Architecture

Overview

Whether you have a background in the building design sector or are new to the field, the program will prepare you for a path to positively contribute to the design of tomorrow’s buildings, neighborhoods, and communities. The Architecture program of Rochester Institute of Technology is moving sustainability forward to elevate the value of architectural design. As a student here, you’ll learn how to design with context and substance in areas such as positive energy, performance building, climate-responsive designs, passive resiliency, and more.

Whether you have a background in the building design sector or are new to the field, the program will prepare you for a path to positively contribute to the design of tomorrow’s buildings, neighborhoods, and communities.

Our program offers foundation courses as well as more in-depth classes exploring integrated building systems, urban planning, industrial ecology, and more. You’ll also have the flexibility to choose electives in other subject areas based on your unique talents and career goals, such as business, engineering, energy, or additional design skills.

Enhanced Career Opportunities

RIT’s master of architecture program is proud of the 100 percent job placement rate among our graduates. Our alumni are employed in architectural firms around the world and are working in diverse fields, from community development to smart growth to green building materials. Within firms and elsewhere, they serve as architectural designers, research scientists, sustainability consultants, planning engineers, start-up entrepreneurs, and more.

With design, creative exploration, and critical thinking as key underpinnings, our program is grounded around four primary areas:

• Sustainability: With a global need for a more sustainable world, including buildings and their impact on energy consumption and carbon footprints, the focus of many courses reflect the conditions of sustainable design and practice.

• Technology: Design exploration is enhanced through the understanding of the implication of technology on both design process and product. The program enables students to focus and collaborate in many specialized areas of technology, including engineering, computer science, imaging science, materials and construction, and products and remanufacturing.

• Urbanism: The complexity of the urban environment requires an interdisciplinary approach to architecture education—one that references economics, public policy, sociology, and regional culture. With this in mind, the program also focuses on the practices and principles of preservation and adaptive reuse.

• Integrated learning/practice: From the outset, students often approach design problems within teams, learning to value and leverage collective and collaborative participation. Through integrated learning and evidenced-based models, we prepare students for the increasingly integrated practice of architecture, where architects are orchestrating teams of professionals from a variety of fields, including engineering, management, science, and computer science.

Accreditation

The master of architecture program is accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB). In addition, the program is now designated as a STEM program in Architectural and Building Sciences/Technology (CIP code 04.0902) making international graduates eligible to extend their F-1 visas for up to three years in order to work in the United States.