BS in Architecture

For the BS in Architecture at the University at Buffalo, experiential learning is built around a studio-based “thinking through making” approach, where students develop design ideas through physical and digital fabrication. Undergraduate architecture students have access to dedicated studios, the Fabrication Workshop, digital labs, materials resources, and collaborative spaces, allowing them to move from conceptual design and modeling to prototypes and full-scale making. The program also connects students with Buffalo and international settings through community-based work, summer studios, and study-abroad opportunities.

• Design Studios: The BS in Architecture follows a studio-based curriculum, with students introduced to “thinking through making” from the freshman studio and progressing to advanced modeling and comprehensive studio work.
• Fabrication Workshop: The 11,000-square-foot workshop provides woodworking, metalworking, high-bay assembly areas, and digital fabrication facilities, supporting architectural models, prototypes, components, and larger-scale projects.
• Digital Fabrication: Students can use laser cutters, 3D printers, CNC routers, a CNC plasma cutter, a 5-axis waterjet cutter, and robotic equipment for digital making and prototyping.
• Architecture Software: The fabrication facilities support digital workflows using tools such as RhinoCAM, IntelliMAX, RoboDK, and AutoCAD, including preparation of files for CNC and other fabrication equipment.
• Furniture & Fabrication Projects: Architecture students have participated in intensive digital-fabrication studios where they worked as designer, fabricator, and client, taking projects from concept through fabrication and assembly using CNC routers and a 5-axis waterjet cutter.
• Materials & Making: The School provides a materials shop and material store where students can access materials such as paper, cardboard, wood, foam, and plastics for model making, laser cutting, and CNC milling.
• Digital Labs: School digital labs provide platforms for graphic design, 3D architectural modeling, GIS, multimedia printing, and AR/VR, supporting digital visualization and architectural experimentation.
• Research & Prototyping: The SMART Fabrication Factory provides an advanced prototyping and research environment, including a Kuka robotic arm, CNC milling, and 5-axis waterjet equipment for developing full-scale, testable prototypes and industry-linked research.
• Architecture Library: The Architecture and Planning Library in Abbott Hall contains more than 31,000 books and 130 journal subscriptions, with a dedicated librarian, research guides, workshops, online resources, and a satellite reading room in Hayes Hall.
• Collaborative Learning: The renovated Crosby Hall provides undergraduate studio spaces designed for collaborative learning, along with lounges, galleries, and technology-supported work areas.
• International & Field Experience: UB architecture students can participate in summer studios, research engagements, and study-abroad programs spanning locations including Costa Rica, India, Korea, Japan, China, Barcelona, Seoul, and the Baltic States.
• Community Projects: Buffalo itself is used as a setting for hands-on architectural and urban experimentation, including opportunities connected to architectural material innovation, climate action, and neighborhood development. 

The University at Buffalo’s BS in Architecture is designed as a pre-professional foundation for graduate architectural study, with graduates developing skills that can lead into architectural practice and related fields such as planning, historic preservation, community development, engineering, and allied design. UB specifically structures its architecture education around a 4+2 pathway, allowing students to continue from the four-year BS Arch into the two-year professional MArch, while career services, internships, employer events, and alumni networks support professional preparation along the way.

Typical Career Roles: Architectural Designer, Architectural Intern, Design Assistant, Community/Urban Design Assistant. UB also identifies pathways into city planning, historic preservation, community development, engineering, and other allied design fields.

• Career Development Services: UB Architecture provides architecture-specific support including internship and job-search guidance, portfolio and résumé reviews, mock interviews, employer recruitment events, alumni programming, and professional licensure advising. The UB Career Design Center also helps students prepare résumés, LinkedIn profiles, cover letters and interviews and connect with alumni and professionals.
• Internships & Employment: Students can use Bullseye powered by Handshake to find architecture-specific internships, jobs and networking opportunities. Recent BS Architecture students have completed internships with firms including MdeAS and HDR, gaining experience with sketches, render markups, scope decks and client meetings.
• Employer Connections: UB organizes an annual Architecture Virtual Career Fair, where students meet local and national firms, attend employer presentations and participate in introductory interviews. The School also organizes the New York City Career Trek, featuring firm tours and site visits with organizations ranging from multinational practices to boutique firms and specialized design organizations.
• University–Industry Partnerships: UB has a longstanding relationship with CannonDesign, including scholarships, internships, professional mentoring, lectures and visiting critics; the firm has also employed numerous UB School of Architecture and Planning alumni. Other documented internship connections include FXCollaborative, Kieran Timberlake and Landrum and Brown.
• Professional Mentoring: UB’s Professional Mentor Program, developed with local chapters of the American Institute of Architects and American Planning Association, pairs students with working professionals for career planning, portfolio and résumé reviews, practice interviews, workplace visits and professional networking.
• Employment & Salary Data: UB’s architecture admissions page reports U.S. Department of Labor 2024 data showing a $103,390 mean annual wage for architects and $175,710 for architectural and engineering managers; these are occupation-level figures rather than salaries specifically earned by BS Architecture graduates.
• Graduation Outcomes: UB states that while many architecture graduates continue toward architectural licensure, the BS can also lead to careers in city planning, historic preservation, community development, engineering and allied design. The School also reports recent BS Architecture students progressing directly into architecture internships and professional environments before completing their studies.
• Accreditation & Long-Term Professional Value: The BS Arch is a pre-professional degree, not the professional NAAB-accredited architecture degree itself. Its major long-term value is that it forms the undergraduate portion of UB’s 4+2 architecture pathway, leading to the professional MArch; UB states that its MArch is the fully accredited professional architecture degree and that the School is the only unit in the SUNY system offering a fully accredited MArch. Professional licensure advising at UB also covers NCARB, AXP and ARE pathways.

Further Academic Progression: After completing the BS in Architecture, students can continue into UB’s two-year Master of Architecture (MArch) as the second stage of the 4+2 pathway. UB also offers related graduate options including the MS in Architecture and multidisciplinary pathways such as the MArch + Master of Urban Planning (MUP) and MArch + MBA, providing routes into advanced architectural practice, research, urban planning or architecture-business leadership.