M.Arch II Post-Professional Design Research

The post-professional degree program is for students already holding a professional degree in architecture (B.Arch., or an equivalent first professional degree) who seek a second, advanced degree and who are interested in pursuing cross-disciplinary design research that will expand their understanding of how the designed environment—interiors, buildings, cities and landscapes—is shaped by the intersection of broad cultural, political, economic, technical and environmental forces.

The post-professional design research program is founded on the premise that architects can contribute to addressing urgent global challenges by adopting a new way of working: design research. This involves forming cross-disciplinary collaborations to explore the spatial consequences of cultural, political and environmental issues. The post-professional M.Arch. II program equips a future generation of Yale graduates with a methodology that will prepare them to form constructive alliances with experts in allied disciplines, the outcome of which will yield viable design proposals that can be implemented on regional, local, and global scales.

Individual and Group Research

Our two-year core curriculum equips students with an advanced degree that builds upon their previous architectural training to pursue both group and independent design research. It consists of a sequence of two seminars that culminates in a Design Research Studio offered in the final semester of the program. Students work individually with faculty advisors to develop and execute a design research project that corresponds with their own individual interests. The core curriculum allows students to explore independently while working within a supportive environment that fosters interaction, dialogue, and a sense of common purpose.

Academic Freedom: Advanced Studios and Electives

With only three required courses, our program offers students considerable freedom to shape their own curriculum to develop an increasingly reflexive, critical, and speculative relationship to their work. During the first three terms, students choose through a lottery system from variety of Advanced Studios, taught by leading practitioners and theoreticians from around the world. These studios are the same ones offered to M.Arch. I students. Students also take elective course options offered by the School that fall into the broad categories of design and visualization, technology and practice, history and theory, and urbanism and landscape. In addition, they are encouraged to take classed offered by other Yale schools and departments within the University. At the beginning of each term, students meet with the program director and faculty advisors, to help them choose elective courses that support their general interests as well as relevant classes that support their Design Research proposals. Students are encouraged to also take courses offered by other Yale schools and departments.

Community

The relatively small size of the Post Pro student body (approximately 40 students in the two year program) coupled with the modest size of the School of Architecture allows our students to form a collective identity while immersing themselves in the wider YSOA community. Enrolling in the three required courses builds solidarity among M.Arch. II students. At the same time, Advanced Studios and elective seminars allow Post Pro students to engage with other YSOA students as well as students from other Yale departments.