREDITS | 3 | total CREDITS | 15 | |||
M.ARCH 3-YR THIRD YEAR | ||||||||
FALL | WINTERSESSION | SPRING | ||||||
Advanced Studio | 6 | Principles of Professional Practice | 3 | |||||
Building Assembly and Systems Design | 3 | Elective | 3 | |||||
Elective | 3 | |||||||
AND | Thesis Track | Thesis Track | Thesis Track | |||||
Thesis Seminar | 3 | Thesis Discursive Workshop | 3 | Thesis Project | 6 | |||
Elective | 3 | |||||||
or | Directed Research Track | Directed Research Track | Directed Research Track | |||||
Directed Research Scope Seminar | 3 | Elective | 3 | Directed Research Seminar | 3 | |||
Directed Research Studio | 6 | |||||||
total CREDITS | 15 | total CREDITS | 3 | total CREDITS | 15 | |||
Total Credits: 111 | ||||||||
Notes:
With department permission, approved courses taken at Brown University through the cross-registration agreement may substitute for course: World Architecture and/or course: Modern Architecture. Contact the Senior Academic Specialist prior to registration for a list of qualifying courses and procedural instructions.
Two course: Advanced Studios are required. One of these may be in an allied department (Landscape Architecture or Interior Architecture).
course: Professional Internship is the required summer internship course. It may be completed in any summer prior to entering the final year. Total hours required are 280. Professional ARCH Internship credit can be granted providing students can verify an equivalent experience through a previous internship which requires a letter from the firm/company. This internship can count for NCARB Architectural Experience Program AXP. The internship hours for ARCH-2199 can be used towards architecture licensure through the NCARB Internship. Student’s intent upon becoming registered architects in the USA after graduation should enroll in the AXP as soon as possible. AXP is the internship program required by all registration jurisdictions. The work experience accomplished during ARCH-2199, the department’s minimum Internship experience (280 hours) can be recorded as acceptable experience in the AXP (3,740 hours) and thus accelerate one’s pace towards architectural licensure. Visit the NCARB website for more information.
course: Professional Internship is an optional internship, which may be taken during the summer or in Wintersession. Depending on the nature of the work, the internship may count for major elective credit within the department or for non-major elective credit. Total hours required are 180.
Students entering the Department of Architecture must participate in its Academic Laptop Program, purchasing hardware, software, and upgrades. Students should direct questions to the Computer Technician in the Architecture Department.
National Architecture Accrediting Board (NAAB) Accreditation
In the United States, most registration boards require a degree from an accredited professional degree program as a prerequisite for licensure. The National Architecture Accrediting Board (NAAB), which is the sole agency authorized to accredit U.S. professional degree programs in architecture offered by institutions with U.S. regional accreditation, recognizes three types of degrees: the Bachelor of Architecture, the Master of Architecture, and the Doctor of Architecture. A program may be granted an eight-year term, an eight-year term with conditions, or a two-year term of continuing accreditation, or a three-year term of initial accreditation, depending on the extent of its conformance with established educational standards.
Doctor of Architecture and Master of Architecture degree programs may require a non-accredited undergraduate degree in architecture for admission. However, the non-accredited degree is not, by itself, recognized as an accredited degree.
The Architecture Department at RISD offers the following NAAB-accredited degree program(s):
Bachelor of Architecture (156 credits)
Master of Architecture (non-accredited degree + 111 credits)
Master of Architecture (non-accredited degree in architecture + 69 credits)
Next accreditation visit for all programs: 2023