Master of Architecture (MArch) - Option 1

Program Learning Outcomes for Master of Architecture (MArch) Students graduating from this program will: Develop or augment design and communication skills to formulate architectural projects that engage broader theoretical, social, political, economic, cultural, and environmental issues at a level commensurate with advanced study. Develop or augment a comprehensive knowledge of the technical aspects of design and construction including an understanding of their impact on design and the environment at a level commensurate with advanced study. Develop or augment the ability to synthesize heterogeneous cultural and technical considerations into a coherent project at a level commensurate with advanced study. Develop or augment a comprehensive understanding of architectural practice and foster the development of innovative forms of practice at a level commensurate with advanced study. Degree Requirements for Master of Architecture (MArch) The Master of Architecture program understands architecture to be a generalist practice, while encouraging each student’s freedom to forge a specific trajectory within this generalist milieu. We prepare students to engage an ever more ambiguous world—one that can no longer simply be flattened by such binaries as local and global, quantity and quality, mind and nature, form and function, or standards and exceptions. The challenge we pose to our students is to transgress the obsolescence of opposing values and to navigate the tricky waters of a world no longer organized around presupposed notions of solidity, permanence, rootedness, centrality, protection, and identity. Our program is the very place where visions of the future are tested and where students are asked to understand the world’s complexity in order to focus on the tangible, the legible, and the relevant. Programs of Study—There are two program options at the Master of Architecture level: Options 1 and 2. They differ according to the Bachelor’s degree received prior to entering the graduate program. Option 1 Offered to individuals who hold a four-year undergraduate degree with a major in a field other than Architecture or a major in Architecture with fewer than five semesters of architectural design studio. Preference for admission is given to those who have completed a balanced education in the arts, sciences, and humanities. A minimum of two semesters of college-level courses in the history of art and/or architecture and one semester of college-level courses in mathematics or physics is recommended. Previous preparation in the visual arts is also desirable, as are courses in philosophy, literature, and economics. In order to graduate, students in this program must complete, in addition to 6 semesters of design studios, a curriculum of 46 credit hours with an additional free electives course load of 27 credit hours. MArch Thesis Requirement Thesis is payback time—it is when students build upward and outward from what they’ve learned over the years, giving back to the school by providing new disciplinary fodder. More immediate than a crystal ball, some of the common threads underlying a Rice thesis might well reveal tomorrow’s future. Despite working in the context of Texas’s vast horizon, Rice thesis students do not envision an endless frontier. RSA Paris MArch (Option 1 and Option 2) students may apply to RSAP to complete one semester in Paris: Option 1 students may do so in their fifth or sixth semester, Option 2 in their third or fourth semester. BArch students may apply to RSAP in their final year of study.