MA Architecture

The MA in Architecture at UCLA Architecture and Urban Design is a research-focused, two-year program where students build practical research, writing, teaching, and interdisciplinary skills through a combination of colloquium study, approved courses, independent research, and a final thesis. Students also gain experience through collective project-based activities such as publications, symposia, and exhibitions, while faculty-led research centers provide opportunities to engage with contemporary architectural and urban questions.

Research and practical opportunities include:

• Two-year Colloquium: Students complete the required Colloquium (290) sequence throughout both years, developing methods for architectural writing, teaching, research, and long-form scholarly work; students produce original research projects during the sequence.
• Critical Studies: Each year combines the colloquium with Elective in Critical Studies and General Elective coursework, allowing students to build an individualized research pathway through UCLA AUD and other departments across the university.
• Independent thesis research: The program culminates in a thesis, developed from research or writing produced during coursework and refined in consultation with the student's primary advisor and the standing committee.
• Collective projects: MA students can participate in collaborative activities including publications, symposia, and exhibitions, giving them opportunities to communicate architectural research to wider academic and professional audiences.
• Research centers: Students may have opportunities to apply for research positions connected with cityLAB-UCLA and xLAB, depending on faculty grant funding. cityLAB works on architecture, planning, design, housing, and urban issues, while xLAB explores architecture through interdisciplinary collaboration with business, technology, and science.
• Urban Humanities Institute: The UCLA Urban Humanities Initiative (UHI) connects architecture, urban studies, and humanities students through interdisciplinary research and teaching focused on documenting and transforming the city.
• Perloff Hall: Most graduate architecture classes are held in Perloff Hall, which provides studio spaces, seminar rooms, classrooms, a lecture hall, exhibition gallery, dedicated MA/PhD study areas, and 24/7 student access.
• Immersive Media Studio: The facility supports VR, AR, motion capture, spatial computing, digital prototyping, and interactive environments, with equipment including motion-capture suits, depth-sensing systems, LiDAR, projectors, DSLR cameras, and head-mounted displays.
• Fabrication Shop: Students have access to traditional fabrication tools as well as CNC routers, laser cutters, 3D printers, and large-scale vacuum formers, with training provided at the beginning of the program and specialist guidance available.
• Robotics Lab: The robotics-enabled workspace supports experimentation with digital design tools, fabrication techniques, immersive media, interactive environments, and digital modeling, providing a platform for interdisciplinary architectural research.
• 3D Printing: Perloff Hall provides FDM, plaster, and resin 3D printers, enabling students to move from digital models toward physical prototypes and experimental forms.
• Computing and visualization: Perloff Hall's IT facilities provide high-performance workstations with NVIDIA GPUs, 32GB RAM, and 1TB local storage for rendering, simulation, real-time visualization, and machine learning, alongside professional large-format printing facilities.
• Architecture research environment: UCLA AUD's research ecosystem connects students with faculty research and Los Angeles as a living urban case study, with opportunities spanning architectural history, cultural studies, geography, design, art history, history of science, literary studies, and design-based research. 

The Master of Arts in Architecture at UCLA is an academic, research-oriented degree that prepares graduates for work in historical research, cultural studies, interdisciplinary studies, and architecture-related scholarship, rather than serving as UCLA’s professional licensure degree. Students graduate with advanced research, writing, and analytical capabilities and can also participate in collective publications, symposia, exhibitions, and faculty-led research projects.

Typical career roles: Architectural Researcher, Architecture Historian, Design Researcher, Academic/Teaching Professional

Career development and progression opportunities include:

• Career development: UCLA AUD hosts an annual Career Fair and Portfolio Workshop, bringing architecture offices and designers to Perloff Hall for networking and employment opportunities; AUD also provides professional development through faculty presentations, workshops, and networking events.
• Research opportunities: MA students can participate in faculty-led research through initiatives including cityLAB-UCLA and the Urban Humanities Institute, strengthening opportunities for research-oriented careers and further academic study.
• Alumni network: UCLA AUD graduates join a global alumni community that includes designers, educators, researchers, and leaders. Alumni remain connected through professional events, mentoring, exhibitions, and opportunities to share jobs and internships with current students.
• Industry connections: AUD's career programming draws on Los Angeles' extensive design community, with its annual Career Fair bringing dozens of offices and designers to campus. Graduates have entered practices including Young & Ayata, Kevin Daly Architects, Neil M. Denari Architects, Greg Lynn FORM, The LADG, and cityLAB UCLA.
• Employment opportunities during study: AUD offers MA/PhD students opportunities to work within the department in areas such as teaching, studio assistance, administration, exhibitions, fabrication, photography, videography, and summer programs.
• Salary figures: Not stated by UCLA AUD as a program-specific employment or salary outcome for the MA in Architecture. UCLA directs students toward its broader graduate alumni outcome resources for employment information rather than publishing an MA Architecture-specific salary figure.
• Employment statistics: Not stated by UCLA AUD as a program-specific employment rate for the MA in Architecture. The department instead provides examples of graduate destinations and professional practices.
• Professional accreditation value: The MA in Architecture is an academic graduate degree, not UCLA's professional architecture degree. UCLA explicitly identifies the three-year MArch as its NAAB-accredited professional program, while the two-year MA is designed for research and teaching in architecture and urban design. Therefore, the MA should not be presented as a NAAB professional licensure qualification.
• Graduation outcomes: UCLA states that the MA culminates in a thesis and prepares students for intellectual and programmatic milieus including historical research, cultural studies, and interdisciplinary studies. The program also supports collective publications, symposia, exhibitions, and research activities.

Further Academic Progression: After completing the MA, students can progress to UCLA's PhD in Architecture, an advanced research degree focused on current scholarly debates, architectural history, design, and allied fields. The PhD prepares graduates for academic careers, including university teaching, architectural history and theory, studio pedagogy, and curatorial work; UCLA reports that PhD graduates have taken positions at universities in the United States and internationally.