I recently graduated from a 5 year BArch program in the US and was excited to finally start working in the field. However, given the current situation it seems no place is currently hiring or plan to for the foreseeable future. As such I was thinking of pursuing a Master in Urban Planning degree in the fall. The program is a year long and I'm hoping that things will be better by the time I would graduate from it. Could having a MUP make me more employable in the AEC industry? Are there other architects out there who have taken a similar route? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!
midlander
Jul 17, 20 8:03 pm
i wouldn't say it makes you more employable because planning itself is a smaller field within architecture. but it does give you more options starting out and a track to follow as you grow in experience. large firms with institutional and big-developer clients or international projects tend to have more jobs related to planning, which might be an advantage for your career development.
if you're genuinely interested in it and cost of study is no issue it will be useful towards helping you develop a career focused on bigger picture work. it doesn't guarantee a job or even pay more starting out though - until you have a few years of experience you're just the same as anyone else. i've worked with many excellent professionals who had combined backgrounds in architecture and planning.
citizen
Jul 19, 20 12:48 am
Do you mean urban design, midlander? If so, that makes sense to me. Planning isn't located within architecture as a subfield, though large firms often combine the two practices for full service to large clients. The educations (and very paradigms) in architecture (normative) and planning (ostensibly objective) are pretty distinct.
midlander
Jul 19, 20 9:16 am
yes you're correct... i'm thinking's urban design. my office has a combined PUD team which i suppose is mostly focused on the UD. those are the people i work with mostly.
I recently graduated from a 5 year BArch program in the US and was excited to finally start working in the field. However, given the current situation it seems no place is currently hiring or plan to for the foreseeable future. As such I was thinking of pursuing a Master in Urban Planning degree in the fall. The program is a year long and I'm hoping that things will be better by the time I would graduate from it. Could having a MUP make me more employable in the AEC industry? Are there other architects out there who have taken a similar route? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!
i wouldn't say it makes you more employable because planning itself is a smaller field within architecture. but it does give you more options starting out and a track to follow as you grow in experience. large firms with institutional and big-developer clients or international projects tend to have more jobs related to planning, which might be an advantage for your career development.
if you're genuinely interested in it and cost of study is no issue it will be useful towards helping you develop a career focused on bigger picture work. it doesn't guarantee a job or even pay more starting out though - until you have a few years of experience you're just the same as anyone else. i've worked with many excellent professionals who had combined backgrounds in architecture and planning.
Do you mean urban design, midlander? If so, that makes sense to me. Planning isn't located within architecture as a subfield, though large firms often combine the two practices for full service to large clients. The educations (and very paradigms) in architecture (normative) and planning (ostensibly objective) are pretty distinct.
yes you're correct... i'm thinking's urban design. my office has a combined PUD team which i suppose is mostly focused on the UD. those are the people i work with mostly.