This professional, accredited Architecture program offers within its design curriculum a forum for synthesizing parallel studies in history, theory, technology, and representation with a focus on the design of buildings, landscapes and urban infrastructure. The curriculum supports a stimulating and sustainable setting for diverse cultural expression. Our mission is to develop the next generation of civic and professional leaders.

PATH 3

This program allows students without a pre-professional undergraduate architecture or environmental design degree to obtain an MArch in a minimum of three years plus an initial summer session. The curriculum follows a prescribed core of foundational courses. Students are encouraged to develop a planned sequence of electives. Independent scholarship is encouraged through research studios and the thesis option. Applicants must hold a baccalaureate degree in any field from an accredited college or university. After an introductory summer session, students are expected to complete the program in six semesters. Students with a pre-architecture (Bachelor of Arts in Architecture or Environmental Design) or similar undergraduate degree maybe be eligible for advanced standing and will be considered for waivers of individual courses by permission of the chair.

PATH 2.5

This program allows students with a pre-professional undergraduate architecture degree to pursue the MArch degree in two and a half years. Typically students have a Bachelor of Science in Architecture, a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture or Environmental Design, or a Bachelor of Architecture or Environmental Design. At a minimum, students must have completed the following coursework:

• 4 architectural design studios, five or six credits each.
• 2 architectural history or architectural theory courses.
• 1 course addressing passive design or environmental systems.
• 1 structures course, addressing statics, mechanics of materials, structural analysis, and the design and behavior of basic structural elements and systems.
• 1 course addressing construction materials and assembly / construction methods.

PATH 2

This program allows students with a pre-professional undergraduate architecture degree to pursue the MArch degree in two years. Typically students have a Bachelor of Science in Architecture. At a minimum, students must have completed the following coursework:

• 6 architectural design studios, five or six credits each.
• 3 architectural history or architectural theory courses.
• 1 course addressing passive design or environmental systems.
• 1 structures course, addressing statics, mechanics of materials, structural analysis, and the design and behavior of basic structural elements and systems.
• 1 course addressing construction materials and assembly / construction methods.

MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE, DESIGN STUDIES, NON-PROFESSIONAL DEGREE

COURSE OF STUDY

See the 2012-13 Graduate Record.

ACCREDITATION

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 two types of degrees: the Bachelor of Architecture and the Master of Architecture. A program may be granted a five-year, three-year, or two-year term of accreditation, depending on its degree of conformance with established educational standards.

Masters degree programs may consist of a pre-professional undergraduate degree and a professional graduate degree, which, when earned sequentially, comprise an accredited professional education. Please note that the pre-professional undergraduate degree is not, by itself, recognized as an accredited degree.

The University of Virginia’s Path 3/2.5 (for students without pre-professional degrees) and Path 2 (for students with rigorous pre-professional degrees) Master of Architecture programs received six-year terms of accreditation in 2009. The Bachelor of Science in Architecture, by itself, is not an accredited degree.

INTERDISCIPLINARY PROGRAMS

The Certificate Program in Historic Preservation is open to graduate students enrolled in Paths 3, 2.5, and 2. Admission is subject to the approval of the chair of the Department of Architecture and Landscape Architecture and the director of the program. Students must also meet all requirements for admission to, and completion of, the Master of Architecture Program. Students are expected to meet the program requirements within the normal curricula of each path. Please see the Historic Preservation curriculum for more information.