Master of Architecture

The Master of Architecture program was established in 1971 and has evolved to develop a distinctive approach to architectural education, research and practice. Our approach engages the contemporary challenges facing the discipline of architecture through our commitment to, and expertise in, critical practice, digital design and fabrication, building performance and responsiveness, and cultural theory. Situated within the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, the MArch program takes a active approach to both design and sustainability – understanding and producing the built environment in relation to ecological concerns, economic challenges and social needs. We expect our students to rigorously explore the discipline of architecture through established and emerging tools, theoretical platforms and making. The program has been developed to challenge assumptions about the limitations design to impact change and the ways in which we pursue design research. Our graduates are sought after for their agility within digital design and fabrication contexts and their critical thinking skills. Our student body is diverse and multinational an our many distinguished alumni are applying what they have learned here in practices around the world.

Driven by an energetic and dedicated group of faculty members, and supplemented by a very generous scholarship program for its students, the Master of Architecture Program is well poised to assume an ever more significant role in the coming decade. During the last several years faculty, students, and alumni have received widespread recognition for their achievements. 

An education in architecture can lead to many career opportunities. Please check out the following web pages, and contact us if you would like more information on the programs we offer.

The Master of Architecture program teaches students how to navigate contexts, think from multiple perspectives and develop innovative solutions to the world’s design challenges. Changes in climate, the demographics of urban and rural communities, mass migration, material availability, and the formal and responsive possibilities of architecture are all addressed through core courses, study abroad opportunities, focused research block weeks and a wide range of electives. Our educational model includes opportunities for applied research, supported by a number of design research labs with focuses on areas such as energy conservation, lifecycle analysis, artificial intelligence, robotics, digital fabrication, and innovation in structural design.

Students are expected to work as individuals and in teams to develop a critical and productive body of work demonstrating their commitment to design as an act of research and creativity. The program cultivates strong thinkers and persistent doers through a curriculum that moves between the historical and theoretical underpinnings of the discipline and the hands-on making and production opportunities of the practice of architecture.

The MArch program structure and curriculum prepares students for rewarding, fulfilling careers as designers and fulfills the educational requirements for licensure as an architect. SAPL is Alberta’s only accredited school of architecture.

The Master of Architecture degree is a two-year course-based program, except for those applicants without a North American-accredited pre-professional architecture undergraduate degree who will be admitted to the Foundation Year.

All applicants admitted to the MArch program start in the fall term.

Architects lead a complex process that analyzes many conditions contributing to site and space. They bring together stakeholders and experts from a wide array of fields towards the design of environments and objects at many scales. We train architects who can engage the problems and opportunities of a quickly changing world. Our graduates positively influence the future of the built and natural environment.

Class of 2019: World travel informs Master of Architecture grad's global perspective

Whenever she can, Ashley Ortlieb will continue to broaden her perspectives and enrich her craft through travel