Course Overview

Acknowledging the rapidly changing social and professional contexts in which it is situated, the Master of Architecture is a distinctly future oriented course. It provides rigorous understanding of contemporary professional architecture practice; encourages students to combine this with their individual life-wide learning and experiences; and supports them in developing skills of future literacy, to become autonomous agents of positive change. Our graduates are capable and eager to define their own career path, equipped with capabilities to lead the development of the discipline, challenge the status quo, and to thrive in ever changing contexts.

Manchester School of Architecture is a unique partnership between the University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University. The course leverages the research and technical pedigrees of these two institutions to provide an unrivalled breadth and depth of world leading specialist academic, professional, technical, and teaching expertise. Additionally, the course makes use of the scale of the school to provide interdisciplinary teaching alongside related courses.

Teaching on the course takes a student centric approach, where student autonomy is highly valued, dedicated to helping you define your own trajectory from the day before you arrive to the days, and years, after you graduate.

During your studies you will be developing your understanding of the contemporary discipline, the contexts in which it is practiced and the pressing factors facing it and wider society. Design projects will focus on contemporary social issues such as the Climate Emergency, and the adaptive reuse of existing buildings, supported by specialist contributions from experts in the field. The content of design briefs is continually reviewed to remain world leading and cutting edge.

The School’s heritage of working within the city enables regular and meaningful engagement with practices, clients, and other relevant groups throughout the course of your studies. The course maintains an exceptional employer reputation, which enables the course to provide students with opportunities to build their professional networks prior to graduation.

Features

As a Master of Architecture student at Manchester School of Architecture, you will study a degree that is delivered jointly by The University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University. You will therefore benefit from the facilities and resources of both institutions such as libraries, computer suites, making and media workshops and much more. Upon successful completion of your studies, you will receive one degree certificate. The joint award certificate includes each institution’s crest and awarding body title.
Consistently ranked as one of the best schools of Architecture in the UK.
Engaged and responsive design teaching, working with expert, research-active academic staff and leading design professionals.

Duration

2 years full-time

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Teaching and Learning

The MArch is your final stage of formal academic architecture education leading towards professional registration as an architect. It is a professionally recognised award (prescribed by the Architects Registration Board and validated by the Royal Institute of British Architects) and developed for students who have, typically, one year in practice.

The studio element of the course is delivered through research-driven, outwardly focussed clusters called ateliers that align strong areas of research activity and mutual interests of groups of staff. This will enable you to develop ideological positions that are critically underpinned by seminars, workshops and symposiums.

The first year of study will enable you to locate yourself within a broad range of perspectives in relation to contemporary architecture and urbanism. The studio modules are deliberately professionally directed with developed discussions about custom and use, structures and materials, principles, and regulations.

These modules are supported by a professional focussed module that locates the programme and student learning journey. The Architect in Collaboration, and Architect as Research modules provide highly innovative methods of enquiry into the scope and potential of the discipline.

The second year will build upon this knowledge and developing skillset to orientate you towards a suitable role within the vast parameters of the profession. The studio modules are consciously loose, so you, the prospective architect have the opportunity to pursue your own interests and develop your own trajectory. These are supported by the enquiry based Dissertation module.

Study tours and international collaborations with other leading schools and organisations take place each year.

All students will be required to make a number of different submissions, including detailed examinations of building proposals, dissertation, annotated reports, methods exploration and a design thesis.

Full Time Year 1 120 credits
Architect As Researcher 15 credits
Architect in Collaboration 15 credits
Architect in Practice 30 credits
Architect in Studio: Strategy 30 credits
Architect in Studio: Resolution 30 credits
Full Time Year 2 120 credits
Atelier Exploration 30 credits
Atelier Innovation 60 credits
Dissertation 30 credits

Architect As Researcher 30 credits

Architect As Researcher

This module enhances your awareness of the broader context in which architects work. It positions architecture as contested practices, which extend to address intersections between economy, society, politics, history, culture, media, environment, and more.

It requires you to develop and utilise appropriate methodological tools to investigate and analyse architects’ practices. Through working on research-based projects, you will develop and articulate your own critical perspectives based on informed analysis.

Architect in Collaboration 30 credits

Architect in Collaboration

You will take part in ‘live’ projects to identify, develop and demonstrate the application of participatory design methods and collaborative practice. Using real-world situations, projects in this module are student-led and centred around peer-to-peer learning enabling you to determine productive and mutually beneficial group-working approaches.

A professional working relationship will be developed with a Collaborator who will present a starting point from which you will develop a brief to establish a project for social impact and/ or community benefit. You will learn effective communication skills to engage a variety of audiences and negotiate and co-ordinate deliverable outcome(s).

Architect in Practice 30 credits

Architect in Practice

This module expands your understanding of the professional requirements of the discipline, while requiring you to critically assess, question, and challenge them where appropriate.

Learning will be driven by group tasks that will provide opportunities to combine this knowledge with principles of managing businesses, risk, cost, safety, and budgets through a lens of contemporary challenges for professional architectural practice.

In addition to the assessed groupwork, you will be required to develop, articulate, and communicate a vision of your professional selves informed by the critical reflection, ethics, codes, legislation, and statutory frameworks that you will be exposed to on this module.

Architect in Studio: Resolution 30 credits

Architect in Studio: Resolution

Within the design studio setting, this module presents you with a complex building design project corresponding to what is probable to be encountered in current and emergent architectural practice, and in response to the climate emergency.

You will critically engage with the professional and regulatory frameworks as the context for brief definition and design development, using methods such as surveying, empirical analysis, modelling, simulation, and construction technologies research.

You are required to produce a technically resolved, comprehensively presented, building proposal that is appropriately safe, healthy, ethical, affordable, fair, and sustainable.

Architect in Studio: Strategy 30 credits

Architect in Studio: Strategy

You are required to produce a strategically resolved, comprehensively presented, building proposal that is appropriately safe, healthy, ethical, affordable, fair, and sustainable.

Atelier Innovation 30 credits

Atelier Innovation

Within the design studio setting, you are required to produce and undertake original and innovative creation of impactful and effective spatial proposals that are tailored to address your thesis statement in the appropriate scale, location, and context.

You are required to work towards the advancement of formal experimentation, leading to the exploration of plausible alternative futures, encouraging you to envision new possibilities and question existing paradigms.

Atelier Exploration 30 credits

Atelier Exploration

Within the design studio setting, this module requires you to formulate a personal thesis statement towards challenging a changing discipline.

You will define and explore your individual interests within the field of architecture, while articulating, proposing, and defending your position informed by appropriate theories, contextual studies, and design methodologies.

Dissertation 30 credits

Dissertation

The dissertation module requires you to explore a well-defined architectural research topic, based on your own academic interests. It involves the crafting, development, and execution of a research design, prompting you to engage with contemporary debates in architectural and social history and theory, and implement methodological tools to gather and analyse data.

The research output will showcase your understanding and critical engagement with the processes of producing, assessing, and disseminating academic arguments and display their abilities to question established assumptions and contribute to the expansion of architectural knowledge

Ateliers

Master of Architecture has continued to maintain a diverse range of ateliers and expertise, which enables us to provide a series of distinct and significant areas of focus with respect to the future of architecture and urbanism in a wider cultural context. At the beginning of each academic year you will choose from a range of the School's ateliers. You would normally expect to spend a year studying with a particular atelier.