check out ucla, they have a great m arch 2 program. i graduated from it in june and it was a really great experience (b arch was from syracuse). the faculty there is rivaled only by a few other schools - you typically get a year long research studio with either greg lynn, thom mayne, neil denari or dagmar richter. plus you also get regular contact with jason payne, david erdman, mark lee, heather roberge and quite a few others. plus the best part is you get a six week starter session in the summer where you historically get payne and erdman all to yourselves plus all the fabrication equipment without the wait. i would highly recommend checking the school out.

there's an m arch 2 blog on this site that is regularly updated by 4 current students.

http://www.archinect.com/schoolblog/blog.php?id=C0_410_39


i also applied to columbia, harvard, and the AA. all of which have good post-prof programs. the stephens institute of technology also has a very interesting program led by some of the leading architects in parametrics.

can we ban the use of the term 'flyover states' from these fora? really. it's for your own good. it makes you coasters sound ignorant.

let em fly-over, that means the pretentious can stay closer to the inevitable flooding from rising sea levels, you know global warming thingy...the only states i can't handle are the southern ones that prefer a return to a land of cotton, where ole times there are not forgotten...

i wish i could go to Cranbrook.

I guess it depends on what you're looking for in a post-professional program. Why don't you look at content first instead of skipping straight to geography and offended everyone? If location is the only thing you're paying attention to then you are probably missing the point.

....*offending everyone....

any information about IAAC master's programme?????

yah it seems that if your going to do post-pro then you already have an agenda in mind... so it really should be based upon your area of interest otherwise its not really worth your time.

Yeah obviously content is most important, but also, I don't know if I'd want to live in cow country, even if only for 2 years, so location is also big.
I'd be really into a program that has some flexibility and an emphasis either on theory, social agenda, or sustainable design. maybe I have too many tangents.
Just trying to get an idea of what's out there. Not too many of these programs.
thanks for the links and tips.

if you wanted to venture south, auburn has a post-prof master of design-build program. (at least fits the social agenda, a little bit sustainable, not at all theory.) and it's only one year!

my biggest advice would be to research the school and program as much as you can before you go in. the blog by TADS is an excellent cross section of what your experience can be like, though it by no means has to be exactly like that - there are many interesting courses that are outside the realm of technology and fabrication. that being said (and to harp on a point brought up by another poster), you have a degree and a certain amount of experience - there's nothing compelling you to go back outside of your own design interests. make sure you know what those are and can mold your experience in the program around that. don't like the program bounce you around from seminar to seminar, create an agenda for yourself and find the faculty members that meet that criteria.

myself - i was into the fabrication side of things and was drawn to people like greg lynn, jason payne and david erdman. greg can be a little hard to tie down at times, but you can get A LOT of time with the other two if that's what you want.

good luck.

georgia tech has a masters of science program with a variety of specialisation options...

advanced architectural design
architecture, culture & behavior
building ecology & emerging technologies
building technology
computation, composition, & construction
history, theory, & criticism
morphology and design
urban design

also, i think that most of the ivies have post-pro masters programs...

such as columbia's M.Sc. in Advanced Architectural Design...

there are tons of post-pro programs... i don't think that you're looking hard enough...

Could someone explain what a post-professional degree is? If you have a BArch, isn't the next step an MArch? In the grad program that I attended (name withheld due to flyover status), the MArch II students had previous degrees and were there for two semesters to conduct research.

first, there are the professional degrees that are required to be a licenced architect... these are either the B.Arch. or M.Arch.I... the M.Arch.I can usually be completed in 2 years with a non-professional undergraduate degree in architecture (such as the Bachelor of Design, or B.Des.) OR the M.Arch.I is done in 3.5 years for those students with an unrelated undergraduate degree...

then, there are post-professional degrees... usually a Masters of Science (M.Sc.) but also sometimes an M.Arch.II... these are usually 1 year programs that delve into some specialized topic such as digital fabrication or green building or advanced design...

it's basically like Ph.D.-lite... very lite...

Thanks. I guess my response to arcanna would be: if you have a professional degree, why pay a school for another? It might make sense if you want to teach, but another option would be to take a year off work and execute some of your own projects. Heck, for the cost of tuition, you could get small loan and build... something. Which might then attract clients, and you launch Atelier Arcanna. Now that's a sweet name.

I've looked into this as well, and like santa monica mentioned, the major thing is that you can teach with an M.Arch. Most, post-pro M.Arch programs are one year (I've seen many that go June-June) thesis project that included the design project plus research.

It seems like most schools offer a post pro masters. They differ on the title of degree given (M.Arch, M.Arch II, MS Arch, M.Arch Studides) but the descrptions are usually the same. Also most of the programs are self guided as far as research topics and design program. So, I'd make my choice in the same manner i made my B.Arch choice. What's important to you? Location, Faculty, Ease, Cost, School Rep... etc...

Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach...


I'd love to teach a first or second year design studio...

in response to santa monica about paying tuition--
i felt the same way, but found a program where i got a graduate teaching assistantship--so, no tuition, plus got a stipend that covered rent and some expenses, and got a change to teach/research.
it seems easier to get assistantship type fin. aid in a post-pro master's program. of course totally depends on the school/program though.

Santa Monica- the idea is not to get on the teaching track, but to continue to learn and think. Sometimes at work one does not always learn and think.
Good point about the cost of tuition, but, hard to imagine having enough money to actually build at this stage in my life/career. Maybe if I lived in Montana. Fact is I live in the most inflated real estate market in the country (SF bay area) and if I'll be lucky I can buy a "fixer upper" for a half mil. It's great to dream of buying an empty lot, clean slate, but then if you can't afford to pay for a separate place to live on top of that, then you're in trouble.
Not to mention the liability insurance.
This is why architects design furniture.