Architecture

University of California, Berkeley

Overview

The Department of Architecture at UC Berkeley has a strong tradition of fostering design and research. The faculty offer rigorous undergraduate and graduate programs and carry out leading research in constructed and speculative environments, architectural technologies, and architectural humanities. The multidisciplinary interests of faculty and graduate students form the basis of exciting new research collaborations with a variety of other disciplines, including landscape architecture, sustainable environmental design, structural engineering, new media, and urban studies.

The Department’s evolution has been nourished by social, cultural, and environmental values, reflected in our innovative teaching, scholarly research, critical design inquiry, and synthetic practice. Over fifty years later, our founding principles remain a strong underpinning of our department, while supporting our continual exploration of emerging theory and knowledge in design thinking, innovative materials and technologies, digital design and fabrication, and sustainability. And these fundamental principles and values have never been more relevant. They are precisely what are needed most in our discipline today, and in our world at large, to help us tackle the complex environmental challenges we face in profound and meaningful ways.

Rather than embracing a single conception of architecture, by intention, we welcome and value distinct views that broaden each of our own horizons. We are interested in the entire life cycle of the building process, from conceptualization, through design and representation, craft and construction, and the performance of both constructed and virtual environments. All of this guided to re-vision, to re-imagine, and to re-make the future of our dwelling environments.

Accreditation

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 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, 6-year, 3-year, or 2-year term of accreditation, depending on the extent of its conformance with established educational standards.  Master of Architecture degree programs may consist of a pre-professional undergraduate degree and a professional graduate degree that, when earned sequentially, constitute an accredited professional education. However, the pre-professional degree is not, by itself, recognized as an accredited degree.

University of California, Berkeley, College of Environmental Design, Department of Architecture offers the following NAAB-accredited degree programs:

  • MArch (requires pre-professional degree 120 credits + 48 graduate credits)
  • MArch (requires non-professional degree + 72 credits)

Next accreditation visit for all programs: 2024

Architecture Lecture Series

The Department of Architecture sponsors a lecture series that offers students the opportunity to hear internationally acclaimed speakers. These speakers often also participate in classes and seminars as part of their visit to campus. For a schedule of speakers and events in this lecture series, please see the Architecture Department website.

Undergraduate Programs

Architecture: BA, Minor
Environmental Design and Urbanism in Developing Countries: Minor
History of the Built Environment: Minor
Social and Cultural Factors in Design: Minor
Sustainable Design: Minor

Graduate Programs

Architecture: MArch, MAAD, MS, PhD

Visit Department Website

Courses

Architecture

Contact Information

Department of Architecture

232 Bauer Wurster Hall

Phone: 510-642-4942

Visit Department Website

Department Chair

Lisa Iwamoto

232A Bauer Wurster Hall

liwamoto@berkeley.edu

Graduate Student Advising

Graduate Student Affairs Officer

232 Bauer Wurster Hall

Phone: 510 642-5577

archgrad@berkeley.edu

CED Undergraduate Advising

Undergraduate Student Advisors

250 Bauer Wurster Hall

Phone: 510-642-4943

cedadvising@berkeley.edu

Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies

Andrew Atwood

364 Bauer Wurster Hall

atwood@berkeley.edu

Career Counselor

Dinorah Meyer

http://ced.berkeley.edu/ced/students/career

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