Edinburgh Uni Architecture
The MArch is delivered through thematically-focussed elective design studios, an ideal platform for graduate-level research-led teaching. Complimentary courses in theory, technology and professional practice are offered to develop your core professional competencies. Uniquely, the programme offers two curricular pathways, allowing you to complete either a one or two-year design-studio thesis, prioritising either breadth or depth of enquiry.
Design studios
The design studio is the heart of the MArch curriculum, and accounts for 160 credits of the programme. As a student, you will have the opportunity to explore different design approaches, and to develop your own specialism, by choosing from a range of design studio options. Each studio is led by a dedicated academic staff member whose expertise and research agenda frame the themes of investigation, and typically involves a field trip to sites of national or international interest.
Complimentary courses
The remaining 80 credits comprise compulsory non-studio courses. Architecture Technology Research supports you in developing methods for identifying and integrating relevant technologies in architectural projects; Studies in Contemporary Architectural Theory allows you to follow one of a series of theory seminars, developing an in-depth knowledge of particular contemporary architectural discourses; Architectural Management, Practice and Law offers a part-2 level understanding of architectures professional context, including a scenario-based event that prepares you for the Part 3.
Curriculum pathways
Our design studios operate through one of two curriculum pathways.
Modular Pathway
The Modular Pathway provides you with the opportunity to choose from a selection of independent, year-long design studios. A range of different studios will be offered each cycle, exploring urban and rural sites of national and international significance, structured through themes related to staff expertise and research interests. Over the course of the programme, you will take two of these studios, sampling a range of topics and methods.
The MArch modular studios will be open to both 1st and 2nd year students, offering opportunities for peer learning between cohorts. While offering student choice, the two years of study also provide a coherent pedagogic arc. For MArch 1 Modular students, each studio choice will introduce you to a range of different architectural themes, research methods and design approaches, while for the MArch 2 constituency, studios will expect an enhanced level of design resolution, supported by a 40 credit core studio which incorporates external consultancy on structural, technical and environmental resolution.
The Modular Pathway allows you to complete a highly resolved thesis project while developing a portfolio typified by breadth of enquiry.
Examples of previous modular pathway studios
Integrated pathway
The Integrated Pathway, unique to the March programme at Edinburgh College of Art, is a two-year long pathway anchored typically around a major city or territory. Focused on a major (usually European) city, this pathway will lead you through a series of architectural studies and design projects that allow you to engage the full range of architectural scales; from the urban strategy right down to the detail in a comprehensive project. The pathway emphasizes research-led teaching and design.
