Carnegie Mellon University School of Architecture
M.Arch Curricular Structure
YEAR 1
The two-year M.Arch curriculum features advanced design methods that focus on design-research, synthesis, and integration at every level through deep disciplinary and interdisciplinary engagement of sites, buildings, landscapes, ecologies, and technical systems. The studios in the first year are required for all incoming students: the Fall "Praxis 1: Worldmaking" studio is followed by the "Praxis 2: Advanced Construction" studio.
Praxis 1 considers architecture as a broad framework for Worldmaking across political, social, and ecological contexts. It unpacks architecture’s entanglement with historical worldviews of extraction and capital to locate praxis in questions of architectural agency and design ethics. The studio introduces a range of emergent, transformative, and critical modes of praxis that operate across scales and temporal dimensions, connecting formal, disciplinary questions to socio-ecological paradigms. These include, but are not limited to—practices of construction that invert labor and material extraction considering circular thinking, urban waste, design for deconstruction; adaptive reuse that foregrounds the creative repurposing of existing buildings to acknowledge embodied and operational energy; forms of participatory politics considering architecture as a temporal device that acknowledges and actively deploys the agency of its users; or practices of synanthropism that actively enhance urban and periurban biodiversity through hybrid assemblages of buildings, landscapes, and ecological habitats.
Praxis 2 builds upon this understanding of architecture as a modulator of complex cultural and historical flows but locates these within tectonic cultures and their associated modes of built form and architectural integration. Through non-linear, multi-scalar, iterative design process, small teams develop and refine detailed architectural assemblies attuned to methods of construction, craft, and labor practices; the role of structural configurations in organizing the spatial distribution of occupancies and human experiences; how envelopes regulate and respond to thermal, acoustic, and visual performance while also participating in aesthetic discourse; ecological synergies and impacts; modes of participation in carbon culture, including environmental management systems, commuting culture, and other patterns of integration with urban context; and ultimately the disciplinary imperative to integrate and orchestrate these multiple forces and systems.
Depending on background and undergraduate coursework, students will also take required technical courses in Architectural Theory, Situating Research, Materials and Assembly, Statics and Structures, Environment and Real Estate. Electives, either inside or outside the SoA, allow students to begin to establish their own areas of interest and specialization. Students interested in doing the optional M.Arch Thesis enroll in a “Pre-Thesis” mini to explore topics of interest and consider rigorous research methods.
SUMMER
In the summer, students are encouraged to intensify their engagement with architecture outside of the Pittsburgh campus setting and explore individual areas of interest and specialized career paths, including study abroad trips or professional internships at offices around the world. Internships that satisfy NCARB’s professional Architectural Experience Program® (AXP®) requirements are particularly encouraged. Since the M.Arch program is STEM eligible, international students are able to arrange paid internships across the U.S.
YEAR 2
The second year allows students to begin to specialize and craft a unique curriculum that reflects their emerging professional interests from a wide range of electives offered within the SoA, College of Fine Arts (CFA), and CMU. In both the fall and spring of 2nd year, students select from a diverse range of Advanced Synthesis Option Studios (ASOS). The ASOS are a set of advanced studios offered every semester on various topics chosen by studio faculty based on their research and design interests. Topics vary from year to year, and are constantly evolving to keep pace with the rapidly changing profession and global scene. “Global Studio” options allow students to travel internationally during the semester.
M.Arch students have the option of petitioning to Opt-out of the ASOS studios to pursue an individual Thesis. Students that elect to do so are required to take three preparatory courses: 1) Situating Research; 2) Pre-Thesis; and 3) Thesis Seminar. This allows students to develop an understanding of research methods and the theoretical underpinnings of architectural thesis. Students culminate their studies with a one-semester M.Arch Design-research Thesis that is included in the SoA’s Thesis exhibition.
Dual-Degree Options
By strategically using electives to enroll in courses required for other SoA Master's programs, including Sustainable Design (MSSD), Computational Design (MSCD), or Urban Design (MUD), M.Arch students can work towards a specialized concentration or dual degrees. The SoA’s Dual-Degree Options allow M.Arch students to apply up to four courses (48 units) from their M.Arch curriculum to another Master’s degree, allowing them to graduate with a dual degree, save a semester of time and tuition, and enter the job market with specialized knowledge.