Program Description

The Department of Architecture and the Department of City and Regional Planning offer a concurrent degree program for exceptionally well-qualified students who hold the five-year Bachelor of Architecture degree or a four-year Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science degree in architecture, as well as those who have completed equivalent degrees in related disciplines. This program allows completion of the Master of Architecture and the Master of City Planning degrees with a savings of 12 units (one semester’s course work).

The concurrent program in architecture and city planning aims to combine the study of urban and planning issues with the design of buildings and sites. By providing a range of essential skills as well as a broad understanding of the social, economic, and natural factors that shape the physical environment, the concurrent degree program in architecture and city planning accomplishes what neither program achieves alone.

The M.Arch. portion of the concurrent program requires completion of 24 to 72 semester units, depending upon the student’s undergraduate degree; the M.C.P. segment calls for 36 semester units. No special curriculum applies to this concurrent program; rather, the requirements of both programs apply. Both departments ask that students create individual study plans for the degrees relative to their interests. In the M.C.P. curriculum, students will declare an area of concentration and complete a core of courses selected to complement their backgrounds and interests. The broad emphases of students in the concurrent program include housing and project development, urban design and environmental analysis, international and development planning, and community design and planning.

The concurrent program in architecture and city planning allows students two options for the final project:

• The combined thesis option allows students to produce a single thesis combining architecture and planning. This option is most appropriate for students pursuing the urban design and housing concentrations in the planning department.
  
• The second option allows students to produce two separate final projects: a thesis in architecture (either a design or a research thesis) and a professional report in planning. This option is most appropriate for students pursuing the regional, transportation, or other concentrations in planning.
   

Admissions

Applicants to the concurrent program in architecture and city planning should seek admission to the Department of Architecture, indicating on the Graduate Division application their interest in the concurrent program. Applicants should send a copy of the city planning departmental application form, including a portfolio, directly to the Department of City and Regional Planning. Continuing students in architecture wishing to join the concurrent program should apply directly to the Department of City and Regional Planning.

For details on the concurrent degree program, please contact Professor Nezar AlSayyad at either the Department of Architecture or the Department of City and Regional Planning.