MS in Architecture and Urban Design

1 Years On Campus Masters Program

University of California Los Angeles

Program Overview

The MS in Architecture and Urban Design (MSAUD) at UCLA is a one-year, post-professional program for architects and designers who want to expand architectural practice through design, technology, material research, urban strategy, and visual culture. It suits students with an advanced architectural background who want to pursue experimental design and research across different scales, media, and disciplines, with Los Angeles serving as an important context for exploration.

Curriculum Structure

Year 1: The program is currently structured as a one-year intensive course of study rather than a two-year master's. Students typically begin with 401: Advanced Topics Studio, a six-unit design studio, alongside 289: Technology Seminar, a four-unit course that develops advanced technological methods and design approaches.

Students then continue their studio and seminar work through research topics that can include Speculative Worlds, Architectural Intelligence, Material Innovations, and Urban Strategy. Depending on the selected studio, students may work with drawing, physical models, installation, film, game design, robotic fabrication, AI, automation, responsive systems, 3D printing, advanced fabrication, and urban strategy, connecting experimentation with full design propositions.

Focus Areas:

Advanced architectural design, urban strategy, technology, material research, architectural intelligence, visual culture, computational design, speculative worlds, sustainable building practices, risk and resilience, spatial analysis, circular construction, and emerging forms of architectural practice.

Learning Outcomes:

Advanced design experimentation, technical fluency, critical thinking, architectural research, interdisciplinary problem-solving, spatial analysis, material exploration, and the ability to develop design proposals across different scales, media, and disciplines.

Professional Alignment (Accreditation):

Post-professional degree; not NAAB-accredited. UCLA explicitly states that the MSAUD is not a professional NAAB-accredited degree and may not meet architectural licensure requirements in many U.S. states; students seeking a professional architecture degree at UCLA should consider the three-year NAAB-accredited M.Arch. The MSAUD is, however, STEM OPT Extension eligible for qualifying F-1 students.

Reputation (Employability Rankings):

Official graduate employment examples: UCLA AUD reports MSAUD alumni working in architecture, technology, media, research, and design, including roles and positions connected with Adobe, Google, Autodesk, and IDEO, as well as architecture practices ranging from independent studios to large international firms. The official program page does not publish a program-specific QS or Guardian employability ranking.

Experiential Learning (Research, Projects, Internships etc.)

The MS in Architecture and Urban Design (MSAUD) at UCLA is strongly studio-based, with students learning through research, experimentation, digital design, material investigation, and urban analysis rather than relying only on classroom instruction. The one-year program begins with an intensive Summer Studio, followed by year-long research studios and Technology Seminars where students work with advanced fabrication, computational design, immersive media, robotics, and physical prototyping tools.

Practical learning opportunities include:

Advanced design studios: Students work on contemporary research themes such as Speculative Worlds, Architectural Intelligence, Material Innovations, and Urban Strategy, developing projects across drawing, physical models, installations, film, game design, robotic fabrication, mapping, and spatial analysis.
Technology Seminars: The program introduces advanced tools and methods alongside studio work, with exploration of computational design, emerging technologies, manufacturing, visualization, and new approaches to architectural production.
Robotics Lab: UCLA AUD's robotics-enabled workspace supports digital modeling, robotic fabrication, immersive media, interactive environments, and experimental material processes, allowing students to connect computational design with physical production.
Fabrication Shop: Students can work with CNC routers, laser cutters, 3D printers, large-scale vacuum formers, and traditional fabrication tools. All students receive fabrication-shop training at the beginning of the program.
3D printing: The Perloff Hall facilities include FDM, plaster, and resin 3D printers, supporting rapid physical prototyping and experimentation with emerging materials.
Immersive Media Studio: Students can experiment with VR, AR, motion capture, LIDAR, depth-sensing systems, projection, and spatial computing, using equipment such as HTC Vive, Oculus, Meta2, Kinect, RealSense and DSLR cameras.
High-performance computing: The IT and Print Lab provides workstations with NVIDIA GPUs, 32GB RAM and 1TB local storage, designed for rendering, simulation, real-time visualization and machine learning.
Digital output: A 24/7 Print Lab provides large-format plotters, laser printers and computing stations for technical documentation, presentations and experimental graphic production.
Los Angeles as a live laboratory: The MSAUD uses Los Angeles and Southern California as live case studies, particularly for urban strategy, sustainability, resilience, development, infrastructure, mapping and spatial analysis.
Architecture research library: The UCLA Arts Library, located next to Perloff Hall, provides architecture and design collections, including approximately 51,000 architecture-related books, journals, periodicals and UCLA architecture theses.
Special Collections: UCLA's Young Research Library includes architectural drawings and papers from figures including Richard Neutra, A. Quincy Jones, S. Charles Lee and Lloyd Wright, giving students access to significant primary research materials.
Collaborative studio culture: MSAUD students work alongside UCLA AUD's undergraduate, M.Arch., MA and PhD cohorts, creating an interdisciplinary studio environment for design research and experimentation.
Student employment opportunities: Students can gain departmental experience through roles including fabrication shop assistant, print lab assistant, exhibition management and installation, photography, videography, and marketing.

Progression & Future Opportunities

The MS in Architecture and Urban Design (MSAUD) at UCLA is a one-year post-professional degree that expands architectural practice into technology, media, research, urban strategy, and interdisciplinary design. Graduates move into architecture and design practices as well as technology, media, research, and cultural fields, with UCLA AUD specifically citing alumni roles at organizations including Adobe, Google, Autodesk, and IDEO.

Typical career roles: Architectural Designer, Urban Design Researcher, Computational Designer, Design Strategist.

Career progression and opportunities include:

Career services: UCLA AUD provides an annual Career Fair, Portfolio Workshop, and Talent Fair, where students meet design practitioners, receive portfolio feedback, learn about professional opportunities, and present their work to potential employers. UCLA's Career Center also provides resume and interview preparation and employment listings.
Employment opportunities: Students can also work within AUD in areas including exhibition management and installation, fabrication shop assistance, print-lab operations, photography, videography, marketing, and administration, with eligible students able to work up to 20 hours per week.
Industry connections: The MSAUD is explicitly described by UCLA as combining theory and practical applications in collaboration with industry partners. AUD's Career Fair brings dozens of architecture offices and designers to Perloff Hall to meet students and source talent.
Employer network: Recent AUD graduates have entered practices and organizations including Bjarke Ingels Group, Foster + Partners, Gensler, HOK, Grimshaw, RIOS, Hassell, IDEO, Adobe, Google, Autodesk, and NIKE, illustrating the range of professional directions available after the degree.
Employment statistics and salary: UCLA AUD's official MSAUD sources identify employers and career destinations but do not publish a program-specific employment rate or salary figure; therefore, a specific MSAUD employment percentage or salary should not be inferred.
Accreditation value: The MSAUD is not NAAB-accredited. UCLA states that it is a post-professional degree intended for students who already hold a five-year Bachelor of Architecture or equivalent; students seeking the NAAB-accredited professional route at UCLA should instead consider the three-year M.Arch.
Professional development: UCLA provides access to an Architectural Licensing Advisor and Student Licensing Advisor, while AUD's professional-development programming supports portfolio development, networking and understanding pathways toward architectural licensure.
Graduation outcomes: AUD reports that graduates pursue roles across architecture, technology, media, research, design, teaching, cultural work and entrepreneurship, with some alumni founding their own studios or moving into new design-related industries.

Further Academic Progression: Graduates who want to continue into advanced academic research can consider UCLA AUD's M.A. and Ph.D. in Architecture pathways; the Ph.D. is an advanced research degree focused on contemporary scholarly debates and has an average completion time of approximately six years.