Master of Architecture Cardiff University

Overview

Our two-year MArch will take you to an advanced level of architectural design. You’ll explore the full range of skills required to be an architect, while focusing on developing your personal outlook and professional experience. 

The first year of the programme will be spent predominantly in architectural practice, on a placement which you will need to secure before you enrol. You will attend three short courses to help you reflect on the professional and legal aspects of the practical work you’re engaged in. Your second year will be spent on a dissertation and design thesis, immersing yourself in the dynamic and collaborative studio culture of our School. This combination of practical and theoretical gives you a unique opportunity to learn from and reflect on professional practice to develop your individual stance and professional perspectives.  

We encourage you to practice ‘grounded creativity;’ your design studies across both years will involve imaginative engagement with real-world issues and global challenges such as climate change and the UN’s sustainable development goals within localised contexts. You will further your understanding of how architecture is made and how it performs, reflecting on how your technological choices can support the wellbeing of present and future generations.

To prepare you for the demands of the architectural profession, we build on and extend your existing understandings of the historical, theoretical, cultural, political, and geographical dimensions of the architectural discipline. With a focus on innovation, professionalism and commercial awareness, you’ll be encouraged to reflect critically on the wider significance of personal decisions and actions as an architect.  

Your studies will be shaped by exposure to world-leading teacher-practitioners and researchers who will encourage you to develop new critical and creative approaches to design. You’ll be encouraged to experiment with design, take creative risks and expand your thinking.

The design studio is at the centre of our community, a place where you’ll mix with students, staff, and industry practitioners to address ethical, global, climatic and professional issues. The studio environment provides the ideal space for you to take your studies in a direction that reflects your own interests, through a process of creativity and discovery.

Following graduation from the programme you will need to complete a Part 3 programme, for example our Postgraduate Diploma in Architecture: Professional Practice, if you intend to become a registered architect in the United Kingdom.

Accreditations

• Lembaga Arkitekt Malaysia
• Architects Registration Board (ARB)
• Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)