Master of Architecture

Who should apply?

Full-Time option suitable for:

• Domestic (EEA) applicants: Yes
• International (Non-EEA) applicants currently residing outside of the EEA Region: Yes

Stage 1 Core Modules

• Design Technologies I
• Research & Innovation in the Designed Environment
• Architectural Design VII - Comprehensive Design Studio
• Architectural Design VIII
• Research and Innovation in the Designed Environment II

Stage 1 Options - A1 of:

Technology options: important - all students must select 1x technology option module. However, students going out on exchange programs in the autumn trimester must take ARCT40870

• Agency: Design / Build
• Irish Timber & Sustainability

Stage 1 Options - B2 of:

General options: students must select 2X general option modules, one in each trimester, from the list of general options below:

• Realising Built Projects
• Conservation History, Theory, and Policy
• Street Life: Urban Design, an Introduction
• Architecture in a Climate Emergency
• Planning, Society, and Diversity
• Urban Resilience and Ethics

Stage 2 Core Modules

• Reflective Portfolio Module
• Major Research Essay
• Professional Studies II
• Design Thesis 1
• Design Thesis 2

How does this degree contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals?

UCD ranks 1st in Ireland and in the top 50 worldwide in the QS Sustainability Rankings 2023, which focus on what institutions are doing to tackle the world’s greatest environmental, social, and governance (ESG) challenges

The program uses teaching, learning, and assessment approaches such as individual and group design projects, live projects, case studies, scenario-based learning, and written research and dissertations. Each has a focus on individual development and reflective learning while developing effective group work, written, verbal, and visual communication, and presentation skills

• Act competently and independently and have the ability to integrate knowledge and handle complexity, formulate judgments with incomplete or limited information, and reflect on wider professional issues.
• Apply their knowledge and problem-solving abilities to the design of an architectural project in response to functional brief and site conditions, including an understanding of social and physical contexts, and show this in visual and written documents.
• Articulate their knowledge of local and global architectural history and precedent and have explicit in their work the ability to use such knowledge to inform future design and research work.
• Communicate and present their design and research questions and the knowledge and rationale underpinning their conclusions at public fora to professional and non-professional audiences, clearly and unambiguously
• Embed in their work their knowledge of the regulatory and building control policy framework that underpins and influences practice and, be aware of the impact of such frameworks on current and future practice.
• Evidence an informed and independent view of the role of the architect and the value of architecture to society, communicate and articulate the potential of architecture about quality of life, environmental performance, climate change, health and well-being, economy, etc
• Integrate their knowledge of specialized research methods in architecture into their work and be capable of using such methods with rigor, depth, and precision to understand, evaluate, and analyze scenarios in architectural theory, design, and assembly.
• On successful completion of the programme, students should be able to: Embed in their visual and written work evidence of their ability to use conceptual and critical thinking and know the appropriate use of both.
• Understand structural, environmental, envelope, services, and life-saving systems to the extent that the student can evidence their ability to synthesize these within a comprehensive building design program.
• Use analog and digital methods of visual communication, drawing, presentation, and model making, and show judgment in utilizing such methods appropriately to achieve their design intentions and ambitions
• Utilize a range of investigative and design skills, showing in their work their ability to use the appropriate skill at the appropriate stage and an ability to synthesize knowledge to achieve original and excellent design outcomes.

The MArch qualification is RIAI (and European Union), and RIBA accredited. It will equip graduates to work in architecture anywhere across the world, whether in major global centres or in particular regional contexts. Graduates are involved in architectural practice and in other forms of professional creative practice, as well as in areas of policy and consultancy. Many graduates also go on to further postgraduate study, in UCD and elsewhere. Past students in the course’s connected programmes have gone on to become international or national experts in their selected fields.