The Department of Architecture conceives of architecture as a multidisciplinary field of study as well as a means to a professional career in architecture or other design-related careers. Semi-autonomous, degree–granting "discipline groups" and research programs provide an architectural education that is the foundation for complex fields of study. Each group and program supports the others, and all contribute to a mutual enterprise. Students learn methodologies and techniques of working that draw upon the whole range of resources that architecture affords in defining the expansive problems of the built environment and its associated cultures and contexts, as well as in proposing effective solutions through the medium of design. The discipline groups are Architectural Design; Building Technology; Computation; History, Theory and Criticism of Architecture and Art (HTC); and the Program in Art, Culture and Technology (ACT). The Aga Khan Program in Islamic Architecture (AKPIA) is a research group offering its own Master of Science in Architecture Studies and a PhD in association with HTC.
The varied disciplines of the department support substantial research activity. Moreover, the department's setting within MIT permits greater depth in such technical areas as computation, new modes of design and production, materials, structure, energy, and issues of globalization in architecture as well as in the arts and humanities.
The department offers seven degree programs: the Bachelor of Science in Architecture (BSA), Bachelor of Science in Architecture Studies (BSAS), Master of Architecture (MArch), Master of Science in Architecture Studies (SMArchS), Master of Science in Building Technology (SMBT), Master of Science in Art, Culture and Technology (SMACT), and the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). The BSA, SMArchS, and PhD programs offer concentrations in multiple research streams.
Architectural Design is taught from a broad range of perspectives linking several common concerns: site and context, use and form, building methods and materials, design methodologies, and the role of the architect in a changing society and world.
Diverse architectural design studios are offered at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. The undergraduate studio sequence begins with instruction in design fundamentals and continues with design projects of increasingly complexity. Entering graduate students enroll in a three-term core program that is tightly integrated with complementary courses in design skills, design precedents, and materials and construction. Advanced "option" studios give graduate students the opportunity to broaden their experience of contexts for design, sharpen their skills, and develop their own attitudes and positions toward architecture. In thesis, a student develops a strategy for a comprehensive building and urban-scale proposal or design research inquiry that is carried out as an independent, critical project—from concept to completion—under the guidance of an advising committee.
Computer resources for educational purposes are distributed in the laboratories and studios of the department and overseen by the staff of the School of Architecture and Planning's computer resources office. Students are required to learn the fundamentals of computer-aided visualization. Other computation subjects and studio work permit further experimentation with modeling techniques, graphic representations, design methods, technical analysis, prototyping, and assistance with the design process.
The work of the Architectural Design faculty extends beyond the studio. Workshops, lectures, seminars, and research engage the built environment, the forces that mold it, and the design process itself. The work of the faculty covers such areas as urbanism, climate change and sustainable design, computation and design, materials and fabrication, theoretical design research, and housing and settlements in the global context. Central to these topics is the role of the user as an active force in the development of environments and the role of the designer as an agent in the process of human habitation.
In the United States, most state registration boards require a degree from an accredited professional degree program as a prerequisite for licensure. The National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), which is the sole agency authorized to accredit US professional degree programs in architecture, recognizes three types of degrees—the Bachelor of Architecture, Master of Architecture, and Doctor of Architecture. A program may be granted a six-year, three-year, or two-year term of accreditation depending on the extent of its conformance with established educational standards.
A preprofessional undergraduate degree and a professional graduate degree, when earned sequentially, constitute an accredited professional education. However, the preprofessional degree is not, by itself, recognized as an accredited degree.
The Department of Architecture offers the Master of Architecture (MArch) degree in three and one-half years. In exceptional circumstances, a student may be admitted with "advanced entry" and complete the program in two and one-half years, subject to prior academic qualifications in architecture. These professional degrees are structured to educate those who aspire to registration and licensure as architects.
The undergraduate Bachelor of Science in Architecture is a preprofessional degree program. It is useful for those wishing a foundation in the field of architecture as preparation for either continued education in a professional degree program or for employment options in fields related to architecture.
The Architectural Design area of study offers a concentration within the Bachelor of Science in Architecture degree program as well as Master of Architecture and Master of Science in Architecture Studies degrees.
Building Technology includes teaching and applications of the fundamentals of technology as well as research in technology for the next generation of buildings. Topics include building structures, materials, appropriate technology for developing countries, sustainable design, indoor air quality, daylighting, building ventilation, heating and cooling systems, energy use and material flows in urban areas, and development of computational methods for research and design through visualization of building performance in its many aspects. Through lecture subjects, laboratories, workshops, and independent research projects, students may study problems of energy resources and technologies and use this knowledge to design physical environments or buildings that embody current research concepts. Research facilities include a full-scale indoor environmental chamber, and computer workstations. Research facilities of other departments such as Mechanical Engineering and Civil and Environmental Engineering are also used in joint research projects.
This area of study offers a concentration within the Bachelor of Science in Architecture degree program as well as a Master of Science in Building Technology (SMBT), a Master of Science in Architecture Studies (SMArchS), and a doctoral degree with emphasis on building technology.
The Computation group teaches diverse subjects dealing with theory, history, methods, and applications of computation and digital technology. The aim is to cover the many facets of a rapidly changing and growing area with in-depth, agenda-setting research and teaching. Topics taught cover the description, generation, evaluation, and construction of architectural and urban design through computational means that include computer visualization and modeling, generative theories, software for design synthesis and analysis, and digital fabrication and construction processes and technologies. Students are encouraged to acquire both the technical skills and the theoretical and conceptual foundations to rethink and challenge the limits of current design processes and practices, and to consider the social and cultural implications of their positions.
This area of study offers a concentration within the Bachelor of Science in Architecture degree program as well as a concentration in the Master of Science in Architecture Studies (SMArchS) program and a doctoral program. SMArchS and PhD students are encouraged to take subjects in other relevant departments as a means to explore and develop their interests.
The History, Theory and Criticism of Architecture and Art (HTC) group teaches subjects that deal with the history of architecture and art, as well as the theoretical and political presuppositions informing that history. Offerings range in content and method. Some are motivated by questions derived from the problems of contemporary practice. Others work with a body of historical material investigated in ways that develop analytical skills applicable to a wide range of topics. Still others explore themes (e.g., Orientalism, ornament, sustainability) in their historical and theoretical dimensions. Subjects are taught from the Renaissance to the present, with a special emphasis on topics of modern art and architecture, and focus on materials that are both abstract and concrete, with scales that range from the architectural drawing to the art installation to the urban environment. There is a special emphasis on topics of modern art and architecture in Europe as well as the Americas, with a comparable set of offerings on the Islamic world developed by AKPIA and taught within the HTC group.
HTC offers a concentration within the Bachelor of Science in Architecture degree program and a HASS concentration and minor in the history of architecture that are open to all MIT undergraduates. Students in the SMArchS program may choose to concentrate in HTC, and there is a doctoral program.
The Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture (AKPIA) at MIT is a graduate program dedicated to the study of architecture, urbanism, architectural history, landscape, and conservation in the Islamic world. The program prepares students for careers in research, design, and teaching. Topics covered in its curriculum include critical study of the history and historiography of Islamic architecture; the interaction between architecture, society, and culture; strategies of urban and architectural preservation; and environmental and material-sensitive landscape and design research.
Established in 1979, AKPIA offers students a concentration in Islamic art, architecture, and urbanism as part of the two-year SMArchS degree and the PhD program in HTC. Undergraduates may concentrate in Middle Eastern Studies using subjects offered by AKPIA. The program also has links with the City Design and Development and Environmental Planning and Policy programs in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning, the Aga Khan Programs at Harvard, and ArchNet.
The Program in Art, Culture and Technology (ACT) offers a diverse range of subjects in artistic practice and operates as a learning laboratory for artistic production within the context of an advanced technological community. Students explore the role of art in society and consider artistic practice as knowledge production. Collaborative and individual investigations, artistic research, and transdisciplinary studies are structured in thematic clusters and realized through performance, sound and video, photography, and experimental media and new genres. The program emphasizes art that engages public spheres, the production of space, and networked cultures. ACT addresses context and display and questions the relationship of art to the environment, gender, and social stratification. Extracurricular activities include a cross-disciplinary lecture series, field trips, workshops, studio visits, and public presentations.
ACT offers a concentration within the Bachelor of Science in Architecture degree program and a HASS minor and concentration in art, culture and technology. It also offers a graduate program leading to a Master of Science in Art, Culture and Technology (SMACT).
More information about the Department of Architecture and its programs can be found at http://architecture.mit.edu/.
The Department of Architecture offers two undergraduate courses of study. They provide a broad undergraduate education for students who have clear professional goals and for those who desire a solid foundation for a number of possible careers. Course 4 leads to the Bachelor of Science in Architecture, and Course 4-B leads to the Bachelor of Science in Architecture Studies.
Course 4 offers a flexible program for students in five possible discipline streams: art, culture and technology; architectural design; building technology; design and computation; and history, theory and criticism of architecture and art. Within a clear framework, students develop individual courses of study best suited to their needs and interests.
The requirements for the SB in Architecture (BSA) curriculum begin with an introductory subject, 4.111 Introduction to Architecture and Environmental Design, intended as an exploratory subject for freshmen and or an introduction for sophomores. The remaining core subjects include study in the arts, computation, architectural design, building technology, and the history of architecture and art.
Subject requirements for each of the five degree streams can be found at http://architecture.mit.edu/undergraduate-education.html). Each area of concentration provides a variety of subjects from which to choose as well as an opportunity to get more deeply involved in a particular subfield. Students choose their stream at the end of their sophomore year.
Most BSA candidates choose the architectural design discipline stream, which includes sequential studios. The approach fosters investigation and discussion in the development of sensitivity to the built environment. These sensibilities are linked to values and responsibilities to the community at large. Students in design studios develop technical and analytical skills and learn synthesis and invention using the elements of architectural form: material, structure, construction, light, sound, memory, and place.
The department offers a foreign exchange study program with Delft University of Technology and the University of Hong Kong for architecture design seniors in the fall term. A senior thesis is required in the final year in all of the discipline streams except for architecture design, for which it is optional.
Students who plan to continue their studies in a professional graduate program in architecture must apply for admission to a school offering the Master of Architecture (MArch).
Course 4-B is offered for students who find that their basic intellectual commitments are to subjects within the Department of Architecture but whose educational objectives cut across departmental boundaries. These students may, with the approval of the department, plan a course of study that meets their individual needs and interests while including the fundamental areas within the department. For example, students might create a coherent program combining subjects in Course 4 with subjects in urban studies and planning, comparative media studies, systems analysis, computer science, etc.
As early as possible, students should discuss their interests and intended programs with their advisor and departmental faculty members. A student who wishes to follow Course 4-B must initially register as a Course 4 major and take the expected sophomore subjects. By the end of the sophomore year, the student is expected to submit to the department a proposal that includes a statement of educational goals, a list of subjects to be taken to fulfill these goals (84 units), and a timetable of when the subjects will be taken. When the proposal is approved by the Department of Architecture Undergraduate Curriculum Committee, the student may officially switch to the 4-B major.
The Course 4-B curriculum is similar to Course 4 in requiring six core subjects to be taken primarily in the freshman and sophomore years: 4.111, 4.112, 4.302, 4.401, 4.500, and 4.605. During the junior and senior years, the approved interdisciplinary course of study is pursued. A senior thesis, preceded by 4.THTJ Thesis Research Design Seminar, is required.
The requirements for a Minor in Architecture are as follows:
| 4.111 | |
Introduction to Architecture and Environmental Design |
| 4.112 | Architecture Design Fundamentals I | |
| 4.605 | Introduction to the History and Theory of Architecture | |
| and either | ||
| 4.113 | Architecture Design Fundamentals II | |
| 4.114 | Architecture Design Studio I | |
| or | ||
|
Three subjects chosen from the following list:
|
||
| Up to two from: 4.122, 4.170, 4.211J, 4.231, 4.233, 4.250J | ||
| Up to two from: 4.301, 4.312, 4.314, 4.322, 4.330, 4.332, 4.341, 4.344, 4.351, 4.352, 4.361, 4.366, 4.368, 4.371 | ||
| Up to two from: 4.401, 4.411J, 4.42J, 4.440J, 4.444, 4.472, 4.474 | ||
| Up to two from: 4.500, 4.501, 4.503, 4.504, 4.520, 4.522 | ||
| No more than one from: 4.601, 4.602, 4.603, 4.606, 4.609, 4.613,
4.614, 4.615, 4.635, 4.641, 4.651, 4.671, 4.673 |
The Minor in the History of Architecture and Art, considered a HASS minor, is designed to enable students to concentrate on the historical, theoretical, and critical issues associated with artistic and architectural production. Introductions to the historical framework and stylistic conventions of art and architectural history are followed by more concentrated study of particular periods and theoretical problems in visual culture and in cultural history in general.
The minor consists of six subjects arranged into three levels of study and chosen as follows:
| Tier I | |
Two subjects: |
| 4.601 | Introduction to Art History | |
| or | ||
| 4.602 | Modern Art and Mass Culture |
|
| and | ||
| 4.605 | Introduction to the History and Theory of Architecture | |
| or | ||
| 4.614 | Religious Architecture and Islamic Cultures |
|
| Tier II | Three subjects chosen from the following list, with no more than two subjects from either the history of art or the history of architecture: | |
| 4.603 | Analysis of Contemporary Architecture | |
| 4.606 | Visual Perception and Art | |
| 4.613 | Civic Architecture in Islamic History | |
| 4.615 | The Architecture of Cairo | |
| 4.635 | Renaissance Architecture | |
| 4.641 | Nineteenth-Century Art | |
| 4.651 | Art Since 1940 | |
| 4.671 | Nationalism, Internationalism, and Globalism in Modern Art | |
| 4.673 | Installation Art |
|
| Tier III | One subject: | |
| 4.609 | Seminar in the History of Art and Architecture | |
| or | ||
| Other advanced seminar in the history of art and/or architecture, including offerings from Harvard or Wellesley, with permission of the HASS field advisor and the instructor. |
The Minor in Art, Culture and Technology, considered a HASS minor, is designed to enable students to pursue study in hands-on artistic practice and critical debate. Undergraduates gain skills and critical understanding in new genre art, including time-based media, public art, photography, video, performance, networked cultures, the production of space, artistic research, and transdisciplinary studies.
The minor consists of six subjects arranged into three levels of study and chosen as follows:
| Tier I | |
Two subjects: |
| 4.301 | Introduction to Visual Arts | |
| or | ||
| 4.302 | Foundations in the Visual Arts and Design for Majors |
|
| and one from the following list: | ||
| 4.601 | Introduction to Art History | |
| 4.602 | Modern Art and Mass Culture | |
| 4.606 | Visual Perception and Art | |
| 4.641 | Nineteenth-Century Art | |
| 4.651 | Art Since 1940 | |
| 4.671 | Nationalism, Internationalism, and Globalism in Modern Art | |
| 4.673 | Installation Art |
|
| Tier II | Two subjects: | |
| 4.322 | Introduction to Three-Dimensional Art Work | |
| 4.330 | Introduction to Networked Cultures and Participatory Media | |
| 4.341 | Introduction to Photography and Related Media | |
| 4.351 | Introduction to Video and Related Media |
|
| Tier III | Two subjects: | |
| 4.312 | Advanced Studio on the Production of Space | |
| 4.314 | Advanced Workshop in Artistic Practice and Transdisciplinary Research | |
| 4.332 | Advanced Seminar in Networked Cultures and Participatory Media | |
| 4.344 | Advanced Photography and Related Media | |
| 4.352 | Advanced Video and Related Media | |
| 4.361 | Performance Art Workshop | |
| 4.366 | Advanced Projects in Visual Arts | |
| 4.368 | Studio Seminar in Public Art/Public Space | |
| 4.371 | Responsive Design Workshop |
For a general description of minors, see Undergraduate Education in Part 1.
The Department of Architecture offers five graduate degree programs—the Master of Architecture (MArch), Master of Science in Architecture Studies (SMArchS), Master of Science in Building Technology (SMBT), Master of Science in Art, Culture and Technology (SMACT), and the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD).
The Master of Architecture is awarded to students who complete a program, accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board, which is an essential step toward licensure for architectural practice.
The Master of Science in Architecture Studies program stresses research and inquiry in the built environment; the degree is meant both for students who already have their first professional architecture degree and those whose previous education orients them toward nonprofessional graduate study in architecture.
The Master of Science in Building Technology program is run jointly by the Departments of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering. This degree program is intended for students interested in pursuing topics of significant technical and engineering depth. The main effort of the student is in an area of original research culminating in a thesis document.
The Master of Science in Art, Culture and Technology focuses on the development of critical and visionary positions of artistic practice and research in the context of an advanced technological and scientific community. Central to the curriculum is the potential for creating links with programs in architecture, urbanism, technology, and media studies, as well as other disciplines at MIT. Students are challenged to expand their artistic practice by questioning the historical, cultural, social, and ethical implications of their work. Discussion in contemporary theory and criticism complements studio production.
The PhD program is an advanced degree program in the areas of History, Theory and Criticism; Building Technology; and Design and Computation.
The Master of Architecture is awarded upon the satisfactory completion of an approved program of at least 312 units (96 of which must be in H-level subjects) and an acceptable thesis. The program requires three and one-half academic years of residence.
Advanced entry may be possible for students who have majored in architectural design at a "4 plus 2" architecture school. These students may be considered for completion of the program in two and one-half years depending on their academic experience and accomplishments.
The professional MArch program is diverse and open-ended, with many views of appropriate research and practice of architecture available. Shared concerns include an interest in materials, fabrication, and technology; drawing and geometry; theory and criticism; sustainability and climate change; and culture in an age of rapid change and globalization. They also include a commitment to design as it engages related disciplines aligned with architectural production, a view of the environment as an ecologically structured phenomenon, a regard for the fabrication processes of building, a perspective on new technologies and their impact on practice, and a concern for the spatial, temporal, social, and urban contexts of buildings. Given the varied perspectives from which the curriculum is conceived, an important aspect of the student's development is to be able to establish links between different areas of focus and its many disciplines.
The focus of the MArch degree program is architecture design studios integrated with supporting subjects central to the curriculum. While the professional curriculum specifies that a student study a range of subjects in several interrelated fields, students in the MArch program have some choice and are required to develop a concentration in a self-determined area. Required and elective subjects taught by the various discipline groups within the department and in other related departments offer a way of charting multiple paths for future professional possibilities. Therefore, students are expected to assume much of the responsibility for structuring their own educational programs at MIT beyond the core curriculum and toward the development of a design thesis.
This program is designed to provide a climate for research and inquiry that stresses the investigative component of understanding the built environment. It is open to students with professional degrees in architecture and, more rarely, to other university graduates. The SMArchS degree is awarded upon satisfactory completion of an approved program of study of 96 units (42 of which are H-level subjects) and the completion of an acceptable thesis. The degree requires two full academic years of residency.
About half of the students in the SMArchS program come from outside the United States; this encourages the exchange of ideas across cultures. Students often use a site in their home countries as a base for their theses.
The program has a strong interest in the methods of inquiry, development and testing of knowledge, and the building and application of theory as it pertains to the built environment. It allows students to specialize in areas in which they wish to obtain particular abilities. There are several areas of study and interdisciplinary work is encouraged.
The Architectural Design program nurtures research that contributes to current thinking about design in the field of architecture. It aims to advance architectural design by cultivating lateral thinking between design expertise and a range of allied fields, such as material sciences, media arts and technology, cultural studies, computation, sustainability, and emerging fabrication protocols. The program provides opportunity for designers to explore theoretical foundations of architectural design as well as its pedagogy, and to provide a platform for applied research and new forms of design practice.
In Architecture and Urbanism, design is developed and evaluated as a means to demonstrate the hypothesis that the urban space can be effectively constructed, and made legible and civic, through architecture. Areas of faculty interest include theory of urban form and design, urban ecology, and landscape.
The Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture supports a small number of students interested in pursuing research on architecture and urbanism in the Islamic world. Faculty interests include Islamic architectural and urban history and historiography, strategies for landscape and urban preservation, and the critique of contemporary architecture in Islamic countries. The program is open to all students interested in issues related to Islamic architecture.
The Computation group inquires into the varied nature and practice of computation in architectural design and the ways in which design meaning, intention, and knowledge are constructed through sensing, thinking, and making computationally. It focuses on developing innovative computational tools, processes, and theories, and applying them in creative, socially meaningful responses to challenging design problems.
Building Technology focuses on the intersection of design and technical issues for buildings that positively contribute to a more humane and environmentally responsible built world. Research within the group addresses innovative materials and assemblies, low-energy strategies, and structures.
Students in History, Theory and Criticism work alongside doctoral students in the study of architecture and art together with historical and methodological issues that inform or link conceptual and practical work.
In all these areas, related subjects are available in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning, in other departments at MIT, and at Harvard.
Students admitted to the Department of Architecture can propose a program of joint work in Architecture and Urban Studies and Planning that will lead to the simultaneous award of two degrees. Degree combinations may be MArch/Master in City Planning (MCP) or SMArchS/MCP. All candidates for simultaneous degrees must meet the requirements of both programs, but may submit a joint thesis. A student must apply by January 3 before beginning the last full year of graduate study in architecture. Dual-degree applications are submitted to Sandra Elliott in 10-485. Students are first approved by the Dual-Degree Committee and then considered during the spring admissions process. For more information, contact Sandra Elliott at 617-253-5115.
The Department of Architecture and the Department of Urban Studies and Planning jointly offer a Certificate in Urban Design. The purpose of the program is to provide the fundamental knowledge and special skills required to design urban and suburban environments. Students in the MArch, SMArchS, MCP, or Master of Science in Urban Studies and Planning programs are eligible for a Certificate in Urban Design if they complete a specific set of subjects drawn from the two departments. For further information, contact Sandra Elliott, Room 10-485, 617-253-5115.
This program provides a focus for graduate students interested in the development and application of advanced technology for buildings. Students in this program take relevant subjects in basic engineering disciplines along with subjects that apply these topics to buildings. The program is open to qualified students with a degree in engineering or in architecture with a substantial background in technology.
The program concentrates on the development of the next generation of technology for buildings as well as the innovative application of state-of-the-art concepts to building systems. Research programs, in many cases jointly carried out with faculty and students in the School of Engineering, include energy efficiency, sustainable building design, controls, natural ventilation and indoor air quality, innovative materials and structures, and computational simulation of building behavior.
The SMBT degree is generally completed in two years and requires 66 units of coursework (42 of which must be H-level graduate credit) and the completion of an acceptable thesis.
ACT operates as a learning laboratory, focusing on artistic research, advanced visual studies, and transdisciplinary collaboration within the context of MIT’s technological community. Students are challenged to explore the role of art and critical design in society and to expand their practice through collaborative and individual investigations in the areas of performance, sound and video, photography, and experimental media that address context and display. The SMACT curriculum includes courses in the production of space, networked cultures, and contemporary curatorial practice, among others. Participation in ACT research groups and regular tutorials foster in-depth examination of student work in progress.
The SMACT degree is completed in two years and requires 156 units of coursework (111 of which must be H-level graduate credit) and the completion of an acceptable written thesis. For more information, visit http://act.mit.edu/.
The PhD in Architecture may be pursued in one of the following areas: History and Theory of Architecture/History and Theory of Art; Building Technology; or Design and Computation.
The PhD program in History, Theory and Criticism of Architecture and Art emphasizes the study of art, architecture, and urbanism, together with the historical and methodological issues that inform or link conceptual and practical work. The Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture is part of this doctoral program.
The doctoral program in Building Technology is interdepartmental, with important components in the Departments of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, and Urban Studies and Planning. Research programs include energy efficiency, sustainable building design, controls, natural ventilation and indoor air quality, daylighting, masonry structures, innovative materials and structures, material and energy flows in urban areas, and computational simulation of building behavior.
The PhD program in Design and Computation is broadly conceived around computational ideas and digital technologies as they pertain to the understanding, description, generation, and construction of architectural form. Research topics include the mathematical foundations of shape and shape representation; generative tools for design synthesis; advanced modeling and visualization techniques; rapid prototyping and CAD/CAM technologies for physical fabrication; and the analysis of the design process and its enhancement through supporting technologies and workspaces. The mission of the program is to enrich design from a computational perspective, with clear implications for teaching and practice.
Admission and degree requirements vary somewhat in the specific areas listed above, and may be obtained from the Department of Architecture website or in correspondence with the separate areas. The residency requirement for the PhD is a minimum of two full academic years. Completion of all of the requirements for the PhD—including the dissertation—is usually accomplished in five years.
Each student admitted to work in the doctoral program should consult closely with one principal professor in his or her area to develop a general plan of study. In all three areas, progress toward the PhD follows a sequence of required subject work, qualifying papers, general examinations, and dissertation research, writing, and defense. Students are encouraged to take subjects appropriate to their study plans in other departments at MIT and at Harvard.
Further information concerning undergraduate and graduate academic programs in the department, admissions, financial aid, and assistantships may be obtained from the Department of Architecture, Room 7-337, 617-253-7387, or from http://architecture.mit.edu/.
Nader Tehrani, MAUD
Professor of Architecture
Department Head
Leslie Keith Norford, PhD
Professor of Building Technology
MacVicar Faculty Fellow
Associate Department Head
Stanford Anderson, MArch, PhD
Professor of History and Architecture
Julian Beinart, MCP, MArch
Professor of Architecture
Yung Ho Chang, MArch
Professor of Architecture
(On leave, fall)
Michael Dennis, BArch
Professor of Architecture
Philip Freelon, MArch
Professor of the Practice of Architecture (Fall)
Antón García-Abril, PhD
Professor of Architecture
Leon R. Glicksman, PhD
Professor of Building Technology
Mark Jarzombek, DiplArch, PhD
Professor of the History and Theory of Architecture
Associate Dean, School of Architecture and Planning
Joan Jonas, MFA
Professor of Visual Arts without Tenure (Retired) (Fall)
Caroline Jones, PhD
Professor of the History of Art
Sheila Kennedy, MArch
Professor of the Practice of Architecture (Fall)
Terry Knight, PhD
Professor of Design and Computation
(On leave, spring)
Nasser Rabbat, MArch, PhD
Aga Khan Professor of the History of Architecture
Director, Aga Khan Program
Adèle Naudé Santos, MAUD, MArch, MCP
Professor of Architecture and Urban Planning
Dean, School of Architecture and Planning
Anne Whiston Spirn, PhD
Professor of Landscape Architecture and Planning
George Stiny, PhD
Professor of Design and Computation
Jan Wampler, MArch
Professor of Architecture without Tenure (Retired) (Fall)
James Wescoat, PhD
Aga Khan Professor
Ute Meta Bauer, Dipl. of Visual Communication
Associate Professor of Art, Culture and Technology
(On leave)
Alexander D'Hooghe, MAUD, PhD
Ford International Career Development Associate Professor of Architecture and Urbanism
Arindam Dutta, PhD
Associate Professor of the History of Architecture
John Fernandez, MArch
Associate Professor of Architecture and Building Technology and Engineering Systems
(On leave)
David Hodes Friedman, PhD
Associate Professor of the History of Architecture
(On leave)
Renée Green, BA
Associate Professor of Art, Culture and Technology
Acting Director, Program in Art, Culture and Technology
Mark Goulthorpe, BArch
Associate Professor of Design
(On leave, spring)
Takehiko Nagakura, MArch, PhD
Associate Professor of Design and Computation
John Ochsendorf, PhD
Associate Professor of Building Technology and Civil and Environmental Engineering
Christoph Reinhart, PhD
Associate Professor of Building Technology
Lawrence Sass, PhD
Associate Professor of Computation and Design
Andrew Scott, BArch
Associate Professor of Architecture
Dennis Shelden, PhD
Associate Professor of the Practice of Computation (Fall)
Gediminas Urbonas, MFA
Associate Professor of Art, Culture and Technology
J. Meejin Yoon, MAUD
Associate Professor of Architecture
Azra Aksamija, MArch
Assistant Professor of Art, Culture and Technology
Joel Lamere, MArch
Assistant Professor of Architecture
Ana Miljacki, MArch, PhD
Assistant Professor of Architecture
William O'Brien, Jr., MArch
Assistant Professor of Architecture
(On leave)
Kristel Smentek, PhD
Class of 1958 Career Development Assistant Professor of the History of Art
(On leave, fall)
Antonio Muntadas, MA (Spring)
Shun Kanda, BArch, MArch (Spring)
Brandon Clifford, MArch
Belluschi Lecturer
Andrea Love, SMArchS (Fall)
Miho Mazereeuw, MArch, MLA (Fall)
Leonard Morse-Fortier, PhD (Fall)
Angel Nevarez
Christopher Dewart, BA
Justin Lavallee, MArch
Reinhard Goethert, MArch, PhD
Kent Larson, BArch
Wayne V. Andersen, PhD
Professor of the History of Art, Emeritus
John de Monchaux, MArch
Professor of Architecture and Urban Studies, Emeritus
Eric Dluhosch, MArch, PhD
Professor of Building Technology, Emeritus
Leon Bennett Groisser, ScD
Professor of Structures, Emeritus
N. John Habraken, BI
Professor of Architecture, Emeritus
Joan Jonas, MFA
Professor of Visual Arts, Emerita
Edward Levine, MA, PhD
Professor of Visual Arts, Emeritus
John Randolph Myer, BArch
Professor of Architecture, Emeritus
Otto Piene, MA
Professor of Visual Design, Emeritus
William Lyman Porter, MArch, PhD
Professor of Architecture, Emeritus
Maurice Keith Smith, BArch
Professor of Architecture, Emeritus
Chester Lee Sprague, MArch
Associate Professor of Architecture, Emeritus
Jan Wampler, MArch
Professor of Architecture, Emeritus
Krzysztof Wodiczko, MFA
Professor of Visual Arts, Emeritus
Waclaw Piotr Zalewski, DTechSci
Professor of Structures, Emeritus