Master of Science in Architecture

Students in the University at Buffalo’s Master of Science in Architecture can build practical research and design skills through studio-based work, digital fabrication, hands-on material experimentation, and interdisciplinary research. The School of Architecture and Planning provides access to fabrication facilities, advanced digital equipment, research laboratories, and centers where students can work on real architectural, environmental, and inclusive-design challenges. The program’s research environment also connects students with seminars, studios, fieldwork, digital modeling, geospatial data, and collaborative projects:

• Fabrication Workshop: Students have access to a dedicated fabrication environment in Parker Hall for hands-on architectural making and prototyping, with equipment available through the School’s equipment and reservation system.
• Digital Fabrication: UB’s architecture facilities include CNC routers, laser cutters, and 3D printers, supporting digital fabrication, physical prototyping, and experimentation with architectural materials.
• Materials & Methods: The School provides facilities for working with wood, metal, plastic, and ceramics, allowing students to develop practical knowledge through material testing and construction-oriented experimentation.
• SMART Facility: The Sustainable Manufacturing and Advanced Robotic Technologies (SMART) facility provides opportunities for large-scale simulation and construction-oriented experimentation, extending digital fabrication into advanced manufacturing and robotics.
• Research Labs: The Design for Resilient Environments (DRE) Lab integrates graduate seminars and studio courses with research on housing, landscapes, infrastructure, and environmental resilience. Students can produce architectural and urban-design proposals, digital models, geospatial data, and numerical datasets.
• Digital Tools & Simulation: DRE Lab coursework can involve digital tools for simulating future infrastructure scenarios, together with case-based research and digital communication of field findings.
• Fieldwork: Students involved with DRE research can undertake community-based fieldwork, including work with residents in vulnerable settlements and research connected to Latin America and the U.S.–Mexico border.
• Inclusive Design Research: The Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access (IDEA Center) provides opportunities including internships, fieldwork, work study, graduate assistantships, independent study, and research involvement, giving architecture students avenues to apply design knowledge to accessibility and inclusive environments.
• Interdisciplinary Collaboration: IDEA Center research brings architecture together with fields including industrial and systems engineering, psychology, rehabilitation science, computer science, civil engineering, and environmental sustainability, supporting interdisciplinary architectural research.
• Practical Research: IDEA Center projects include usability testing, accessibility consulting, universal-design consulting, and wayfinding design, exposing students to evidence-based approaches for evaluating and improving built environments.
• Collaborative Studios: DRE Lab studios and seminars use transdisciplinary and peer-to-peer learning, with students collaborating on architectural, urban-design, planning, and research outputs. 

The Master of Science in Architecture at the University at Buffalo is designed for students who want to deepen their architectural design, research, fabrication, and technical capabilities, with the current program offering a strong focus on design for manufacturing and construction. Graduates develop practical skills in digital fabrication, architectural geometry, construction, visualization, and design-to-fabrication workflows, positioning them for roles across architecture, design, fabrication, and the broader built environment.

Typical job roles: Architectural Designer, Design Technologist, Architectural Fabrication Specialist, Architectural Researcher:

• Career services: UB provides architecture-specific career support including internship and job-search guidance, portfolio and résumé preparation, interview preparation, employer recruitment opportunities, alumni career programming, and professional licensure advising covering NCARB, AXP, and ARE.
• Employment support: Students can also benefit from one-on-one mentorship, portfolio and résumé reviews, mock interviews, firm visits, employment referrals, networking events, and alumni Q&As through the Department of Architecture’s professional-development initiatives.
• Employment statistics: A program-specific employment percentage for the MS in Architecture is not stated on the official UB sources reviewed, so no unsupported figure is provided.
• Salary figures: A program-specific graduate salary range or median is not stated on the official UB sources reviewed; therefore, no unrelated salary estimate is substituted.
• Industry partnerships: The MS Architecture Design for Manufacturing and Construction concentration includes a culminating summer studio involving industry partners, while students gain access to UB’s Fabrication Workshop and advanced digital and manual fabrication tools.
• Professional connections: UB works with AIA Buffalo/WNY, including networking events where local practitioners and UB alumni meet students, review portfolios, conduct mock interviews, and provide mentoring; students are also invited to local AIA networking events and firm presentations.
• Accreditation value: The MS in Architecture itself is not presented by UB as a NAAB-accredited professional architecture degree. UB separately identifies its Master of Architecture as the professionally accredited architecture degree, so students seeking the standard accredited pathway toward architectural licensure should distinguish the MS from the MArch.
• Graduation outcomes: The program emphasizes graduates becoming creative and adaptable designers with practical knowledge of production-aware digital practices, material behavior, form optimization, and design-to-fabrication workflows, supporting careers involving architectural design, fabrication, construction, and related fields.
• Further opportunities: UB also allows graduate students to pursue interdisciplinary pathways, with the School stating that students can combine an MS in Architecture with an MUP, MArch, or other graduate degree programs across UB, subject to curriculum planning with the department.

Further Academic Progression: After completing the MS in Architecture, students can pursue the Master of Architecture (MArch) at UB if they want to move toward professional architectural practice, or explore interdisciplinary graduate study such as the Master of Urban Planning (MUP). UB also offers advanced research opportunities through graduate study and allows students to combine architecture with other disciplines according to their academic goals.