CAPLA’s flexible two- or three-year Master of Architecture is a NAAB accredited, professional STEM degree devoted to the education of tomorrow’s leading architects. Our M Arch combines place-based design honed in the extreme climate and exquisite landscape of the Sonoran desert with cutting-edge material and environmental research, all delivered through hands-on learning. As an M Arch student, you will acquire a portable design sensibility, empowering you to develop critical modes of practice, regardless of where or how you practice. In the M Arch, you will learn:
• How to design for climate and place
• Techniques, both digital and analog, for design representation and exploration
• Architectural history and theory
• Passive and active building technologies
• Digital fabrication and other advanced technologies
• How design should respond to materials, fabrication, and construction
• The impact of sociocultural factors on design
• How to present your work visually, verbally, and materially
• How to collaborate
• Professional practices and ethics
• Social justice and design for all You will graduate ready to thrive in a profession of increasing importance that is taking on climate change, growing urban populations, water scarcity and a post-pandemic world.
The School of Architecture is devoted to a professional education with a sensibility honed by the conditions of an extreme climate. In our Sonoran Desert setting we teach students to design for extreme conditions in accordance with principles of sustainability. Students and researchers then build on that knowledge in application to other climates.
Our students learn by doing. From building and breaking model structures to develop an understanding of building physics to design-build studios in which students build furniture, shelters, and small buildings, learners thrive in this hands-on environment. Students grow in ways that prepare them for the later challenges of professional practice in an ever-changing built environment.
Career paths our graduates have taken include:
College of Architecture, Planning & Landscape Architecture
University of Arizona - Main - Tucson
Application Requirements
Prospective students are required to submit application materials directly to the University of Arizona Graduate College. Please pay careful attention to the procedures described in the online application portal. You can access the online application system as many times as necessary to prepare your application up until the time you formally submit your materials. Applications will not be reviewed until all materials have been received.
The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is not required to apply.
All applicants must upload the following documents using PDF format:
International students must also provide:
Official transcripts may be mailed to:
CAPLA Graduate Programs Office
University of Arizona
1040 N. Olive
Tucson, AZ 85721
Minimum TOEFL: 79
Minimum IELTS: 7
Required test(s): N/A
Required GRE Subject tests: N/A
Recommended tests: N/A
Recommended GRE Subject tests: N/A
Minimum GRE Verbal: N/A
Minimum GRE Quantitative: N/A
Minumum GRE Written: N/A
Minimum GMAT: N/A
Minimum MAT: N/A
Financial aid is available to qualified students based on the program, by review of portfolio, supplemental application materials, merit, and financial need. Many of our students receive some form of financial aid excluding loans.
Applicants are eligible to apply for federal financial aid through Free Application Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Please visit the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid (https://financialaid.arizona.edu) for more information.
FALL 2022
(ALL M. Arch applicants MUST apply for SUMMER 2022, upon application review the faculty will determine your admission into the M. Arch II or M. Arch II track)
Check our website for deadlines.
International Conditional Admission
International applicants may be considered for conditional admission to this program at the department's discretion. See http://grad.arizona.edu/admissions/types/international-admission-types#intl-conditional for more information.
**For M Arch II applicants you must have completed a prior design degree or BS/BA in Architecture or related field. All applicants are suject to review and recommendation for 3 year programs regaurless of degree and/or experience.
The M. Arch program only admits students for Summer/Fall terms.
International applicants may be considered for conditional admission to this program at the department's discretion.
4832
61
Minimum credits: 61 (M Arch II) - (*=courses required for M Arch II)
94 (M Arch III)
Immersion Studios:
ARC 509a Advanced Immersion Studio – Not required for all admits, (4 units)*
ARC 509b Advanced Immersion Seminar – Not required for all admits, (3 units)*
ARC 510a Immersion Studio I: Space + Composition, (4 units)
ARC 540a Design Communications I, (3 units)
Core Coursework/Studios:
ARC 510b Immersion Studio II: Tectonic (6 units)
ARC 521a Integrated Technologies I (3 units)
ARC 531 History + Theory I (4 units)
ARC 540b Design Communications 2 (3 units)
ARC 510c Immersion Studio III: Land Ethic (6 units)
ARC 521b Integrated Technologies II (3 units)
ARC 526 Site Analysis & Planning (2 units)
ARC 527 Architectural Programming (1 units)
-OR- ARC 525 Site Analysis & Planning + Architectural Programming (3 units)
ARC 532 History + Theory II (2 units)
ARC 510d Comprehensive Studio 1: Dwelling or Institutional (6 units)*
ARC 521c, Integrated Technologies III (3 units)*
ARC 533 History + Theory III (4 units)*
ARC 540c Design Communications 3 (3 units)*
ARC 510e Comprehensive Studio 2: Assembly (6 units)*
ARC 521d Integrated Technologies IV (3 units)*
ARC 541 Contract Documents (3 units)*
ARC 510f Options Studio II (6 units)*
ARC 909 Master’s Project Prep (3 units)*
ARC 909 Master’s Project (6 units)*
ARC 550c Ethics and Practice (4 units)*
Upon admission to the program, students may demonstrate competency through coursework in an undergraduate related degree such as a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture (BLA), Bachelor of Architectural Engineering or Bachelor of Arts or Science in Architecture (BA or BS Arch) or Bachelor of Architecture (B. Arch). Courses can be reviewed for comparative competencies in one of our master level courses by reviewing samples of work, projects or references along with passing scores of A or B.
History + Theory: Technical Elective (3 units)
Integrated Technologies: Technical Elective (3 units)
Graduate Level Elective (3 courses = to 9 credit hours)
Suggested Electives:
ARC 561d Computer Energy Analysis
ARC 561i Materials: Properties + Tests
ARC 571n Arid Region Urbanism: Arizona/Sonora
ARC 593 Internship (1-3 units, up to 6 units may apply towards elective requirements)
ARC 596b (H/T Elective) The Architecture of International Exposition: Envisioning Healthy Designs for Expo 2027
ARC 596b (H/T Elective) Contemporary Urbanity and Public Space
ARC 597a Research Methods (LAR/PLG 597a)
ARC 597b Special Topics in Architecture Environmental Science Laboratory
ARC 597d Practice Elective: Reading Architecture
ARC 597k The Portfolio: Advanced Graphics, Presentation, Layout and Design
ARC 561a Water Efficiency in Buildings
ARC 597b (001) Health and Wellbeing in the Built Environment
ARC 596d Social Behavioral Issues in Built Environments
ARC 596b (002) (H/T Elective) Trans Journal
ARC 535 Forms of Critical Inquiry and Expression
ARC 599 Independent Study (1-9 units may be taken as Independent Study, to apply towards elective requirements)
(Courses are subject to title/topic changes each semester)
Electives may be taken in various fields with faculty advisor permission.
Students are recommended to have completed a minimum math/science level of:
College Algebra & Trigonometry
&
Introductory Physics (with Lab is preferred).
Please refer to the Graduate Student Handbook for students who are pursuing this program of study.
Program-level Information | |
---|---|
Application Acceptance Rate | 72.13% |
Avg. Time-to-degree (years) | 2.46 |
Department-level Information | |
Enrollment Percent Male | 60.47% |
Enrollment Percent Female | 39.53% |
Enrollment Percent International | 27.91% |
Enrollment Percent URM | 16.28% |