Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Anyone know of an M.Arch program that let's you really decide not just on your final project but allows you to plan your entire study around a particular field of interest?
Anyone know of an M.Arch program that let's you really decide not just on your final project but allows you to plan your entire study around a particular field of interest?
Let me see if I understand you. Your final project is your thesis, which is typically a project you select and research. Are you talking about the 2-year M.Arch. or 3-year M.Arch? In some programs, thesis runs the last 2 semesters and, in others, for 1 semester. When you say field of interest, do you mean something like sustainability or preservation?
That said, there has to be some skeleton of a core curriculum. Some pick most of the classes for you and allow some electives to shape a concentration toward the end. Others are real loose, giving you some minimum thresholds for technology-oriented coursework. The former is preferable.
Check out the big difference between schools such as Univ of Mich. or Univ of Texas-Austin (hypothetically, for the 3-year program) where there is a substantial core of classes teaching technical skills. Then, take a look at UC Berkeley (3-year program for apples-to-apples), where it's real "ivory tower" and, beyond the minimalistic core, you "design" your program. UC Berkeley has a ridiculously low acceptance rate in architecture because of where it is, a subway ride from San Francisco, yet it is a very theoretical and NOT very skill-oriented program, the latter of which is preferable for employment.
Last edited by robertpolyglot; 06-11-2012 at 09:50 PM..
Let me see if I understand you. Your final project is your thesis, which is typically a project you select and research. Are you talking about the 2-year M.Arch. or 3-year M.Arch? In some programs, thesis runs the last 2 semesters and, in others, for 1 semester. When you say field of interest, do you mean something like sustainability or preservation?
I'm still debating between three:
1. Museum / Visitor Center / Exhibition design and research
2. Designing interactive media and surfaces for people with autism
3. Corporate design and marketing strategy work
The second would be the hardest because I'm not a programmer. The third is the easiest as I've been doing it even before I went to college and since. I could definitely do both the first and second through an MFA program but am just wondering if I could also look at doing them in an M.Arch program to increase potential schools to apply to.
I'm still debating between three:
1. Museum / Visitor Center / Exhibition design and research
2. Designing interactive media and surfaces for people with autism
3. Corporate design and marketing strategy work
The second would be the hardest because I'm not a programmer. The third is the easiest as I've been doing it even before I went to college and since. I could definitely do both the first and second through an MFA program but am just wondering if I could also look at doing them in an M.Arch program to increase potential schools to apply to.
Then, I'm preaching to the choir. I think option 3 works with a M.Arch. The other 2 options sound more like industrial or graphic design. I'm guessing you're a 4-year BA/BS Arch. grad who wants to pursue more of a "niche" career path more so than licensing, which would push you to a 2-year M.Arch. if you did. Or you may have a 5-year B.Arch. and can choose to license or not, pursuing your more specific passions instead. For the first 2 options, you've got some homework to do. Are there MFAs in Industrial Design?
I'm wondering what the tilt is, percentage wise, of schools that offer the 4+2 model versus the 5 year model in architecture? It's probably about 50:50, right?
Ya mine is 4 year so I'd need a 2 year M.Arch if I were to go that route over the MFA. I'm not too sure I guess I or you could look at the NAAB website and it wouldn't be too hard to determine B.A/B.S. Architecture is the 4 year while B.Arch is usually the 5 year. I have a job application out for Media Specialist in the National Parks Service and that sounds perfect for me, if I don't get it I wouldn't mind catering my school for that exact job. It's basically doing all of the visitor center displays, maps and signs around the national park, maintaining the website, brochures all of it.
In the mean time I'm the head graphic designer for a company and do some freelance marketing/design work on the side which I've been doing since I was in high school.
The second option is because I see all the new tech out there with things like Microsoft Kinect SDK, Tablets, and now Leap Motion (Leap Motion) and I just see the potential in it but I see it less for what its currently being used for and more targetted specifically for autism. There's already some tablet software that's done great things for autistic people but with limited funding and a small market there's not enough.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
