Lucas Boyd Section
Section drawing by Lucas Boyd (M.Arch ‘17)

The Master of Architecture I curriculum provides a disciplined approach to the fundamentals of architecture in a setting that ensures the flexibility and latitude necessary for students to develop their individual talents and skills.

The School believes that the educational experience of its program is enriched by students who have diverse educational backgrounds and, therefore, embraces students who in their undergraduate education have majored in a wide spectrum of disciplines, from architecture to any of the arts, sciences, or humanities. This program, leading to a degree of Master of Architecture (M.Arch.), is for students holding undergraduate liberal arts degrees, such as a B.A. or B.S., who seek their first professional architectural degree. It typically requires three years of full-time residency to complete the degree requirements.

Entering students, with a sound liberal arts background assumed, are required to follow a curriculum in which their creative powers are stimulated through a sequence of problem-solving exercises involving basic and architectural design, building technology, freehand and computer-assisted drawing, and an introduction to design methodologies, as well as courses in architectural theory and the planning, design, and development of the urban landscape. Architectural design problems in the first year start in the fall term at limited scale and by the spring term progress to an investigation of dwelling. During the spring term of first year and until mid-June, a community building project is undertaken, which provides an opportunity for the design of an affordable house as well as the experience of carrying the design through the building process when the class builds a final design. The fall term of second year undertakes the design of a public building, and the spring term of second year is devoted to urbanism. During the fall and spring terms of third year, students, through a lottery system, are at liberty to choose from a variety of advanced design studios, many of which are led by the profession’s leading practitioners and theoreticians. A number of support courses are required during the three-year curriculum. Required courses in design and visualization, technology and practice, history and theory, urban studies, and visual studies support the studios.

Within the limits of certain required credit distributions, students are encouraged to explore elective course options. Courses—falling into the broad categories of design and visualization, technology and practice, history and theory, and urbanism and landscape—support and augment the pivotal studio offerings. Courses offered by other schools and departments within the University may be taken for credit. Emphasis throughout the program is on architectural design, critical thinking, and decision-making.

Course of study

In course titles, a designates fall term, b designates spring term, and c designates summer. The School reserves the right to change the prescribed course of study as necessary.

M.Arch I total requirement: 114 credits

Pre-First Year (Mid-Summer)

1000c, Architectural Foundations* 0
Total 0

First Year (Fall)

1011a, Architectural Design 9
Visualization elective†† 3
2011a, Structures I 3
3011a, Architecture and Modernity: Sites and Spaces 3
Total 18

First Year (Spring)

1012b, Architectural Design 9
2012b, Structures II 3
2016b, Building Project I 3
3012b, Architecture and Modernity: Theories and Projects 3
Total 18

First Year (Early Summer)

2017c, Building Project II† 3
1019c, Visualization and Computation† 3
Total 6

Second Year (Fall)

1021a, Architectural Design 9
2021a, Environmental Design 3
4011a, Intro. to Urban Design 3
Elective‡ 3
Total 18

Second Year (Spring)

1022b, Architectural Design 9
2022b, Systems Integration 3
Elective‡ 3
Elective‡ 3
Total 18

Third Year (Fall)

Advanced Design Studio 9
2031a, Arch. Practice & Management 3
Elective‡ 3
Elective‡ 3
Total 18**

Third Year (Spring)

Advanced Design Studio 9
Elective‡ 3
Elective‡ 3
Elective‡ 3
Total 18**

If an entering student can demonstrate competence and passing grades, from an accredited school, in the material covered in any of the program’s required support courses (except for 2031a), that student may request a waiver of those courses. A waiver of any required course, however, does not reduce the number of course credits required to fulfill the program’s degree requirements. Support course waivers are granted by the Curriculum and Rules Committees based upon the recommendations of the course’s study area coordinators. Requests for a waiver must be submitted to one of the course’s study area coordinators within one week of the start of the first term of the student’s enrollment. A transcript, course syllabus, and a notebook or examples of work accomplished must be presented to the study area coordinators.

*This course is required for those students so designated by the Admissions Committee. Typically, this course will be required for students who do not have significant pre-architectural training. This five-week course begins mid-July and concludes mid-August.

†This course concludes in late June.

††Students are offered a selection of course options in the fall term of their first year that satisfy the first-term visualization requirement. Selection is made through a student-run lottery.

‡One elective must be a qualified Visualization elective (in addition to the required Visualization elective taken during the first year of study), one elective must be in the History and Theory study area and must require one or more research papers totaling at least 5,000 words, one elective must be in the Urbanism and Landscape study area, and one elective must be in the Technology and Practice study area. These required electives must be taken within the School of Architecture and may be taken in any term. Students may not substitute independent elective course work to fulfill these requirements.

Program Requirements

Summer Preparation Courses for Incoming M.Arch. I Students

In the six weeks before the beginning of the fall term, the School offers four summer preparation courses that are required for incoming M.Arch. I students. In fall 2020, these courses will be offered online and/or during the fall semester.

  1. Architectural Fundamentals (1000c). This five-week course is offered at no charge for those newly admitted students who do not have significant pre-architectural training. This course is required only for those students who have been informed in their acceptance letter that they must take this course. Students required to take the summer session must satisfactorily pass this course before being admitted to the School’s first-year M.Arch I program in the fall. Classes are held each day, Monday through Friday. The average day is broken into morning and afternoon sessions. Students are expected to complete assignments outside of class.
  2. Summer Shops Techniques Course. This one-week course introduces incoming students to the School’s fabrication equipment and shops. The course stresses good and safe shop techniques. Students are not allowed to use the School’s shops unless they have satisfactorily completed this course.
  3. Summer Digital Media Orientation Course. This two-part course, which occurs during the same week as the Summer Shops Techniques Course, covers accessing the School’s servers, the use of the School’s equipment, and the School’s digital media policies and procedures. This course is required only for those M.Arch. I students who did not take Architectural Fundamentals (1000c); see paragraph 1 above.
  4. Arts Library Research Methods Session. This ninety-minute session covers various strategies to answer research questions pertaining to course curricula and topics by using tools such as the Yale University online catalog, architecture databases, image resources, print resources, and archival resources.

School Portfolio

In addition to the 114 satisfactorily completed course credits, a student must satisfactorily complete the portfolio requirement in order to receive an M.Arch. degree. The portfolio requirement is administered and periodically reviewed by the Design Committee.

Academic Rules and Regulations

Procedures and restrictions for the M.Arch. I program can be found in the School’s Academic Rules and Regulations section of the School of Architecture Handbook.

National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB)

Design and Visualization 22

1011
Fall 2024
Architectural Design I
Cara Liberatore, Can Vu Bui, Nicholas McDermott, Michael Szivos, Violette de la Selle, Maria Rius Ruiz
1021
Fall 2024
Architectural Design 3
Stella Betts, Abigail Chang, Martin Cox, Karolina Czeczek, Aniket Shahane, Peter de Bretteville
1101
Fall 2024
Advanced Design Studio: Dwelling Ecologies: Community, Construction and Collaboration in a Changing Climate
Issa Diabaté, Anna Dyson, Matthew Rosen
1102
Fall 2024
Advanced Design Studio: Daily Show
Amélia Brandão Costa, Rodrigo da Costa Lima, Surry Schlabs
1103
Fall 2024
Advanced Design Studio: Asymmetry
Francis Kéré, Martin Finio
1104
Fall 2024
Advanced Design Studio: Making Matters, Mumbai
Anupama Kundoo, Gavin Hogben
1105
Fall 2024
Advanced Design Studio: Intertwined Visions: Reimagining Cusco’s Salt Mine
Sandra Barclay, Jean Pierre Crousse, Andrew Benner
1106
Fall 2024
Advanced Design Studio: Still Life
Mauricio Pezo, Sofía von Ellrichshausen, Daisy Ames
1107
Fall 2024
Advanced Design Studio: Oceanic Worldbuilding: From the Archive to an Architecture for ‘Āina
Dominic Leong
1108
Fall 2024
Advanced Design Studio: Narrative Arcs: Nature & Density in Los Angeles
Ma Yansong, Regina Teng
1211
Fall 2024
Drawing and Architectural Form
Victor Agran
1233
Fall 2024
Composition and Form
Peter de Bretteville
1248
Fall 2024
Cartographies of Climate Change
Joyce Hsiang
1249
Fall 2024
Virtual Futures
Beom Jun Kim, Olalekan Jeyifous
1250
Fall 2024
The Plan
Brennan Buck
1252
Fall 2024
Inclusive Design for the Built Environment I: Participatory Design
Joel Sanders, Trace Kershaw
1253
Fall 2024
Small Objects
Timothy Newton
1254
Fall 2024
Ink
Michelle Fornabai
1259
Fall 2024
Geometric Translations
Sunil Bald
1261
Fall 2024
Independent Design Research Studio I
Emily Abruzzo, Brennan Buck
1289
Fall 2024
Space-Time-Form
Eeva-Liisa Pelkonen
1299
Fall 2024
Independent Course Work
Joyce Hsiang

Technology and Practice 10

2011
Fall 2024
Structures I
Kyoung Sun Moon
2018
Fall 2024
Advanced Building Envelopes
Anna Dyson
2021
Fall 2024
Environmental Design
Mae-ling Lokko, Jessica Bristow
2211
Fall 2024
Technology and Design of Tall Buildings
Kyoung Sun Moon
2222
Fall 2024
The Mechanical Eye
Dana Karwas
2230
Fall 2024
Exploring New Values of Design Practice
Phillip Bernstein
2246
Fall 2024
Introduction to Architectural Robotics
Hakim Hasan
2249
Fall 2024
Bad Buildings: Decarbonization Through Reuse, Retrofit, and Proposition
Tess McNamara
2251
Fall 2024
Regenerative Building Research
Alan Organschi
2299
Fall 2024
Independent Course Work
Alan Plattus

History and Theory 13

3011
Fall 2024
Architecture and Modernity: Theories and Projects
David Sadighian
3076
Fall 2024
The Automatic Promise: Architecture’s Computer Dismembered
Francesca Hughes
3105
Fall 2024
Capital Building: Histories of Design and Accumulation
David Sadighian
3108
Fall 2024
Domo Ludens: Modern Art and Architecture at Play
Surry Schlabs
3110
Fall 2024
Architecture and Print: Techniques, Formats, Methods
Craig Buckley
3111
Fall 2024
Knowledge Sharing Spaces
Summer Sutton
3240
Fall 2024
Spatial Concepts of Japan: Their Origins and Development in Architecture and Urbanism
Yoko Kawai
3252
Fall 2024
Landscape, Film, Architecture
Fatima Naqvi
3267
Fall 2024
Semiotics
Francesco Casetti
3302
Fall 2024
Tall Tales
Ife Vanable
3303
Fall 2024
Urban Century: Theorizing Global Urbanism
Vyjayanthi Rao
3319
Fall 2024
Race and the Built Environment
Jordan H. Carver
3331
Fall 2024
Karkhana: Process and Collaboration in Design
Kishwar Rizvi

Urbanism and Landscape 8

4011
Fall 2024
Introduction to Urban Design
Alan Plattus, Ife Vanable
4222
Fall 2024
History of Western European Landscape Architecture
Bryan Fuermann
4247
Fall 2024
Difference and the City
Justin Garrett Moore
4293
Fall 2024
Housing Connecticut: Developing Healthy/Sustainable Neighborhoods
Alan Plattus, Andrei Harwell, Anika Singh Lemar
4296
Fall 2024
Introduction to Planning and Development
Joseph B. Rose
4299
Fall 2024
Independent Course Work
Alan Plattus
4305
Fall 2024
Coastal Resilience and Adaptation: Portland, Maine & Casco Bay
Alan Plattus
4306
Fall 2024
Pre-Columbian Amazonian Urbanisms through the Lens of Early Colonial Texts
Ana María Durán Calisto