MArch: 2-Yr. Research Studio Track Curriculum

This track is for students who have successfully completed UB’s BS Arch program, an equivalent degree in a studio-based program from a regionally accredited four-year US college or university or an equivalent credential from a qualifying international institution. Qualifying programs must include a minimum of 7 studios, plus at least 44 equivalent credits in architectural history, technology and media.

List of regionally accredited four-year US college or university
Qualifying international universities must have NAAB international certification. Please refer to the NAAB web site to see if your international institution qualifies.

Students are encouraged to apply for fall or spring start.

The curriculum of any vital and dynamic program will change from time to time. The description, which follows, should be considered illustrative.

All enrolled graduate students should have in their possession an original copy of the curriculum they must satisfy based upon their date of matriculation. Matrixes are sent to all students when they accept into the program. If you need a copy of your matrix, please contact the Graduate Program Coordinator, Stacey Komendat.

The curriculum varies depending upon the students’ entry into the program. Students may enter the MArch program in the fall semester or spring semester.
Students may apply to waive a required course based on prior coursework.
Faculty serve at advisors for graduate students in addition to the Graduate Advisor, Stacey Komendat and Associate Chair, Joyce Hwang.

2 Year Master of Architecture (M.Arch) Research Studio Track Curriculum

Semester 1: Fall

ARC 605/7	Research Studio	6
ARC xxx	Intellectual Domain Seminar	3
ARC xxx	Technical Methods Seminar	3
ARC 555	Structures 3	3
Total Semester Credits	15

Semester 2: Spring

ARC 606/8	Research Studio	6
ARC xxx	Intellectual Domain Seminar	3
ARC xxx	Technical Methods Seminar	3
ARC 575	Environmental Systems 3	3
Total Semester Credits	15

Semester 3: Fall

ARC 607/5 or ARC 567	Research Studio or Directed Research	6
ARC xxx or ARC 616	Elective or Reseach Methods	3
ARC xxx	Elective	3
ARC xxx	Elective	3
Total Semester Credits	15

Semester 4: Spring

ARC 608/6	Research Studio or Thesis (if completed Directed Research)	6
ARC 697 or ARC XXX	Portfolio (required if not doing Thesis) or Elective	3
ARC xxx	Elective	3
ARC 582	Professional Practice	3
Total Semester Credits	15

Total Required Credits	60

Descriptions of the seminars can be found under Course Descriptions on the Information for Current Students site. This page will be continuously updated as further course descriptions are submitted by instructors before the start of the semester.

Directed Research and Research Methods must be taken the semester before Thesis. Must have minimum 3.5 GPA to register for Directed Research. More information can be found on the Directed Research and Thesis Information page.

Students must complete either the Portfolio course (ARC 697) or Thesis (ARC 699) as their culminating experience. Note: Previous UB undergraduate students who have already taken the Portfolio course during thier undergraduate studies may waive the course and substitute it for a 3 credit elective. However, students must still submit their final graduate portfolio for approval to the department before graduation.

Note: A maximum of one independent study course is allowed each semester, with a maximum career total of two.

ARC 555 (Structures 3) if often broken up into a 2 credit seminar and a 1 credit lab. Please be sure to register for both the seminar and corresponding lab at the same time to avoid a co-requisite error. The lecture and lab combined should total 3 credits.

Explore our Graduate Research Groups

Ecological Practices
6/11/26
The built and natural environment are a complex web of interconnected parts, constantly exchanging energy and resources. This group critically engages environmental systems and examine the role that architecture and urbanism play in harnessing and stewarding them.
Inclusive Design
6/11/26
Develop environments, products and systems for a wider range of people, especially those in underserved populations. One of the most important design movements of our era, inclusive design is based on the values of non-discrimination, social justice, equal opportunity, and personal empowerment.
Material Culture
6/11/26
Projecting forward from Buffalo’s legacy in material innovation, this group explores constructive sensibilities and investigate how our culture is deeply embedded in material artifacts. Pursue design, production, and potential materials through full-scale fabrication, assembly, and installation.
Situated Technologies
6/11/26
There is no digital architecture anymore—just architecture. Consider architecture in the expanded field of technologies and mediated environments. Complex assemblages of code, people, space, material, infrastructure, practices, and processes—each are technologies unto themselves as is their gathering in architecture.
Urban Design
6/11/26
Urban design works at the confluence of the scale of buildings and the scale of cities. Straddle the fields of architecture and planning to critically examine parameters of contemporary urban form, including political, economic, environmental, social, and cultural forces.