Catalog Home

Catalog Search

Colleges and Schools

Architecture

About the College

Admission
Requirements

College Scholastic
Requirements

Courses

Degrees Offered
Level III Degree

Faculty

Foreign Studies

Library and
Research Centers

College Web Site

Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture

Master of Architecture - Level III

Program Requirements

A minimum of three semesters of full-time residency will be required of all Level III candidates for the Master of Architecture degree.

Course of Study

Students must have a minimum of 36 credit hours of approved study that includes the following:

• Major courses including 18 credit hours in advanced, Level III design studios.
  
  
• Minor courses including 18 credit hours of elective study approved by the Director of Graduate Studies. Students must obtain approval of their degree plans, including electives, before the conclusion of the first semester of enrollment.

Advanced Study Opportunities

Applicants to the Level III post professional degree program should apply to one of the areas of advanced study listed below. Each area brings a number of distinguished critics and lecturers to the college each year to participate with students and faculty in design, research, and seminar activities.

The College offers a number of advanced study opportunities which are available to post professional and qualified professional degree seeking students. Applicants to level III should indicate their interests in being involved in one or more of the areas in their statement of intent.

Architectural Design is the centerpiece of the College's programs. Advanced study opportunities in design allow students to develop critical awareness and creative abilities through projects that build on personal interests and aptitude. Students electing this option are able to create focused programs of study that draw upon resources and expertise in the College and the University. Working with senior design faculty and consultants, students in this area are expected to complete a thesis or independent project that engages the discourse of architectural design at an advanced level.

Experimental Architecture is concerned with the application of advanced technologies to the design of all habitats, particularly those that are subject to severe environmental conditions and/or critical limitations on labor, materials, and capital resources. Activities include planning for manned space missions as well as the applications of space technologies for beneficial purposes on earth. Work is conducted with support from the Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture (SICSA), and often in association with NASA and its aerospace subcontractors.

High-Rise Architecture addresses the unique conditions and implications of very large scale and tall building design and construction. Lecture courses and seminars are available in related areas. Outstanding specialist consultants from the world of business, engineering, architectural design and various academic disciplines are available to enrich a studio environment in which large scale projects are developed at an advanced level.

Preservation / Adaptive Use explores the methods and meaning of preservation and adaptive use of nineteenth and twentieth century modern and traditional structures. Designs reflect the interactive influences of urban context, development economics and governmental regulation. Using the Houston region as a laboratory, the work extends to hands-on HABS fieldwork organized each summer by the Workshop for Historic Architecture and Adaptive Reuse.

Study of Theory and Architecture explores significant relationships between theory, design and the art of construction through seminars, lectures and the architectural design workshops. The study of major theories and trends of the 19th and 20th centuries situates architectural production in a greater cultural and historic context while appreciation of the built work is encouraged through the study and awareness of the importance of structures, building systems and techniques, materials, detail, and technological change.

Urban Design is closely allied with architecture in seeking an understanding of the contemporary city-building project. As a late developing city, Houston provides myriad opportunities for investigating the problems and potentials of present and emerging patterns of urbanization and suburbanization. Projects range from community development initiatives in low income neighborhoods to large-scale architecture projects, designs of city segments, and speculative projects that explore new concepts for the evolving city.