Master of Architecture  (T273)

This programme is aimed at students who wish to develop a career in architecture. It is a national and international professionally accredited academic programme that will equip graduates to work worldwide in architectural design and in creative and research practice.  We encourage and support students to be active, motivated and autonomous learners, who have a critical and reflective approach to architectural design, practice and research. 

This studio and lecture based programme, led by academics and practitioners at the forefront of the discipline, aims to provide an engaging, exciting and innovative learning environment that encourages students to develop their individual professional capacities while placing equal emphasis on research and critical enquiry.  We do this through design projects, academic writing, technological and constructional investigations and practical experiments, valuing innovation, investigation and original creative work underpinned by a due regard for rigor, depth and precision. Students are provided with a firm foundation in advanced methodologies and skills and develop a close familiarity with the broader disciplinary, regulatory and societal frameworks within which professionals must operate. 

The programme uses teaching, learning and assessment approaches such as individual and group design projects, live-projects, case students, scenario-based learning and written research and dissertations. Each has a focus on individual development and reflective learning, while developing effective group-work, written, verbal and visual communication and presentation skills

1 - On successful completion of the programme students should be able to: Embed in their visual and written work evidence of their ability to use conceptual and critical thinking and know the appropriate use of both.
2 - Use analogue and digital methods of visual communication, drawing, presentation, model making, and show judgment in utilising such methods appropriately in order to achieve their design intentions and ambitions
3 - Communicate and present their design and research questions and the knowledge and rationale underpinning their conclusions at public fora to professional and non-professional audiences, clearly and unambiguously
4 - Act competently and independently and have the ability to integrate knowledge and handle complexity, formulate judgments with incomplete or limited information, and to reflect on wider professional issues.
5 - Evidence an informed and independent view of the role of the architect and the value of architecture to society, communicate and articulate the potential of architecture with regard to quality of life, environmental performance and climate change, health and well-being, economy etc
6 - Integrate their knowledge of specialized research methods in architecture into their work and be capable of using such methods with rigour, depth and precision to understand, evaluate, and analyse scenarios in architectural theory, design and assembly.
7 - Embed in their own work their knowledge of the regulatory and building control policy framework that underpins and influences practice and, be aware of the impact of such frameworks on current and future practice.
8 - Utilise a range of investigative and design skills, showing in their work their ability to use the appropriate skill at the appropriate stage and an ability to synthesise knowledge to achieve original and excellent design outcomes.
9 - Articulate their knowledge of local and global architectural history and precedent and have explicit in their work the ability to use such knowledge to inform future design and research work.
10 - Understand structural, environmental, envelope, services and life-saving systems to the extent that the student can clearly evidence their ability to synthesise these within a comprehensive building design programme.
11 - Apply their knowledge and problem solving abilities to the design of an architectural project in response to functional brief and site conditions, including an understanding of social and physical contexts and show this in visual and written documents.

The MArch qualification is RIAI (and European Union), and RIBA accredited. It will equip graduates to work in architecture anywhere across the world, whether in major global centres or in particular regional contexts. Graduates are involved in architectural practice and in other forms of professional creative practice, as well as in areas of policy and consultancy. Many graduates also go on to further postgraduate study, in UCD and elsewhere. Past students in the course’s connected programmes have gone on to become international or national experts in their selected fields.

See the UCD Assessment website for further details

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