Architecture

Overview

The Architecture Department is committed to advance knowledge in our discipline and practice through design pedagogies which critically engages three areas of research:

The interdependence of cultural forces, ecological processes, and ethical concerns
The relationship between architectural aesthetics and construction methodologies
The implications of emerging technologies for the design of structures and sites

These issues are developed across the program’s curriculum, as well as through student and faculty work in design studios and seminars. As these threads of design investigation interact, new poetic possibilities emerge that are visible in the products of our unique perspective.

In the design of buildings, landscapes and urban infrastructure, working simultaneously at the scale of the hand and that of the city, we share the responsibility for creating a stimulating and sustainable setting for the development of diverse cultural expression. We work close at hand and travel great distances, from Charlottesville, Washington and New York to Barcelona, Venice and Beijing. We apply our hands to the making of things, open our minds to the voices of multiple communities and extend our reach in a network of collaborations across the university and beyond. We study the dynamic fullness of the sites we enter, taking seriously our power to reveal and transform them.

This is our territory, from which we advance the critical significance and catalytic potential of our academic discourse and professional engagement. The Department of Architecture is situated in a multi–disciplinary school that also includes Departments of Architectural History, Landscape Architecture, and Urban & Environmental Planning. Cross–disciplinary engagement is a pervasive phenomenon, with each program benefiting from this rich context. The Certificate program in Historic Preservation brings together students and faculty from each of the four disciplines in a course of study overlaid on the curriculum of each field.

Values

The discipline of Architecture is evolving in a broad field of buildings and constructions, city and urban space, site and landscape with deep cultural and social meaning. Architecture addressed to collaborate in solving needs and problems in our contemporary world. Architecture is:

culture and progress
service and commitment
necessary and meaningful
transformative and innovative

The Department of Architecture is actively engaged in research and education with the following understanding:

the condition of the social need and sustainable future
the interdisciplinary of Architecture/Landscape/Urban/Theory
deep architectural knowledge
technologies, applied to build thoughtfully and innovative for solving contemporary problems

The mission of the Department of Architecture to provide the students with:

a consciousness of the world and its diversity
the responsibility to choose their own path
a broad range of questions and scales
collaboration skills with interdisciplinary experience introducing external knowledge to design
historical and theoretical knowledge and the ability to find them
technical and foundational knowledge
analogical and digital representation and thinking
research skills to acquire knowledge and develop new methods and tools

Degrees Offered

The department offers two degree programs: Master of Architecture, and Bachelor of Science in Architecture. These programs are anchored by a rigorous design curriculum that provides a forum for synthesizing parallel studies in history, theory, technology, and representation. In keeping with the public mission of the University of Virginia that dates to its founding, these programs are committed to developing the next generation of civic and professional leaders.

Graduate:

Master of Architecture

Master of Architecture; Design Studies

The Master degree is accredited by the National Architectural Accreditation Board (NAAB). A post–professional degree in architecture is offered to applicants who hold a NAAB accredited degree in architecture. Graduate students also pursue degrees in more than one field with increasing frequency. In order to facilitate this offering, we collaborate with colleagues in the other departments to developed typical curricula for the pursuit of dual degree options, which require independent admission to both programs.

Undergraduate:

Bachelor of Science in Architecture

The Bachelor of Science degree is offered in a pre–professional program providing the balance of a broad liberal arts foundation with a rigorous studio preparation for graduate study in architecture. Undergraduate Minors in all disciplines, global sustainability as well as other fields throughout the University provide vehicles for focused complementary study. An Architectural Studies Concentration in the Bachelor of Science program offers an opportunity for design–oriented research outside of the studio curriculum in the final year.

Administration

Inaki Alday

Chair: Iñaki Alday

Director of Graduate Program: John Quale

Director of Undergraduate Program: Betsy Roettger

University of Virginia: School of Architecture