Master of Science in Architecture Print

The Program

Download the Master of Science Handbook 2011-12 [pdf] 

The last two decades have seen rapid growth in the complexity of buildings and the development of specialized knowledge for their design and operation. The building profession now requires a wider range of expertise in design, operation, and management than was required in the past, and new types of professional specialists have emerged to provide this expertise. Often these experts are educated outside of traditional architectural programs, frequently through studies in other disciplines.

The Master of Science (M.S.) in Architecture is an academic, nonprofessional degree program that offers the opportunity for advanced research in the ever-broadening and increasingly complex subfields within architecture. It is intended to supplement but not supplant the Master of Architecture degree, the professional degree accredited for the practice of architecture. Students in the program generally hold a degree in architecture.

The Faculty


 

Name

Research Areas

Specializations


Nezar AlSayyad
Professor of Architecture, City Planning, Urban Design and Urban History; Chair, Center for Middle Eastern Studies; President, International Association for the Study of Traditional Environments

Architecture and Urban History, Environmental Design and Urbanism in Developing Countries, Housing and International Development, Urban Design

Traditional Dwellings and Settlements, Cinematic Urbanism, Hybrid Urbanism, Fundamentalism, Middle Eastern Cities, Virtual Reality


Gail S. Brager
Professor of Architecture; Associate Director, Center for Environmental Design Research

Energy and Environmental Management, Sustainable Design for Hot Climates, Mechanical Systems and Architectural Space-Making

Comfort and Adaptation in Naturally-Ventilated Buildings; Design and Performance of Alternative Offices


Greg Castillo
Associate Professor of Architecture

History of Architecture

20th Century Architecture with Emphasis on Mid-Century Modernism, Cold War-Era Design, Consumer Culture, Architecture and the History of Emotions


Galen Cranz
Professor of Architecture

Social and Cultural Basis of Architecture and Urbanism

Chairs and Body-Conscious Design, Urban Parks, the Sociology of Taste, Ethnography for Design, Post-Occupancy Evaluation, Qualitative Research Methods

 

Margaret Crawford
Professor of Architecture

History of Architecture and Urbanism, Urban History and Theory, Urban Design

Everyday Urbanism

 

C. Greig Crysler
Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies; Associate Professor of Architecture

Design Theories and Methods, Theory of Architecture and Urbanism

Architectures of Globalization, Discourses of Architecture and Urbanism


Paul Groth
Professor of Architecture and Geography

American Cultural Landscapes, Cultural Geography, History of Architecture, U.S. Rural Suburban and Urban History since 1870

American Vernacular Architecture, Ordinary Architecture, History of Housing

 

Stefano Schiavon
Assistant Professor of Architecture

Sustainability, Energy, and Indoor Environmental Quality

Energy Consumption in Buildings, Ventilation Strategies, Personal Environmental Control Systems, Radiant-Hydronic Systems, Air Movement, Thermal Comfort, Systems Integration and Building Renovation, Building Performance Simulations, Post-Occupancy Evaluations and the Effect of the Indoor Environment on Heath and Productivity


Andrew Shanken
Associate Professor of Architecture

History of Architecture and Urbanism, American Architecture

Architecture and Consumer Culture, Memory and the Built Environment, Paper Architecture and the Unbuilt, Expositions, Themed Landscapes, and Architectural Rhetoric


The Fields of Study

The M.S. degree emphasizes course work and supervised independent research in one of the following areas of study:

Research topics outside of these fields, or combinations of several areas, may be undertaken, subject to approval of the Architecture M.S./Ph.D. committee, if supported by qualified departmental faculty members.

The Requirements

The M.S. in Architecture is earned through a one-and-a-half to two-year program of study approved by the M.S./Ph.D. Committee. Students with architecture degrees must complete a minimum of 32 credit units, and those without an architecture degree, a minimum of 48 units. A research methods course is required of all students. The remaining course work will be determined by the nature of the proposed research.

The culmination of the student’s program is a research thesis carried out independently under the direction of a three-person committee.

Successful students may apply for the Ph.D. program.

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Department of Architecture
University of California, Berkeley
232 Wurster Hall #1800
Berkeley, CA 94720-1800
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