Call for applications: Graduate architecture programs

The University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) School of Architecture is now accepting applications for the Fall 2021 semester. The school offers three graduate programs: a one-year post-professional Master of Science in Architecture; a two-year Master of Arts in Design Criticism; and a three-year professional Master of Architecture. The priority deadline for all applicants is January 15, 2021.

The school invites prospective students to attend a Virtual Graduate Programs Open House the afternoon of Saturday, October 17, 2020. The event will include presentations of student work, a virtual building tour, discussions with faculty, and a conversation with alumni contributors to the latest issue of Flat Out magazine. For more details and to register, visit the school’s website.

Working from within the context of Chicago’s only public research university, graduate programs at UIC explore how the discipline of architecture might contribute to conditioning the metropolis, constructing new audiences, and circulating ideas. The school asks its students to project new worlds as a means to advance both formal and political imagination.

The school derives much of its energy and unique perspective from its award-winning, international faculty, 40 percent of whom were born or educated abroad. Faculty currently teaching in the graduate program include Paul Andersen (Independent Architecture); Kelly Bair (BairBalliet); David Brown (The Available City); Penelope Dean (Flat Out magazine); Sarah Dunn (UrbanLab); Alexander Eisenschmidt; Grant Gibson (CAMESgibson); Stewart Hicks (Design With Company); Sam Jacob (Sam Jacob Studio); Thomas Kelley (Norman Kelley); Sean Lally (Sean Lally Design); Clare Lyster (CLUAA); Francesco Marullo; Paul Preissner (Paul Preissner Architects); Robert Somol; and Andrew Zago (Zago Architecture).

Master of Science in Architecture (MSArch)
The MSArch is a one-year, two-semester program designed for holders of a professional degree in architecture (Bachelor of Architecture or Master of Architecture) or its international equivalent. The MSArch consists of studio-centered work in architecture and urban design supported by elective coursework in advanced technology and contemporary theory and criticism. Recent MSArch alumni include students from Argentina, Germany, Latvia, and Panama, all of whom were Fulbright Scholars.

Master of Arts in Design Criticism (MAD-Crit)
The MAD-Crit is a two-year program that develops textual and visual argumentation in the areas of architecture, urbanism, landscape, and allied design practices. Revolving around intensive writing seminars and publication workshops, the program is unabashedly operative in its ambitions: it is driven by the practice of writing and the demand to inject argument immediately into diverse media of communication. MAD-Crit graduates have gone on to publish in outlets such as the Architect’s Newspaper, Flat Out, the Journal of Architectural Education, Log, and MAS Context; teach; pursue doctoral degrees; and collaborate on publications and exhibitions with institutions including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Canadian Centre for Architecture, and the Lisbon Architecture Triennale.

Master of Architecture (MArch)
The MArch is a three-year, NAAB-accredited first professional degree for students with either an undergraduate degree in architectural studies or an undergraduate degree in any other field of study. The studio-centered curriculum is supported by required and elective coursework in architectural technology and theory. Advanced standing may be awarded to applicants who meet highly selective coursework and portfolio requirements. Graduates of the MArch are now working across the US and in cities including London, Copenhagen, Shanghai, Seoul, Sydney, and Toronto.

After their second year, MArch students may elect to enter the joint MArch/MAD-Crit program, which grants both degrees following one additional year of study. 

MArch applicants are encouraged to apply before December 15, 2020, to be considered for the University Fellowship, an award given to UIC’s most exceptional students.

Virtual Info Sessions
In addition to the Open House, the school will hold several virtual information sessions this fall. For details and to register, visit the school’s website.

For more information about applying to graduate programs at UIC, visit arch.uic.edu/graduate-admissions.