Architecture Master’s program at Ohio State University-Main Campus

Architecture is a highly synthetic discipline that requires a complex mix of cultural awareness, technical expertise, and creative facility.

The Master of Architecture program at the Knowlton School is dedicated to all aspects of this pursuit and is grounded in an understanding of architecture as a cultural enterprise.

The Master of Architecture degree at the Knowlton School has a single degree structure with a three-year sequence and two entry points. The students then advance to the third year that concentrates on developing disciplinary expertise through advanced research. During the course of that academic year, the practitioner leads a graduate design studio at the Knowlton School.

Finally, instead of a traditional thesis, the Knowlton School MArch program culminates with the Exit Review program. The Exit Reviews are a series of public presentations given by each graduating student during their last semester in the program. They are asked to critically examine their own design agenda and to position it relative to larger disciplinary transformations occurring due to the evolving position of the Architect in society. The institutional goal is to have each student exit the program prepared to be an agent of change within the discipline. The School strongly believes that this process will prepare each student to be actively involved in what it means to be an Architect today.

The Master of Architecture curriculum couples advanced professional knowledge with a speculative disciplinary agenda. The G2 year grounds students in professional competency, while the third year cultivates disciplinary expertise through advanced research. Students admitted with advanced standing bypass the G1 year curriculum unless otherwise notified.

The G1 studio sequence (ARCH 6410 and 6420) introduces and develops disciplinary and representational fundamentals with a focus on form, ordering systems, drawing conventions, diagrammatic analysis, and the use of historical precedents. Basic issues of site, program, and building tectonics are also introduced.

An autumn-term course, Issues in Contemporary Architecture (ARCH 6210), introduces incoming students to contemporary architectural design and theory, providing them with an introduction to the discipline and a vocabulary of terms and concepts with which to orient themselves within the design studio and the field of architecture broadly. G1 students take a full year of architectural history (ARCH 5110 and 5120), a full year of building construction (ARCH 5510 and 5520), and the first of two courses in environmental systems (ARCH 5810).

The second year of the MArch program immerses students in contemporary architectural culture while providing rigorous technical training in building tectonics, structures, mechanical systems, and sustainability.

The first G2 studio (ARCH 7410) develops the disciplinary and representational fundamentals introduced in the first year and establishes a common vocabulary for rising G1 and advanced-placement G2 students. Technical issues related to site, program, structures, building tectonics, and mechanical systems are introduced in the fall term and developed with increasing rigor in the spring comprehensive studio.

History of Architecture 3 (ARCH 5130) provides G2 students with a firm grounding in contemporary architectural culture, with a focus on architectural history and theory of the past fifty years. Technical instruction is provided with a full year of structures (ARCH 5710 and 5720) and the second of two courses in environmental systems (ARCH 5820). In the spring term, students take a second course in architectural theory (ARCH 7220) and the first of three elective seminars, choosing from offerings in architectural history and theory (ARCH 5290), social and political issues (ARCH 5390), and representational and technical issues (ARCH 5590).

The third year of the MArch program develops all aspects of previous years in the program and positions students to take a leading role in shaping the future of the field. In these studios, speculative design agendas are the norm, with recent studios focusing on topics including experimental representational and modeling techniques, networked computing, distributed architectural labor, artificial intelligence, and virtual augmented reality.

In fall, MArch students participate in the Baumer Seminars, a long-standing series of discussions with major practitioners and theorists in contemporary architecture and related fields (recent participants include Rem Koolhaas, Mark Lee and Sharon Johnston, and Mark Z. Danielewski). G3 students also take a course in professional practice (ARCH 7310) and two additional elective seminars (ARCH 5290, 5390, or 5590) which support their individual interests and ambitions.