Here in the School of Architecture at Rensselaer, we take pride in preparing our students to become future leaders in the profession. Beyond offering a comprehensive education that leads towards licensure within our two NAAB accredited professional programs we aspire to create an environment and culture throughout the School that rewards the nobility of ideas, the roots of theoretical inquiry, the merits of social responsibility, the resounding effects of innovative design and the impressive achievement of realizable proposals that are thoughtfully conceived as benevolent gifts to the world at large.

Evan Douglis - Dean
 

MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE I
Professional Program

The practice of architecture in the 21st century is increasingly driven by heightened cultural, social and environmental issues. In response, our top-tier program offers a  comprehensive and dynamic curriculum comprised of digital design, emerging fabrication technologies, environmental simulation software, new materials, and the opportunity to engage in a range of cross-disciplinary collaborations. Situated within the oldest technological institute in the U.S., the program draws upon a vast resource of science and  engineering expertise in support of the school’s commitment to architecture as a project of interdisciplinary and social engagement. We envision the future of architecture transformed by a new generation of design research, creativity, innovation and new methodologies in the service of a socially vibrant and sustainable built environment.

The master of architecture graduate program is a three and one half year program leading to a NAAB accredited professional degree in architecture. The program is open to applicants with a baccalaureate or equivalent degree in any discipline or field of study.  Students come from the full range of liberal arts, design, science and engineering disciplines and are able to show evidence of analytical and creative skills. The first year of  the curriculum constitutes the core foundation of design, technology, history and critical  theory courses. The second two years of the curriculum build on the foundation with  integrated advanced design studios and seminars.

The M.Arch graduate program allows students holding a bachelor of science in architecture degree to be considered for advanced standing. Upon review of transcript and portfolio, successful candidates may have up to two design studios waived. The academic advisor and faculty members will review additional course waiver requests. The program begins with advanced design studios and seminars in the fall semester.  Coursework opportunities include concentrations in built ecologies, lighting and acoustics. A candidate admitted with advanced standing normally completes degree requirements within two years of full time enrollment.

Application deadline is January 1, 2016. Late applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis after this point in our late submission process. Visit the Office of Admissions website for application instructions and online application procedures.

 

GEOFUTURES – MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE II
Post-Professional Program

Fifteen years ago, Nobel Laureate Paul Crutzen announced that the world had entered a  new geological age, what he termed the Anthropocene, a period characterized by industrial anthropocentrism as a new geophysical force on Earth. The principle qualities and  conditions of this new age, namely those of global warming, mark a fundamental shift in  human-nonhuman relations, the end of one world and the beginning of another, in which  human social, psychic, and philosophical space has been infiltrated by a nonhuman  presence, bringing with it a new period of environmental anxiety and existential uncertainty.

Geofutures seeks to engage this new period of environmental anxiety and existential  uncertainty by posing the question as to whether architecture should embark on establishing new affiliations beyond the human; a fundamental realignment of the discipline as  something no longer significant for us alone. In doing so, the program endeavors to  convert crisis into opportunity by harnessing both the pressures of a planet at risk and  the promise of emerging environmental technologies to generate a broad spectrum of  possible, if not probable, urban and architectural futures for the twenty-first century.

CONCENTRATION 1: ENVIRONMENTAL PARAMETRICS: The Environmental Parametrics concentration places emphasis on knowledge and expertise in performance design, including state-of-the-art as well as next-generation building systems, structures, and environments. The primary intention of this program concentration is to provide a foundation in the physics of buildings, the performance analysis and evaluation of the built environment, and performance design strategies.

CONCENTRATION 2: ECOLOGICAL URBANISM: The Ecological Urbanism concentration places emphasis on theoretical speculation and design experimentation. Situated within a long and rich history of speculative urbanism particular to the discipline of architecture, including such visionary proposals as Antonio Sant’Elia’s La Citta Nuova (1914), Frank Lloyd Wright’s Broadacre City (1932), and Kenzo Tange’s Plan for Tokyo (1960), this program concentration challenges students to mine the daring and often prophetic urban visions of previous generations as a means of speculating on the future of the city in the twenty-first century.

Application deadline is January 1, 2016. Late applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis after this point in our late submission process. Visit the Office of Admissions website for application instructions and online application procedures.