My degrees and experience in architecture and urban planning came at different times from different places, so I'm not a good source on joint or dual degrees.

One thing I do know is that some schools/departments housing both architecture and planning programs may not integrate them at all... they can be completely separate. Unfortunate, but true. So be careful about that when in your research.

This does not mean that a motivated and creative student can't craft their own satisfying curriculum in such places... only that it may depend on the student's own initiative to do so.

I just graduated from the University of California (Berkeley) with a dual Master of Arch (option II) / Master of City Planning degree(s) and I second citizen's thoughts - bridging the two programs, and departments. too, depends on students' own initiatives. It is possible to go through both programs with little to no involvement in the other - including the separate social circles, the conflicting seminar schedules, and the completely disparate work and design ethic/perspectives that the departments often inherently breed.

I can give you some specifics about Berkeley's program, and my personal road map about how to merge the two departments.

1. Select seminars, studios, and professors who are actively researching and practicing in both fields: Renee Chow (architecture and urban design, works in China), Rene Davids (architecture, urban scale studio projects, Latin America), Nicholas De Monchaux (architecture, scripting and GIS studies at urban scales), Do not take a studio in the planning department unless you are immune to really shitty graphics and poor, underdeveloped design.

2. Take advantage of the strengths of both departments. In planning, it is the component of theory (You must take a course with Nezar AlSayyad and Ananya Roy to really experience it) and the analytic tools of the research methods courses and GIS analysis. Again, it will be up to you as a motivated student, creative thinker, to rethink these tools and really exploit them in your design studies. The strength of the M.Arch of course is design - so be sure that you are always in the best, most rigorous studios - occasionally, some shitty ones slip through the cracks. Take advantage of the digital studios, the parametric seminars, and the biomimicry design courses. You will learn the most and produce the most work (you will also spend the most money on resources, but it will be worth the cost). Some design professors in that regard: Paz Gutierrez, Lisa Iwamoto, Nicholas De Monchaux, and visiting faculty from LA and NYC.

3. Network between depts. Go to the happy hours. Become friends with the tree-hugging bikers, still clad in helmets at the grill, complaining that their tofu dog is too close to someone's beef patty. Get to know the guys who haven't shaved or showered in a few days, whos clothing is covered in starch powder from three consecutive days (and nights) of 3D printing in the lab. Strike up a conversation between them all and you win.


I am entering the job market myself, so I am interested to hear from others who have crafted their own niche position in the field, or have found a real benefit to practicing both disciplines at the same time. Has anyone been able to see financial benefits to this? Starting salaries for planners tend to be significantly higher than for architects - I keep discovering essentially starting planning positions (often working for the gov.) for about 70-90k a year. Seems like the real lack of integration happens in the field? Success stories welcomed.

Having completed the Urban Desing progam at the GSD, I can speak to that program specifically.

First of a bit more background info whould help. Do you have an arch degree already? Or are you looking to get a professional degree plus Planning?

I had a few classmates that were completeing their M.Arch and doing the Planning/Urban Design program as well. I believe it was an additional year on top of the 3.5 for the M.Arch. The departments are somewhat separated in terms of faculty and staff, but the curriculum is extremely variable. The reason I went to the GSD over other programs was the flexibility they offered in terms of studios and classes. Once you fulfill the degree requirements, you are free to take studios or classes from any of the departments (Arch, Planning, Landscape). The Planning program was a bit more isolated in the sense that most of the students did not have Arch or Design backgrounds which made it hard for them to take studios focused on that scale. But, let me stress that the Planning program at the GSD is very heavily studio based (one each semester). It is NOT just taking policy or law classes. Overall, the GSD had a feeling of collaboration between the scales of projects and disciplines.

I chose Urban Design to expand my skill set as a architect/designer to larger more complex problems at the urban scale. I believe this has helped me in the professional sphere. I work at a large office and have the skills to go back and forth between the scales of work that we do. As far as the classmates that did the M.Arch/Planning degree or just Planning, I know of many that are working for Municipalties, Developers, non-profits, etc and seem to be doing well.

I my opinion, this joint degree can only help you. Cities will continue to grow and place a demand on the profession to deal with urban scale issues aside from the typical "beautiful object" buildings. It is a good choice. Good luck.

You can get an M.Arch and and Urban Planning Degree simultaneously at Georgia Tech.

Dsal - urban DESIGN is very different from urban planning - which is what the post is about

Thank you all for your feedback. A friend of mine has been looking into both of the programs mentioned (Berkeley and the GSD) though I was not entirely aware of how the programs interacted. Most of what I seem to come across mentions the two paths are often separated so I will keep in mind "untested_city"s advice to make the programs work together through my own initiatives and look for ways to weave the courses and seminars together.

DSal- I am currently an undergraduate Urban Studies student at UT Austin with a background in sculpture. In the Fall I will be applying to first professional degree programs combined with planning (tentatively.) People have mentioned the University of Michigan to me since it has a track like this though I have also been looking into Columbia and Penn.

It is good to hear that pursuing both disciplines does offer a professional advantage as this was one concern of mine-- whether the extra studies become applicable and are worth the pursuit.

Perhaps to a certain extent in practice they do. However, they are the same department at the GSD and therefore share resources, faculty, etc, which was a question of the poster. Yes, one deals with more with physical planning and the other may utilize policy and law more, but they both address the questions of city growth and development. My post was to address the collaboration of the various programs at the GSD (Architecture and Planning specifically)