Master of Architecture

专业详情

Master of Architecture

The Master of Architecture is awarded upon the satisfactory completion of an approved program of at least 282 units and an acceptable thesis. The program requires three and one-half academic years of residence.

Advanced entry may be considered in exceptional circumstances for students who have majored in architectural design at a “4 plus 2” architecture school. These students may be considered for completion of the program in two and one-half years depending on their academic experience and accomplishments.

The professional MArch program is diverse and open-ended, with many views of appropriate research and practice of architecture available. Shared concerns include an interest in materials, fabrication, and technology; drawing and geometry; theory and criticism; sustainability and climate change; and culture in an age of rapid change and globalization. They also include a commitment to design as it engages related disciplines aligned with architectural production, a view of the environment as an ecologically structured phenomenon, a regard for the fabrication processes of building, a perspective on new technologies and their impact on practice, and a concern for the spatial, temporal, social, and urban contexts of buildings. Given the varied perspectives from which the curriculum is conceived, an important aspect of the student’s development is to be able to establish links between different areas of focus and its many disciplines.

The focus of the MArch degree program is through architecture design studios integrated with supporting subjects central to the curriculum. The professional curriculum specifies that a student study a range of subjects in several interrelated fields and students in the MArch program have considerable choice. Required and elective subjects taught by the various discipline groups within the department and in other related departments offer a way of charting multiple paths for future professional possibilities. Therefore, students are expected to develop a cohesive structure for their individual educational interests within the MArch program at MIT beyond the core curriculum and toward the development of a design thesis.

Accreditation for MArch Program in the United States

Most state registration boards require a degree from an accredited professional degree program as a prerequisite for licensure. The National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), which is the sole agency authorized to accredit US professional degree programs in architecture, recognizes three types of degrees—the Bachelor of Architecture, the Master of Architecture, and the Doctor of Architecture. A program may be granted a six-year, three-year, or two-year term of accreditation depending on the extent of its conformance with established educational standards. Doctor of Architecture and Master of Architecture degree programs may consist of a preprofessional undergraduate degree and a professional graduate degree that, when earned sequentially, constitute an accredited professional education. However, the preprofessional degree is not, by itself, recognized as an accredited degree. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Architecture offers one NAAB-accredited degree program: MArch (non-preprofessional degree plus 282 units and an acceptable 24-unit thesis). The next accreditation visit is in 2023.