UBC SoA

[Master of Advanced Studies in Architecture Program]

UBC Architecture's Master of Advanced Studies in Architecture program [MASA] supports students in independent research based studies characterized by close collaborative links with faculty. The School offers an intimate milieu for the exchange of research and ideas among students of an internationally diverse background. The School is also able to draw upon related disciplines such as Community and Regional Planning, Landscape Architecture, Civil Engineering, Geography, Art History, Visual Art, and Theory. Recently the programme has been enriched by the inclusion of students from related disciplines. Working closely with a mentor, students are encouraged to utilize the resources of the wider University community while engaging in individual research.

The degree provides an opportunity for those who wish to redefine their professional aims to immerse themselves in a research environment. The programme can be completed in sixteen months; two terms of full time residency are required.

The areas of research interest noted elsewhere suggest something of the range of concerns in which School expertise exists. Students in the MASA program should anticipate direct critical engagements with a primary faculty mentor who will in due course serve as their Thesis Committee Chair. Apart from the internal protocols of thesis topic presentation and defence, it is an expectation of the programme that students will be successful in presenting their work through peer reviewed conferences or publications. Faculty will assist in this process.

Curriculum

To obtain the MASA degree, a student must successfully complete thirty credits of study including a twelve-credit Thesis and the three-credit core course Arch 568 Research Methods in Architecture. The fifteen credits of elective coursework is structured on an individual basis and elaborated through discussion between students and their faculty mentors. In addition to agreed interdisciplinary coursework in academic units throughout the University, MASA students are engaged through seminar coursework with other students from the programme and upper-level MArch students.

Elective Coursework

Students prepare individual curriculum in consultation with their faculty mentor. The interdisciplinary nature of architectural research encourages coursework from outside of the School. It is not unusual to undertake directed studies in which specialist research, often in anticipation of the thesis work, are closely supervised by School faculty. In addition, advanced level seminars delivered within the MArch programme constitute an important resource.

The following schedule of courses gives some sense of the correspondence between School seminars and the major research thrusts within the MASA program.

Environmental Imperatives

Arch 540 | Vertical Topic Studio

Arch 571 | Advanced Seminar on Building Technology

Arch 572 | Advanced Structures

Arch 573 | Advanced Topics in Environmental Design

History and Cultural Studies

Arch 522 | Current Issues in Architecture

Arch 561 | Advanced Topics in Architectural History and Theory

Advanced Design Research

Urban Design and Community Activism

Arch 540 | Vertical Topic Studio

Arch 573 | Advanced Topics in Environmental Studies

Advanced Research in Digital Applications

Arch 540 | Vertical Topic Studio

Arch 577 | Seminar in Advanced Computer Applications