Natural, built and social environments are increasingly seen as intertwined, interdependent, and indeterminate, creating challenging conditions which must be addressed to achieve a sustainable future.
Meeting this challenge requires environmental designers who are strong leaders and visionaries. In order to understand and solve complex spatial issues, thesis students in the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape mobilize a range of methods from different disciplines, including: design explorations, participatory planning exercises, ethnography, surveys, statistics, laboratory science, fieldwork, and archival, visual, and textual studies.
This research-based master’s degree is tailored to recent graduates of professional architecture, planning, or landscape architecture programs — those who want to develop an area of specialization early in their career. As a research-intensive, thesis-based degree, emerging professionals are enabled to extend their education beyond the basic professional degree to explore an area of expertise or practice specialization that will build their CV, increase their value to prospective employers, and accelerate their career objectives.
Completing this program
- Core Courses: Design Research Methods, Design Research Writing, Design Innovation
- Additional Courses: One required elective; may include topics such as design thinking, urban infrastructure, urban design, urban systems, special topics and others.
- Thesis Proposal: A thesis proposal approved by the supervisor.
- Annual Progress Reports: Student progress reports must be submitted annually by the student and the supervisor.
- Thesis: Students will be required to submit and defend an original research thesis.
Outcomes
Consultancy, civil service, government (e.g. Natural Resources), municipalities, planning, architecture, landscape architecture, academia, research institutions, real estate development, engineering, industrial design, product design.
