School of Architecture


Architecture Building 202
Telephone: 520-2855
Fax: 520-2849

The School


Director of the School:
Benjamin Gianni
Supervisor of Graduate Studies:
Martin Bressani

The School of Architecture offers a program of graduate studies leading to the degree of Master of Architecture (Design Studies).

Students are admitted to the program on the basis of a first professional degree in Architecture, evidence of undergraduate studies in the humanities, and a portfolio of creative and scholarly work demonstrating academic and architectural design abilities. Professional experience may be taken into consideration. The School admissions committee will consider applications from candidates in related design disciplines on the basis of professional work, academic experience, and the demonstration of design ability. The M.Arch. (Design Studies) is a post-professional, research-oriented degree, not a professional one. Students wishing to pursue first professional studies in architecture are referred to the professionally-accredited B.Arch. offered at Carleton.

The program is research and/or studio-based with students expected to do a research and/or design thesis. The emphasis in both the thesis and graduate seminar is on the cultural grounding of architectural design as investigated in both scholarly investigations and in the design studio. Graduate level studio work is conducted as both intellectual inquiry and practical application. Design theses are expected to include both a written text and appropriate modes of two-dimensional or three-dimensional representation. As far as possible, within the limits of this framework and the resources of the program, the particular interests of individual students will be encouraged.

Students may pursue studies in the following three fields.

Theoretical Issues in Architecture and Culture
Theoretical issues cluster around three axes:

Drawing upon the above, students investigate how the patterns and interrelationships of cultural issues and processes manifest themselves in and inform architectural design.

Architecture and Cultural Diversity
The contemporary multicultural ideal, that a broad diversity of cultural identities and ethnicities should be supported by all means available to us, is the focus of this area of the program. Students address the question of how, and to what extent, architectural design can actively support cultural identity while promoting a diversity of identities at the local, national, and global scale. Canada provides a uniquely favourable setting for such an investigation.

Architecture and Techno-Scientific Culture
Contemporary technical and scientific developments challenge traditional modes of cultural expression in production. The third area of the program concerns the need to engage technically-advanced tools in design studies. This focus, like the others, requires academic, scholarly study and experimental design conducted as research. Emergent technologies of simulated reality, intelligent machines, artificial intelligence, electronic modelling and visualization, multi-media and CAD applications, open new possibilities and demand consideration from the viewpoint of cultural values and practices, and their impact on the built environment.

Qualifying-Year Program

Candidates with deficiencies in certain areas may be required to take additional prescribed courses as prerequisites to their graduate work. Applicants who do not possess a professional degree in Architecture may be required to register in the qualifying-year program (normally 5.0 credits at the 400 level). All courses must be approved by the graduate admissions committee of the School in consultation with the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research. Upon successful completion of these courses, students may be permitted to proceed to the M.Arch. (Design Studies) program.

Master of Architecture

Admission Requirements

The normal requirement for admission to the M.Arch. (Design Studies) program is a professional degree in architecture. Where applicants do not possess such a degree but possess either a professional degree in a related discipline such as industrial design or landscape architecture, a master’s degree, or an honours B.A. degree with high standing (minimum B+ average), equivalency will be considered on the basis of professional work, academic experience, and the demonstration of architectural design ability. Applicants must also have successfully completed courses at the undergraduate level in cultural disciplines. This may include appropriate course work from the humanities, fine arts, or social sciences, or the equivalent.

Applicants are required to submit a portfolio of design, graphic, or fine arts work, together with sample research papers or other written material in the cultural disciplines. The portfolio must be judged to be sufficient to document adequate preparation for success in the program.

Applicants must also provide three confidential letters of reference on the prescribed forms and a statement of academic and career objectives. Application is made on the forms available from the office of graduate studies in the School of Architecture.

An admissions committee, which includes the supervisor of graduate studies, will determine the merits of each candidate on the basis of academic record, evidence of visual and architectural design ability, and, where applicable, professional experience. Enrolment is limited.

The Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research requires applicants whose native tongue is not English to be tested for proficiency in English, as described in Section 3.6 of the General Regulations section of this Calendar. Applicants must have an ability to write in English.

The deadlines for submission of applications for graduate studies in Architecture are as follows:  March 1 for students requesting financial assistance; June 1 for students who are not seeking financial assistance but who are seeking admission in September; October 1 for students who are seeking admission in January.

Program Requirements

The specific program requirements for master’s candidates are as follows: At least 4.0 of the 5.0 credits must be at the 500 level or above. A list of theory, elective, and cultural theory courses that may be used for credit is available from the School. All courses must be approved by the supervisor of graduate studies.

The program will normally be completed in three terms of full-time study.

Term 1

Term 2

Term 3

* an advanced course at the 400 level in the theory of architecture offered by the School of Architecture ** a graduate course at the 500 level or above in the general field of cultural theory *** an elective, chosen from a list of courses in the area of cultural studies, cultural theory, cultural production, the built environment, technology, and related subjects

Graduate Courses*

Qualified students in other departments may, with permission of the School, enrol in Architecture 76.501, 76.502 and 76.503

  • Architecture 76.501F1
    Architecture Seminar I
    An exploration of the intellectual frameworks which connect design and culture as manifest in theories of culture and in theories of architecture and design, including a discussion of design as research through the study of work manifesting a strong theoretical animation. The seminar builds on previous undergraduate studies in culture and studio work in design, and is not intended as an introduction to these fields. The field of inquiry will be both historical and contemporary, and will utilize both western and non-western examples. Faculty from units other than Architecture are involved in some of the session. This initial seminar concentrates on broad general frameworks covering the subject areas of culture and design.

  • Architecture 76.502W1
    Architecture Seminar II
    A continuation of Architecture 76.501, this seminar follows the same general description, but concentrates more on architectural design, on the contemporary condition, and on the ways of thinking that characterize embodiment of cultural content in architecture and other artifacts. Topics include the following: reading architecture; myth, knowledge, and design; architecture, memory and mannerism; number theory and architectural form; symbolic and spatial order; functionalism in architecture and anthropology; intercultural issues in design; modernism as ethos and as style; measure, science, and postmodernism; new formal models for design; the design professions and the discipline of design; design survival in the corporate world of industrial production; the value of design and factors that threaten it.  Faculty members from other units may occasionally present seminars.

  • Architecture 76.503W1
    Design and Culture Workshop
    The prime objective of the workshop is experimental: to provide an opportunity to investigate cultural issues in architectural design. The workshop operates as a directed studies in which to explore a theoretical issue.

  • Architecture 76.599F4,W4,S4
    Master of Architecture (Design) Thesis
    The thesis requirement for the M.Arch. is a Design Thesis, written in conventional thesis form and supported by the models and drawings that normally document architectural design. Topics are proposed by the student and must be approved by the graduate committee of the School of Architecture. Theses develop around questions of a cultural nature, demonstrate a capacity to conduct design as research on a theoretical level, and reach conclusions in terms of new design knowledge. Theses must be defended orally before an interdisciplinary panel representing other graduate programs and institutions as well as faculty from the School of Architecture

    Other Course Offerings

    In addition to the M.Arch. program, the School offers graduate-level courses which can be used towards a degree program in the Faculty of Engineering, the School of Canadian Studies, and the Faculty of Social Sciences at Carleton. There is also an understanding with the Faculty of Environmental Studies at York University, the Centre for Building Studies at Concordia University, and the Faculté de l’Aménagement at the Université de Montréal, that a student registered in their program can apply for permission to do a certain part of the graduate work through course offerings made at the Carleton School of Architecture. Members of the School also supervise graduate research.

    The interests and capabilities of the faculty members lie in the following areas:

    History and Theory of Architecture
    Scholarly studies in architectural thought from renaissance to modern movement, current debate and contemporary issues; Canadian architecture; Mayan architecture; Islamic architecture.

    Architecture and Society
    Ethnicity, multiculturalism and architectural expression; international development and indigenous architecture; heritage and preservation; evolution of the architecture profession.

    Architecture and Technology
    Building envelope and construction detail; design economics; structures; energy; lighting; acoustics; integration of systems.

    Architecture and the City
    Urban morphologies, architectural content of urban planning and design; social, cultural, economic, and political matrix in the urban society and the contemporary architectural reality.

    Computer-Aided Design and Management
    Design and modelling, visual communication, computer graphics; computers and architectural practice.

    Architecture and Morphology
    Studies in form, space, structure, and order; geometric and symbolic orders in architecture. Please note that not all courses are offered every year. Students should consult the School of Architecture for scheduling for 1997-98.

  • Architecture 76.500F1, W1
    Directed Studies in History and Theory of Architecture
    Reading and research tutorials.

  • Architecture 76.510F1, W1
    Directed Studies in Architecture and Society
    Reading and research tutorials.

  • Architecture 77.500F1, W1
    Directed Studies in Architecture and Technology
    Reading and research tutorials.

  • Architecture 77.541F1, W1, S1
    Workshop: Technical Studies in Heritage Conservation. (Also offered as Canadian Studies 12.541)

  • Architecture 78.500F1, W1
    Directed Studies in Architecture and the City
    Reading and research tutorials.

  • Architecture 78.542F1, W1, S1
    Workshop: Urban Studies in Heritage Conservation (Also offered as Canadian Studies 12.542)

  • Architecture 79.500F1, W1
    Directed Studies in Computer-Aided Design
    Reading and research tutorials.

  • Architecture 79.501F1, W1
    Directed Studies in Architecture and Morphology
    Reading and research tutorials.
    An honours degree or equivalent qualification in a relevant field, as well as permission of the School, is a requirement for admission to these courses.