The Master of Architecture program is structured with required courses and electives to give students thorough professional preparation and opportunities for study in the liberal arts and advanced study in architecture.

First Year

First-year courses include required study in design, visual and digital media, architectural history and theory, technological systems, writing, and other electives in cultural knowledge and scientific inquiry. The emphasis in first-year design is on developing a fundamental understanding of formal, spatial and material principles in architecture, while obtaining a strong skill base in freehand drawing, descriptive geometry, material techniques, and visual and digital media. First year electives allow students to supplement their background in physics or calculus, begin or advance foreign language study, broaden their skills in the arts, or choose any other subject area from among over forty offered by the University's undergraduate divisions. In their first semester, students may also participate in one of the many TIDES (Tulane InterDisciplinary Experience) courses offered by the University to engage other students and faculty in an intimate, interactive environment.

Second and Third Years

Second and third-year courses cover the majority of the program requirements. Intensive studio work in architectural design is complemented by study in architectural history and theory, structures, technological systems, digital media and urban studies. In second-year, students are fully immersed in digital design techniques while learning to incorporate knowledge from historic, environmental, social, programmatic and technological studies into the design studio. This is followed by third-year, where, in the second semester, a fully integrated program of coursework allows students a truly synthetic experience in the comprehensive design of a complex architectural project.

Fourth Year

The fourth-year curriculum involves advanced architectural design in elective studio courses as well as graduate level seminars in architectural theory, technology, professional concerns, urban studies, and digital media. In the fourth year of study, emphasis is placed on the relationship of architecture to the urban environment, both locally and globally. Students will spend one semester at the Tulane City Center, studying in one of the many programs ranging from urban design, to housing, to design/build. In the fourth-year, students will also have the opportunity for international study through various programs ranging from one week to full semester abroad programs in Europe, Latin America and Asia. Upper level study is intended to be diverse and includes many electives intended to provide significant opportunities for study within architecture as well as in the liberal arts and sciences.

Fifth Year

In the fifth year of study, students will develop an advanced thesis through research, analysis and design in one of four curricular streams. In addition to academic year studies, students are also required to spend two summers working in architecture firms in order to gain an understanding of architecture as a profession.

Transfer Students

Transfer students with previous college work but without any background in architecture may take an intensive summer curriculum as the equivalent of first-year. The intensive summer program includes no English or general electives because previous college work is a prerequisite. For such students, the Master of Architecture as a first college degree may then be obtained in four additional years.

YEAR 1

Fall Semester Semester Total 17-18

• DSGN 1100 - Design Studio 4
• AVSM 1100 - Visual Media I 2
• AHST 1110 - Introduction to Architecture 3
• English 1010 (must complete first year) 4
• TIDES (must complete first year) 1
• Foreign Language 3-4

Spring Semester Semester Total 15-17

• DSGN 1200 - Design Studio 4
• ADGM 1200 - Digital Media I 2
• Non-lab Science 3
• Quantitative Reasoning 3-4
• Foreign Language 3-4

YEAR 2

Fall Semester Semester Total 19

• DSGN 2100 - Architecture Studio 6
• ADGM 3100 - Digital Media II* 3
• AHST 3010 - Hist/Theory of Arch & Urb I* 3
• ATCS 3010 - Site Strategies for Architects 3
• Lab Science 4

Spring Semester Semester Total 19

• DSGN 2200 - Architecture Studio 6
• ADGM 3200 - Digital Media III * 3
• AHST 3020 - Hist/Theory of Arch & Urb II* 3
• ATCS 3020 - Materials and Methods 3
• ATCS 3030 - Building, Climate and Comfort 4

YEAR 3

Fall Semester Semester Total 19

• DSGN 3100 - Architecture Design Studio 6
• AHST 3030 - Hist/Theory of Arch & Urb III* 3
• ATCS 4010 - Structural Systems 4
• APFC 4100 - Professional Concerns I 3
• Social Science 3

Spring Semester Semester Total 16

• DSGN 3200 - Comprehensive Design Studio 6
• ATCS 4020 - Integrated Building Systems 4
• APFC 4200 - Prof. Concerns II: BIM 3
• University Elective 3

YEAR 4

Fall Semester Semester Total 18

• DSGN 4100 - Options Studio 6
• Architecture Elective 3
• Social Science 3
• University Electives 6

Spring Semester Semester Total 15

•  DSGN 4200 - Options Studio 6
• Advanced History/Theory Elective 3
• Architecture Elective 3
• Humanities 3

YEAR 5

Fall Semester Semester Total 15

• DSGN 5100 - Options Studios 6
• AHST 5110 - Thesis Research 3
• Architecture Elective 3
• University Elective 3

Spring Semester Semester Total 15

• DSGN 5200 - Thesis Studio 6
• Architecture Thesis Support Elective 3
• Architecture Elective 3
• University Elective 3

168-171 Total

123 Architecture courses total

45-48 Courses without Architectural Content

NAAB requires 168 total hours.

NAAB requires 30 hours of graduate level courses in professional studies and electives.

NAAB requires 45 hours to be taken in courses without architectural content.

Two internships required during the program.

^* Note that University Core & Elective Courses, with the exception of TIDES and English Composition, may be completed at any time during the student's curriculum.

^** To satisfy the Writing Intensive Newcomb-Tulane Core Requirement students must take at least one course that contains a Writing Intensive component prior to the beginning of Fifth Year. Students must also satisfy the Perspectives requirement housed under the Cultural Knowledge component of the core by completing one course from the approved list of courses from the "Western Tradition"and with one course from either the approved "Outside the Western Tradition" or "Comparative Cultures and International Perspectives" lists.

⁺ PHYS 1210 satisfies the laboratory science distribution under the Scientific Inquiry component of the core curriculum. In addition to the four credit laboratory science, students must take an additional course (three credit hours minimum) in any of the following disciplines: Astronomy, Cell and Molecular Biology, Chemistry, Earth and Environmental Science, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Mathematics, Neuroscience, Physics, Psychology.

 ⁺⁺ Students are strongly encouraged to take MATH 1150: Long Calculus I, MATH 1210: Calculus I, or MATH 1310: Consolidated Calculus. Students may also satisfy the Quantitative Reasoning requirement with MATH 1110: Probability and Statistics.

⁺⁺⁺ Courses offered in the following disciplines satisfy the Social Science distribution: Anthropology, Economics, Gender and Sexuality Studies, History, International Development, Latin American Studies, Political Economy, Political Science, Public Health (only SPHU 1010 and SPHU 1020), Sociology. Students must complete six credit hours in the Social Sciences.

⁺⁺⁺⁺ Courses offered in the following disciplines satisfy the Humanities distribution: Arabic, Architectural Urban Studies, Chinese, Classical Studies, Communication, English, French, German, Haitian, Italian, Japanese, Jewish Studies, Latin, Literature, Philosophy, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Vietnamese. Students must complete three hours in the Humanities. Students may not apply language courses to both the Foreign Language requirement and the Humanities requirement. Language instruction courses can apply to the Humanities distribution after the proficiency requirement has been met.