The Graduate Program in Architecture offers a design-centered curriculum that promotes personal development, ethical imperatives, critical thinking, and ecologically sustainable practices. These values are expressed in an education that challenges students to expand their awareness, become leaders, master the discipline, and engage architectural production in its cultural and social context with the responsibility of stewardship for the built and natural environments. The program is committed to preparing students for leadership roles, not only within the profession, but also within the broader communities they join and influence.
In the United States, state registration boards require a degree from an accredited professional degree program as a prerequisite for licensure http://www.tn.gov/commerce/boards/ae/. The National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), which is the sole agency authorized to accredit U.S. professional degree programs in architecture, recognizes three types of degrees: the Bachelor of Architecture, the Master of Architecture, and the Doctor of Architecture. A program may be granted an 8-year, 3-year, or 2-year term of accreditation, depending on the extent of its conformance with established educational standards.
The Master of Architecture, Advanced Placement (AP), and Master of Architecture, Post-professional (PP) programs at the University of Tennessee received a full 8-year accreditation as a result of its last NAAB accreditation review. Post-professional degrees are not reviewed for accreditation.
The School of Architecture offers three curricular paths leading to the Master of Architecture degree.
- The Master of Architecture program is a 3.5-year professional degree program for students who already hold a bachelor’s degree in another field other than architecture.
- Master of Architecture, Advanced Placement (MArch AP) is a two-year path in the professional degree program for students with a 4-year pre-professional bachelor’s degree in architecture in which students are placed in upper level coursework based on previously completed coursework in a pre-profession.
- The Master Architecture, Post-Professional (MArch PP) is a 3-semester post-professional degree for students who have already earned an accredited professional degree in architecture, and who seek to develop an area of specialization.
Concentrations
The Graduate Architecture Program offers optional concentrations in Conservation and Stewardship, High Performance Buildings, Sustainable Design, and Urban Design.
A concentration in the MArch and MArch AP requires a minimum of:
- One focus area studio and two directed elective courses, or
- Four directed elective courses
Requirements may vary by concentration area. Additionally, a concentration in the MArch PP requires an approved thesis in the topic area.
Admission
The following must be submitted by all applicants directly to the Office of Graduate Admissions:
- A completed online Graduate Application for Admission. Visit their website at http://graduateadmissions.utk.edu/req.shtml for the online application process.
- The general portion scores of the Graduate Record Examination. Applicants should take the GRE at least six weeks in advance of application for admission.
- For applicants whose native language is not English, scores from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).
In addition to meeting the Graduate School’s minimum requirements, the following specific admission requirements must be submitted to the Graduate Program in Architecture:
For applicants to all degree programs:
- An essay addressing the applicant’s intent and expectations for study in the program.
- Three letters of recommendation.
- A required portfolio illustrating evidence of visual creativity and/or graphic capabilities.
- A personal on-site interview is optional.
For MArch, Post Professional (MArch PP) applicants:
- A professional degree in architecture (5-yr Bachelor of Architecture, Master of Architecture, or Doctor of Architecture) with a minimum 3.00 GPA, from an NAAB accredited program or international equivalent degree and equivalent grades, as determined by the Graduate Admissions Office. Applicants in their final year of a professional architecture program are eligible to apply.
- A portfolio illustrating evidence of visual creativity and/or graphic capabilities, which must include prior academic and (if applicable) professional design work.
- An essay of intent identifying a specific area of study aligned with the general goals of the Architecture Graduate Program and the existing research / scholarship interests of the standing faculty in the College of Architecture and Design. Applicants may focus on either “advanced design skills” or “research-oriented focus.”
- Prior contact with individual faculty members in the applicant’s interest area and with the Chair of the Graduate Architecture Program is highly recommended.
For all applicants to MArch and MArch (AP):
- A minimum 3.00 undergraduate GPA, minimum 3.25 graduate GPA, minimum GRE scores: 147 QV and 3.0 analytical. Standardized test scores can be weighted differently in the admissions process depending on an applicant’s strengths.
- A curriculum plan will be developed with each accepted applicant on a case-by-case basis, based on the applicant’s prior education. Upon the applicant’s acceptance of admission, applicants must provide comprehensive information documenting all professional courses for review of advanced standing or course waivers in the professional degree. This detailed information (syllabi, etc.) is not reviewed during the application process.
For MArch (AP) applicants additionally:
- A four-year degree (typically, BS, BED, or BA) in architecture, with a minimum 3.00 GPA, or international equivalent degree and equivalent grades, as determined by the Graduate Admissions Office. Placement in the 2-year program requires a minimum of 24 semester credit hours of design studio. Applicants in their undergraduate senior year are eligible to apply.
- A portfolio illustrating evidence of visual creativity and/or graphic capabilities, which must include prior academic and (if applicable) professional design work.
For MArch (PP) applicants, additionally:
- A four-year Bachelor’s degree with a minimum 3.00 GPA from an accredited college or university, or international equivalent degree and equivalent grades, as determined by the Graduate Admissions Office. Candidates with a GPA less than 3.00 may be considered for conditional admission when evidence of exceptional promise is identified. Applicants in their undergraduate senior year are eligible to apply.
- Undergraduate prerequisites are 1) 12 semester credit hours of humanities courses, 2) one course in physics, and 3) one pre-calculus math course including trigonometry and logarithms (or college calculus or equivalent). Completion of prerequisites is not required prior to application.
Preparatory courses recommended but not required include: 1) a second course in physics, 2) calculus, 3) freehand drawing (highly recommended).
Degree Requirements
- Master of Architecture, Post-professional (MArch PP) requires a minimum of 36 semester credit hours of graduate course work, taking approximately three semesters of full-time study. A concentration area of study from among the currently available options ought to be selected. Self-designed concentrations will also be considered upon petition to the Chair, Graduate Architecture Programs.
The MArch (PP) requires 6 credit hours of Thesis 500 with a public presentation and oral defense of the thesis.
- Master of Architecture, Advanced Placement (MArch AP) requires a minimum of 60 semester credit hours of graduate course work, taking approximately two years of full-time study. A concentration within the program options is optional.
- MArch normally requires 102 semester credit hours of graduate course work, taking approximately three and a half years of full-time study. Students with prior formal education in design may receive advanced placement upon admission. In such cases, a minimum of 75 semester credit hours of graduate course work will be required. A concentration within the program is optional.
Conservation and Stewardship Concentration
The Conservation and Stewardship concentration promotes and produces knowledge and techniques in the restoration and regeneration of a wide array of cultural artifacts. Broadly based in the arts and the sciences, the Conservation and Stewardship concentration focuses on collaborative research and coursework – in particular on the relationships between the design disciplines and their effect on both built and natural environments. Owing to the growing global concern for sustainable and regenerative responses to designed and natural environments, this concentration explores the processes and systems that affect both local and global responses to contemporary issues of public policy. The Conservation and Stewardship concentration has three goals: to expand local knowledge through topical research, to document the physical environment and the human effect on these environments, and to disseminate that documented knowledge to educate future practitioners and scholars, and the public at-large.
The Conservation and Stewardship concentration offers opportunities for topical study such as, but not limited to:
Sustainable Urban and Rural Landscapes
TVA and Public Policy
Cultural Resource Conservation and Development
Architectural Preservation
Potential Resources:
Governor’s Chair for Energy + Urbanism
UTK Smart Communities Initiative
Knox Heritage
Regional Planning Agencies in Knoxville
Regional Planning Agencies in Nashville
Regional Planning Agencies in Chattanooga
Nashville Civic Design Center
Requirements for Conservation and Stewardship concentration (12 credit hours):
All courses must meet the approval of Chair of Graduate Architecture Program in order to be counted towards the concentration. In addition, faculty will be required to approve the use of their course towards the concentration based on fitness of content. Documentation will be kept by the School of Architecture, but it is the student’s responsibility to solicit approval through the advising process.
Six credit hours from the following:
ARCH 500 - Thesis (6)
ARCH 525 - Special Topics in Architecture (1-3)
ARCH 550 - Special Topics in History, Theory and Criticism (1-3)
ARCH 552 - Special Topics in Sustainable Design (1-3)
ARCH 554 - Special Topics in Materials and Construction (1-3)
ARCH 586 - Advanced Architectural Design: Sustainable Architecture (6)
ARCH 590 - Advanced Architectural Design: Special Topics (6)
ARCH 599 - Design VII: Diploma Thematic Studio (6)
Plus six elective credit hours from one of these courses or similar courses per advising process:
Of the six elective credit hours, up to three credit hours may be from:
ARCH 526 - Directed Readings in Architecture (3)
ARCH 591 - Foreign Study (1-9)
ARCH 593 - Independent Study (1-9)
Of the six elective credit hours, up to three credit hours may be from approved courses in other departments, such as:
ANTHROPOLOGY
ANTH 510 - Method and Theory in Cultural Anthropology (3)
CLASSICS
CLAS 436 - Cities and Sanctuaries of the Greek and Roman World (3)
GEOGRAPHY
GEOG 411 - Intermediate Geographic Information Science (3)
HISTORY
HIST 642 - Seminar in 19th-Century United States (3)
HIST 643 - Seminar in 20th-Century United States (3)
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
LAR 513 Strategies and Case Studies in Landscape Stewardship and Restoration Ecology (3)
LAR 525 - Special Topics (1-6)
LAR 583 - Design Theory and Methods I (3)
POLITICAL SCIENCE
POLS 548 - Public Policy Process (3)
POLS 549 - Environmental Policy (3)
POLS 556 - Policy Analysis (3)
High Performance Buildings Concentration
The High Performance Buildings concentration incorporates knowledge from a wide range of disciplines that share a common base within the College of Architecture and Design and other University of Tennessee Colleges and Institutes. The methodology is based on an integrated design process in which design, research and technology are reinforced with disciplines such as building design, product development, materials science, building physics, climatic design, structural design, computation and modeling, and production techniques. In addition, individual methods from these and other perspectives are also encouraged. The High Performance Buildings concentration may address issues of the innovative and sustainable design of buildings, building components and (sub) systems of buildings, and on how these relate to each other and to architecture as an integrated complex system.
The High Performance Buildings concentration offers opportunities for topical study such as, but not limited to:
Advanced Building Design
Facade Design and High-Performance Building Envelopes
Innovative uses of Traditional materials, both massive and lightweight
Building Performance Design, Development, and Evaluation (energy, structural, mechanic, construction, etc.)
Digital Modeling and Digital Manufacturing
Smart Structures and Lightweight Structures
New Materials and Environmental Performance Criteria
Design with Climate: Daylight, Solar, Water Harvesting, Passive Cooling
Potential resources:
Governor’s Chair for Urbanism + Energy
Institute for Smart Structures (ISS)
Design | Build | Evaluate Initiative
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
Requirements for High Performance Buildings concentration (12 hours):
All courses must meet the approval of Chair of Graduate Architecture Program in order to be counted towards the concentration. In addition, faculty will be required to approve the use of their course towards the concentration based on fitness of content. Documentation will be kept by the School of Architecture, but it is the student’s responsibility to solicit approval through the advising process.
Six credit hours from one of the following:
ARCH 500 - Thesis (6)
ARCH 586 - Advanced Architectural Design: Sustainable Architecture (6)
ARCH 588 - Advanced Architectural Design: Structural Innovations (6)
ARCH 590 - Advanced Architectural Design: Special Topics (6)
ARCH 599 - Design VII: Diploma Thematic Studio (6)
Plus six elective credit hours from one of these courses or similar courses per advising process:
ARCH 525 - Special Topics in Architecture (1-3)
ARCH 550 - Special Topics in History, Theory and Criticism (1-3)
ARCH 552 - Special Topics in Sustainable Design (1-3)
ARCH 554 - Special Topics in Materials and Construction (1-3)
ARCH 555 - Special Topics in Digital Fabrication (1-3)
Of the six elective credit hours, up to three credit hours may be from:
ARCH 526 - Directed Readings in Architecture (3)
ARCH 593 - Independent Study (1-9)
Sustainable Design Concentration
The College of Architecture and Design offers a concentration in sustainable design incorporating knowledge from a wide range of disciplines, ranging from technical to philosophical. This concentration explores the interrelation between decisions made when designing the built environment and their short-term and long-term impacts on the ecological environment. Students are asked to take responsibility for the role architecture plays in the consumption of natural resources, underscoring the need for interdisciplinary dialogue and leadership at building, site, city, and regional scales.
The Sustainable Design concentration offers opportunities for topical study such as, but not limited to:
Building Design
Building Technology
Materials and Methods of Design Implementation
Urban Design
Landscape Architecture Design
Land Use Planning and Policy
Ecology
Economics
Environmental Sciences
Forestry and Natural Resources
Plant Sciences
Agriculture
Potential resources:
Design | Build | Evaluate Initiative
Institute for Smart Structures (ISS)
UTK Smart Communities Initiative
Institute for Secure and Sustainable Environments (ISSE)
Nashville Civic Design Center (NCDC)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
Requirements for Sustainable Design concentration (12 hours):
All courses must meet the approval of Chair of Graduate Architecture Program in order to be counted towards the concentration. In addition, faculty will be required to approve the use of their course towards the concentration based on fitness of content. Documentation will be kept by the School of Architecture, but it is the student’s responsibility to solicit approval through the advising process.
Six credit hours from one of the following:
ARCH 500 - Thesis (6)
ARCH 586 - Advanced Architectural Design: Sustainable Architecture (6)
ARCH 590 - Advanced Architectural Design: Special Topics (6)
ARCH 599 - Design VII: Diploma Thematic Studio (6)
Plus six elective credit hours from one of these courses or similar courses per advising process:
ARCH 525 - Special Topics in Architecture (1-3)
ARCH 550 - Special Topics in History, Theory and Criticism (1-3)
ARCH 552 - Special Topics in Sustainable Design (1-3)
ARCH 554 - Special Topics in Materials and Construction (1-3)
ARCH 555 - Special Topics in Digital Fabrication (1-3)
Of the six elective credit hours, up to three credit hours may be from:
ARCH 526 - Directed Readings in Architecture (3)
ARCH 591 - Foreign Study (1-9)
ARCH 593 - Independent Study (1-9)
LAR 526 - Directed Readings in Landscape Architecture (3)
Of the six elective credit hours, up to three credit hours may be from approved courses in other departments, such as:
AGRICULTURAL AND RESOURCE ECONOMICS
AREC 472 - Natural Resource Economics (3)
AREC 570 - Advanced Natural Resource Economics (3)
BIOSYSTEMS ENGINEERING
BSE 562 - Selected Topics in Natural Resource Engineering (3)
ECOLOGY
EEB 503 - Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Seminar (1)
EEB 509 - Core: Ecology (4)
ECONOMICS
ECON 463 - Environmental Economics (3) [Prerequisite(s): 311]
ECON 677 - Environmental and Natural Resource Economics (3)
ECON 678 - Economics of Environmental Policy (3)
FORESTRY
FORS 423 - Wildland Recreation Planning and Management (3)
FORS 515 - Forest Conservation Workshop (1-3)
FORESTRY, WILDLIFE AND FISHERIES
FWF 520 - Natural Resource Issues at International Level (3)
FWF 540 - Seminar on Integrated Resources Management in Biosphere Reserves (2)
GEOGRAPHY
GEOG 434 - Climatology (3)
GEOG 436 - Water Resources (3)
GEOG 449 - Geography of Transportation (3)
GEOG 536 - Topics in Watershed Dynamics (3)
GEOG 541 - Topics in Urban/Economic Geography (3)
GEOG 545 - Topics in Population Geography (3)
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
LAR 525 - Special Topics (1-6)
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
ME 572 - Sustainable Energy Engineering (3)
PHILOSOPHY
PHIL 545 - Topics in Environmental Ethics (3)
POLITICAL SCIENCE
POLS 581 - Fundamentals of Planning (3)
PLANT SCIENCES
PLSC 421 - Native Plants in the Landscape (3)
PLSC 515 - Agroecology (3)
PLSC 536 - Ecology of Grazing Land Systems (3)
SOCIOLOGY
SOCI 465 - Social Values and the Environment (3)
SOCI 562 - Sociology of Environmental Policy (3)
SOCI 661 - Environmental Theory (3)
Urban Design Concentration
The urban design concentration gives students in the College of Architecture and Design a mechanism through which to develop a deep understanding of how architectural thinking impacts the myriad conditions of urbanism across multiple contexts. This concentration prompts both analytical and speculative work related to the richly layered processes that define the continuing formation of the city at multiple scales, from individual buildings to the larger metropolitan and regional scale of cities. Students are asked to reflect on the larger roles and responsibilities of architecture in the contemporary city: in the arenas of urban development and growth; on infrastructure and land use; on the impact of urbanism on natural resources; and on questions of density and spatial patterning. Students doing design and research in the concentration will actively develop new knowledge regarding the complex relationships between economic, political, technological, and social conditions that are endemic in the urbanisms of North America and globally.
The urban design concentration offers opportunities for topical study such as, but not limited to:
History and Theory of Urbanism
Urban Design, Landscape, and Infrastructure
Urban Morphology
Comparative Research and Understanding Between Cities
Walkable Urbanism
The Impact of Automobility on Spatial Ordering
Transit-Oriented Development
Urban Housing
Development
Networks and Systems
Potential Resources:
Governor’s Chair for Energy + Urbanism
UTK Smart Communities Initiative
Regional Planning Agencies in Knoxville
Regional Planning Agencies in Nashville
Regional Planning Agencies in Chattanooga
Nashville Civic Design Center
Urban Land Institute
Vanderbilt University Real Estate Development Program
Requirements for the Urban Design concentration (12 hours):
All courses must meet the approval of Chair of Graduate Architecture Program in order to be counted towards the concentration. In addition, faculty will be required to approve the use of their course towards the concentration based on fitness of content. Documentation will be kept by the School of Architecture, but It is the student’s responsibility to solicit approval through the advising process.
Six credit hours from one of the following:
ARCH 500 - Thesis (6)
ARCH 571 - Design IV: Building in the Urban Context
ARCH 583 - Architectural Design: Urbanism (6)
ARCH 599 - Design VII: Diploma Thematic Studio (in Urban Design) (6)
Plus six elective credit hours from one of these courses or similar courses per advising process:
ARCH 515 - Seminar in Urban Design Theory (3)
ARCH 525 - Special Topics in Architecture (1-3)
ARCH 550 - Special Topics in History, Theory and Criticism (1-3)
ARCH 552 - Special Topics in Sustainable Design (1-3)
ARCH 554 - Special Topics in Materials and Construction (1-3)
ARCH 555 - Special Topics in Digital Fabrication (1-3)
Of the six elective credit hours, up to three credit hours may be from:
ARCH 526 - Directed Readings in Architecture (3)
ARCH 591 - Foreign Study (1-9)
ARCH 592 - Off-Campus Study (1-9)
ARCH 593 - Independent Study (1-9)
LAR 526 - Directed Readings in Landscape Architecture (3)
Of the six elective credit hours, up to 3 credit hours may be from approved courses in other departments, such as:
GEOGRAPHY
GEOG 441 - Cities as Economic Engines (3)
GEOG 442 - Urban Spaces and Urban Society (3)
GEOG 449 - Geography of Transportation (3)
GEOG 541 - Topics in Urban/Economic Geography (3)
GEOG 641 - Seminar in Urban/Economic Geography (3)
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
LAR 525 - Special Topics (1-6)
LAR 583 - Design Theory and Methods I (3)
