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M.Arch 2

SCI-Arc’s M.Arch 2 is a two-year, five-semester program leading to a Master of Architecture degree accredited by National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), allowing graduates to pursue architectural licensure for professional practice in the United States.

Open to students who hold an undergraduate degree in architecture, the M.Arch 2 program at SCI-Arc is geared to propel speculative design exploration and new modes of communication, while advancing formal experimentation that expands the boundaries of contemporary architectural practice.

Heading titleA Fearless Approach to Contemporary Design

The M.Arch 2 program is designed for students looking to focus their architectural education on contemporary tools, techniques, and technologies and to expand their experience in digital design, fabrication, and critical thinking.

Uniting the latest technology with an intrepid attitude toward architectural design, the program’s commitment to independent thinking, research, and innovation through its rigorous course of study serves as a transition for students from graduate school to professional practice.

yellow blue purple contemporary theoretical speculative architecture render

Project by Haruka Liu in Rachael McCall's 2GAX studio.

blue grey architecture model white background SCI-Arc Yunfei Cao + Yiyang Sang, first-year project
purple pink blue colorful building section blue sky background SCI-Arc 2 GBX DS1201 Manferdini SP19 Griggs Christina Maculan Sixtina LN 01 Reduced
pink and blue layered architecture model speculative theoretical SCI-Arc SPRING SHOW MODELS
Group of students around computer discussing with florencia pita in architecture school

Heading titleLeveraging Emerging Techniques

SCI-Arc’s M.Arch 2 curriculum is structured as a laboratory for learning new skills and methodologies within both historical and contemporary contexts. Beginning with a two-semester core sequence of design studios and seminar courses, M.Arch 2 courses challenge students to employ advanced tools, techniques, and software while refining design skillsets for speculative architectural production.

Students continue on to two semesters of Vertical Studios which match small, combined groups of students from SCI-Arc’s undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate programs with faculty and visiting architects leading design projects that explore a wide variety of focuses and interests. Applied research in advanced studios and seminars in the final semesters of the program prepare students for Graduate Thesis.

isometric sectional view of a building white pink and leaf green SCI-Arc isometric cutaway showing interior public building by student
multi color architecture model orange yellow blue with mint background SCI-Arc 2 GAX Gow FA18 Wang Manying Liu Xin MD 01
purple pink architecture render white buildings SCI-Arc 2 GBX DS1201 Manferdini SP19 Minster Blake Parthiban Kumaran MD 03

Heading titleLed by a global faculty of practitioners and scholars

SCI-Arc was founded on the idea that architects should teach what they practice and we still believe that practicing architects can best communicate to students the complex realities of thinking about—and making—architecture. Today, SCI-Arc faculty is comprised of some of the most dedicated and cutting-edge thinkers in Los Angeles in architecture, culture, history, and technology. Design Studio faculty are active practitioners working in many of LA’s most innovative architecture firms. The symbiotic relationship between practice and teaching produces a close dialogue between conceptual and professional practice.

thom mayne headshot

SCI-Arc is one of the strongest programs in the country, if not globally. I can remember [the] opportunity to readjust, retune, rethink what architecture was or wasn’t and my place in it. SCI-Arc is the perfect environment for that.

- Thom Mayne, Principle of Morphosis Architects and Design Studio Visiting Faculty

professors and students converse over work

Heading titleStudents

M.Arch 2 students attend SCI-Arc to expand and complement their undergraduate studies with a contemporary, cutting-edge architecture education.

jenifer dow

"SCI-Arc is an incredibly positive environment that provides students with a plethora of possibilities for personal and professional development; both within and related to the field. I love how the progressive studio culture fosters creative energy and experiment with different modes of learning, discussion and evaluation. The academic and personal relationships I have built within SCI-Arc have taught me invaluable lessons that traverse beyond architectural pedagogy."

Jennifer Dow M.Arch 2
multicolor glowing architecture model

Model by Jonathan Warner and Gregory Kokkotis

Heading titlePreparation for Practice

The program’s commitment to independent thinking, research, and innovation through M.Arch 2’s rigorous course of study serves as a transition for students from graduate school to professional practice.

gehry studio final student presentation architecture project in concrete building

Frank Gehry studio final thesis presentation

Heading titleGehry Prize for Best Graduate Thesis

Endowed by SCI-Arc Trustee Frank Gehry and his wife Bertha, The Gehry Prize is a monetary prize awarded annually to the best graduate thesis projects.

multicolor buildings cityscape

Section by Gehry Prize winner Liang Yu.

Heading titleAlumni

SCI-Arc has more than four thousand alumni working all over the globe in a variety of professional architecture and design practices. M.Arch 2 alumni have led design teams at Morphosis, Gehry Partners and Gehry Technologies, Gensler, Skidmore Owings and Merrill, UN Studio, Kengo Kuma and Associates, Tesla Motors, In Europe, Snøhetta, BIG, Zaha Hadid, UN Studio, In Asia, MAD, Toyo Ito, Shigeru Ban, and more.

Masters student thesis pin-up gallery presentation architecture school

Selected Thesis Exhibition

Heading titleM.Arch 2 Course Catalog

Explore the diverse and detailed areas of study in SCI-Arc’s M.Arch 2 program.