a dynamic program
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Architecture covers a vast spread of concerns about people and their surroundings, their history, cultures, resources, disciplines, and contradictions. At Waterloo Architecture, you will learn to become an architect capable of practice within contemporary professional constraints and capable, too, of adapting to a changing profession and to the society it serves.
Our program consists of 2 degrees: an honours degree in pre-professional Architecture (a Bachelor of Architectural Studies) and a professional Master of Architecture degree. The pre-professional degree takes 5 years to complete and includes 2 years of paid work experience. The Master of Architecture takes a further 1 to 2 years and will prepare you for the world of architectural practice.
Most of your courses will be taken within our 4 theme areas:
• Design courses, the primary focus of the program, are conducted as studios in which you’ll undertake a series of projects.
• A unique element of our program are cultural history courses, which study the human imagination and the forms through which it expresses itself. You will be exposed to great works of history, philosophy, and literature. Architecture is thus conceived as a form of cultural expression.
• The technology theme involves materials, structural design, building systems, and construction as well as computer-based design, modeling, and simulation.
• The environment theme area addresses issues such as sustainable building, landscape and energy-efficient building, and the nature of cities.