Overview
The Master of Architecture is the college’s accredited professional degree for students intending to seek licensure as architects. The MArch program examines the interplay between architectural form and the complex cultural and technological context in which architects operate. Your studies will focus on integrating various design theories and practices that emphasize:
- Cross-disciplinary interdependence
- Research orientation
- Real-world relevance
In this program, you will collaborate with peers to produce an understanding of how connected disciplines play a role in the design and research of your own projects. As part of this collaborative matrix, each research and design project asks a critical question that stresses environmental, economic, social, cultural, aesthetic and ethical concerns, then answers it using an appropriate method.
Length of Program
The length of time it takes to complete the program depends on your previous educational experience. About half of the students who attend the MArch program already have a preprofessional design degree, and the other half have completed an unrelated undergraduate or graduate degree.
If your bachelor's degree is unrelated to architecture, you must complete a seven- or eight-semester sequence of course work and accumulate a minimum of 114 semester hours of credit.
If you have earned a preprofessional bachelor's degree in architecture or a related field, you will be evaluated individually for advanced standing credit. Credit is awarded for classes you have taken that duplicate the content of our own courses. You are eligible for a maximum of 54 credits of advanced standing. You must complete a minimum of four semesters or 60 semester hours of credit. You will be evaluated for advanced standing:
- if you have completed the Bachelor of Environmental Design (BEnvd) program on the Boulder campus
- if you have earned any other preprofessional architecture degree from a NAAB-accredited program
- if you hold a professional architecture degree from a foreign institution but seek to obtain a NAAB-accredited architecture degree
Program Objectives
The objective of the Master of Architecture (MArch) program is to lead in the discovery, communication, and application of knowledge in the discipline of architecture.
As part of this mission, the department has developed a unique intellectual, educational and architectural culture that will aid you not only in your academic career, but also in your professional endeavors…
- First, the department celebrates its place in a very special set of landscapes—urbanized Denver and the Front Range and the spectacular natural landscape of the high plains and the Rocky Mountains. The architecture department, therefore, focuses not only on the design of buildings, but also on the interactions between buildings and their urban and natural settings.
- Second, the department has created an academic environment that is intellectually stimulating and educationally challenging and aims to educate future leaders in the discipline and profession of architecture.
- Third, the goal of the MArch program follows the College’s mission and vision of integrative design. The faculty research, teach and practice ways to design environments that are meaningful and beautiful. The program then plans, shapes and interprets those environments in ways that are collaborative, responsible, sustainable, enabling and integrative.
The MArch program has created a premier academic environment that is both stimulating and challenging. As you complete the MArch program you will learn to:
- Assert responsibility for the important role you play as a designer of buildings in urban and natural settings
- Understand and value the influences of history, theory, ideology, context, technology, and practice on architecture and on urban and rural landscapes
- Define your obligations, status, ethical behavior, and role as a member of an established design discipline and design profession
- Be a creative, thoughtful, and critical design leader in the discipline and profession of architecture