Architecture Degrees Online

AREAS OF CONCENTRATION
As a world capital with representatives from over 150 nations and more than 1,000 professional, trade, cultural, political, technical, and social service organizations, Washington, D. C., is a premier location for post-professional research and study. The Master of Architectural Studies is designed to take advantage of these resources in combination with course work at The Catholic University of America and the institutions that comprise the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area. Students in the program are advised individually and assigned mentors to guide their studies and thesis, and will follow curricula uniquely tailored to their needs and interests.

The areas of concentration currently available include:
Cultural Studies/Sacred Space
Design Technologies
Digital Media
Real Estate Development
Urban Design

A post-professional degree, the Master of Architectural Studies, is offered to applicants who already hold a professional degree in architecture and wish to pursue further investigations in design or design-related topics. Students are offered an intensive curriculum in one of five areas of concentration: Cultural Studies/Sacred Space, Digital Architecture, Digital Fabrication, Real Estate Development, and Urban Design/Conservation. It requires a minimum of one-and-a-half years of advanced study tailored to the needs and interests of the individual.

As a world capital with representatives from more than 150 nations and more than 1,000 professional, trade, cultural, political, technical and social service organizations, Washington, D.C., is a premier location for post-professional research and study. The Master of Architectural Studies is designed to take advantage of these resources in combination with coursework at The Catholic University of America and the institutions that comprise the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area.

The pre-architecture major leads to the Bachelor of Arts degree. However, it may be chosen only as a second major. The double major is required so that the perspectives provided by this interdisciplinary program may be complemented by a concentrated disciplinary experience. The pre-architecture program introduces the student to the forms, history, and functions of architecture as well as the studio skills relevant to its practice. The program is designed to provide a background for undergraduate students who plan to continue architectural studies at the graduate level, as well as for those interested in the study of architecture as part of a liberal or technical education.

To declare a pre-architecture major, students should have declared a first major and have sophomore or junior standing. Up to 6 credits in general education requirements and elective courses taken by students for their first major may be applied to their pre-architecture major.

The Master of Architecture Program focuses on material innovation, research, application, and resourcefulness within a larger social and cultural context. While providing a well-rounded architectural education, the program engages physically and digitally with old, new, and emerging building materials and systems to explore architecture as a critical and evolving practice. Digital craft, design research, interdisciplinary engagement, alternative models, and global involvement and exchange are emphasized.

Designed for students who have earned a bachelor’s degree in another field, the program is a three-year first professional master’s degree in architecture. It also accommodates students who have begun their architectural studies at the undergraduate level. Advanced standing may be granted to those who have some previous education in the field. Placement is based on a review of the portfolio and undergraduate transcripts.

CCA’s metropolitan setting enhances the educational experience it offers. The city of San Francisco serves as an urban laboratory, inspiring new ways to configure architecture and space. Small class sizes ensure access to a diverse faculty of practicing professionals. The program sponsors its own lecture series featuring architects and theorists from around the world who are working with a wide range of issues and ideas. Many of these guests stay on campus for several days to teach and review student work.

We believe that architects are cultural makers—leading and responding to social, economic, and ecological issues. Our goal is to graduate architects who will continue to produce real-world work that engages architectural theory.

The heart of architectural education is the design studio, where students learn to synthesize the wide range of ideas, issues, and technologies required for the conceptualization of architecture. It is also the place where some aspects of architectural practice are modeled and where history, theory, and technology are integrated into design.

The first three semesters introduce the culture of architecture and the nature of the discipline through rigorous studios that are open to graduate students only. In the following two semesters, students explore their own interests, choosing from a menu of elective studios that are taught by architects and focus on a broad range of practice strategies.

The final studio semester is spent executing an honors design thesis or an advanced studio using the student’s own research and focusing on his or her specific interests. A course on the intricacies of professional practice rounds out this cluster.

Running parallel to the studio courses is a sequence of courses in history and theory. These courses ground studio practice in the world of ideas. The first year includes an in-depth study of the history of architecture as well as a seminar course that places architecture in the context of culture, politics, technology, and philosophy.

In the second year, a one-semester seminar introduces architectural theory. The fall of the third year includes an intensive independent research lab, in which students explore their individual interests under the close supervision of a faculty member.

This work provides the intellectual framework for the concluding semester of studio work. Finally, each student selects two semesters of graduate level, topically based theory seminars from a menu of courses offered across all of CCA’s graduate programs.

A third parallel sequence of courses builds knowledge and skills related to technology and practice issues. Courses in sustainable building systems, building energy, structures, materials, and methods of construction form the heart of this sequence. Electives within the sequence include courses in deep-green building practices, advanced building construction, and digital craft.

The facilities on the San Francisco campus include dedicated studios with a wireless network infrastructure, a suite of fully equipped shops for various scales and media of fabrication, and four computer labs with the latest Macintosh hardware and software. The New Materials Resource Center offers a comprehensive, interdisciplinary collection of samples and is the only library of its kind housed at an art school.

The program’s other resources include special summer studios, including travel studios. In August, just before fall classes begin, we offer incoming students a three-week Architectonic Intensive. This course is designed to give those with little or no making or drawing experience a head start.

The program also offers the 333 studio each summer. Based in San Francisco, this studio is three weeks long, with each of the weeks taught by a different internationally recognized architect. Instructors for 333 have included Nader Tehrani of Office dA, Thomas Wiscombe of EMERGENT, Rodolphe el-Khoury, and Lisa Iwamoto and Craig Scott of IwamotoScott Architecture.

Our Latin American travel studio alternates summers between Peru and Argentina. Each studio is led by a member of our faculty who is native to the country: the Peru trip is led by Sandra Vivanco, and the Argentina studio is taught by Leonardo Zylberberg.

Use your Post Graduate Diploma. Now you can top-up your PGDip to a Masters award with specialised study in:
Design and Theory
Urban Design
Intervention Architecture
Architectural Journalism
Structural Design
Architectural Studies
Course Content

The course offers:

Study organised to ensure:
an understanding of the key knowledge and skills needed for the specialism
a critical appreciation of the ideas, theories and debates that inform that area, and their application
the opportunity for personal development and specialisation through a dissertation or major project

Skill Development
The ability to deal with complex issues both systematically and creatively, make sound judgements in the absence of complete data, and communicate conclusions clearly to specialist and non-specialist audiences
The ability to demonstrate self-direction and originality in tackling and solving problems, and act autonomously in planning and implementing tasks at a professional or equivalent level
The opportunity to develop and enhance understanding of particular aspects of architecture via areas of specialised studies
An awareness of the impact of their specialist area of study on different places and people

Teaching Methods
Teaching methods include: design studios, design based tutorials, seminars, lectures, design workshops, demonstrations, case studies. Contributions from visiting tutors who are practicing architects, designers or construction based professionals.

Professional Recognition And Further Study Opportunities

The course is recognised by ARB and RIBA for exemption from the Part II Examination for those who have passed, or been exempted from, RIBA Part I. Students without RIBA Part 1 exemption are not eligible for the course, but may be eligible for the MA Architectural Studies programme which is specifically designed for students in this situation.

Attendance
The course lasts for two years in full-time mode (excluding the Diploma 1 year out) and is three years in part-time mode. The part-time mode requires all students to be employed in a suitable design practice, and this experience supplements for attendance, thus resulting in an attendance pattern of one full day per week. Consistent weekly attendance is mandatory in this mode. For full-time students, two formal days of studio teaching are provided along with a third day, in which students visit local architectural practices for tuition.

The Master of Architecture (M.Arch) degree is earned through successful completion of a five-and-a-half year program at Norwich University. Graduates from other colleges are not accepted into the fifth year of this program. Transfers are accepted into the BS in Architectural Studies and are governed under existing university academic regulations (including 60 percent of credit hours being earned at Norwich).

The masters program builds on the experience of the undergraduate curriculum, preparing students to function as professional architects. The program emphasizes practical experience (through a practicum) as well as autonomy and rigor (through an architectural thesis and graduate seminars).

Admission into the fifth-year Masters of Architecture is not automatic. In their fourth-year, students must submit a portfolio of their studio work for review and approval by an architecture faculty committee. This threshold also requires a minimum university GPA of 2.50 and a GPA of 2.75 for all design studio courses; these thresholds are subject to change. The Masters year offers graduate-level professional electives as well as the opportunity to undertake a thesis, of one’s own choosing.

Perhaps the most exciting and innovative aspect of the masters’ curriculum is the requirement of an architectural internship in the summer between the fourth and fifth years. For this practicum, students will be required to locate and work in an architecture office (or in another design-related firm). The course work is completed using distance-learning techniques, which not only permit students to work in their hometowns (or other locations of their choosing) but also give each individual experience in digital communications and technologies which are major evolving aspects of architectural practice today.

The curriculum features the use of threshold points and portfolio reviews for each student in order to better identify individual career objectives as well as to assure the high academic caliber of every Norwich graduate.

Students have an opportunity to spend a semester in Berlin, Germany, in the School’s own study abroad program delivered by Lexia International.

A minor in Architectural Studies has the following course requirements: AP118 (or other design studio experience), AP201, AP202 and at least three additional courses with AP prefixes, totaling not less than 8 credit hours. Minimum total credit hours for a minor in Architectural Studies is 18. All courses must be passed with a grade of ‘C’ or better. Enrollment into courses is subject to availability of space.

Admission requirements
(Please note that these are the specific programme admission requirements – the university has its own minimum admission requirements.)

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS FOR CURRENT GRADE 12 LEARNERS:
Minimum statutory NSC requirements for degree entry must be met. English, Afrikaans or isiXhosa (home language or first additional language) on at least a level 3 (40 – 49%). NSC achievement rating of at least 4
(50 -59%) for Mathematics is preferred.

The submission of a creative portfolio to the department.
An interview with the department’s staff and a discussion with them of your creative portfolio.
All applicants will be referred for access assessment.
For more information on the creative portfolio and interview please contact 041 5042719.
Learners must score at least 34 points on the university’s APS rating scale.

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS FOR APPLICANTS WHO MATRICULATED PRIOR TO 2008:

Matriculation exemption/endorsement with minimum HG=E or SG=C for Mathematics.
Learners must score at least 31 points on the university’s SPS rating scale.
The submission of a creative portfolio to the Department .
An interview with the Department’s staff and a discussion with them of your creative portfolio.
All applicants will be referred for access assessment.

The Department of Architecture’s professional architecture programme is a two-degree programme: a three-year Bachelor’s degree in Architectural Studies (BAS), and a two-year Master’s degree in Architecture (MArch).

Once you have the BAS degree, should you decide not to proceed further, and once you have complied with the South African Council for the Architectural Profession’s (SACAP) practical training requirements, you can register as a senior architectural technologist.

Once you have the MArch (Professional) degree and have complied with SACAP’s practical training requirements, you can register as a full professional architect.

BAS graduates may also register for MTech: Architectural Technology after completing one year of work in an architectural practice.