StudyQA — Master: Advanced Architectural Design (MAAD)

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The Master of Advanced Architectural Design (MAAD) is a post-graduate, studio based program that engages emerging methods of design and fabrication, through architectural design, to speculate upon future modes of architectural practice, enhanced construction methods, and alternative material manifestations within the built environment.

Program Overview

With a particular emphasis upon design, the four-semester programleverages the School of Architecture’s and Carnegie Mellon’s core strengths in computational design, fabrication, robotics, ecological thinking, and sustainability as vehicles for knowledge acquisition and speculation.

The program focuses on the creation of new insights and new knowledge—or “research”—through the design process, or “research by design.”

The program seeks to probe the technical and cultural opportunities and implications of a data-rich future in which design methodologies, construction processes, and sustainable building life cycles are intrinsically interlaced.

The goal is consciously speculative and experimental work that is deeply enmeshed with social and environmental concerns, with explicit ties to humanistic and cultural discourses, industry and contemporary practice. The faculty seek advanced-level projects that will position graduates as future thought leaders in architecture and allied fields relating to advanced fabrication, material performance, construction methodologies, or academia.

CMU’s emphasis on interdisciplinary learning, its computational culture, world-class robotic fabrication facilities, and a dedicated group of faculty on the cutting edge of the discipline offer unique “hands-on” opportunities for experimentation and speculation in the context of a small-scale, yet globally focused, school and university.

MAAD’s curriculum centers on thematic topics and associated design studios that are initiated by the core faculty to explore emerging themes, techniques, and cultural conditions.

The experimental design studios in the first year are accompanied by a core of required courses to provide a foundation in technique and application. Program-specific pro-seminars introduce contemporary discourse and situate the research topics in larger contexts. A diverse range of elective courses, offered internally and from across campus, are offered throughout the program.

These design studios and courses help prepare students for one of the distinguishing features of the MAAD program:
a year-long, independently determined, but closely mentored, design research project in the second year. This capstone project leverages the power, creativity, and speculative nature of the design process to generate new knowledge, ideas, understanding, practices, or paradigms.

The extended time frame allows adequate background research, extensive methods and tools preparation, and professional documentation of the process and results.

MAAD is intended for early- to mid-career professionals who already hold an architecture degree (B.A, B.S, B.Arch, M.Arch, or international equivalent). Qualified candidates must demonstrate a familiarity with the proposed field of study and a high level of design ability.

This should be made evident through a statement of interest, a portfolio of design and research work, a transcript from the professional degree granting institution, and a CV. The statement of interest should indicate why the applicant would like to enroll in the program, who amongst the faculty they would like to work with, and what topics they could envision pursuing in their culminating design research project. The MAAD curriculum is four semesters of study, with all students expected to reside in Pittsburgh full-time.

Admitted candidates may apply for advanced standing based on previous coursework or professional experience, eliminating the first semester, and allowing them to begin studies in the Spring term. Advanced standing is also available to qualified CMU students within the BArch program through the Accelerated Master's Program (AMP).