Study at the Royal College of Art
London, United Kingdom
| Programme details | |
|---|---|
| Degree: | Master of Arts (MA) |
| Disciplines: |
Architecture
Environmental Management Ecology |
| Duration: | 12 months |
| ECTS points: | 180 |
| Study modes: | full-time, part-time |
| Delivery modes: | on-campus |
| University website: | Environmental Architecture |
Request information from the Royal College of Art
Alternative forms of co-existence. Explore the future of landscapes, environments and ecosystems.
The MA Environmental Architecture aims to constitute a new field of knowledge production and practise concerned with the design of alternative forms of co-dependence between life forms and earth systems. The MA Environmental Architecture is a design-led and field-focused course that emphasises a transdisciplinary approach to design research. The programme proposes an unique approach to environmental architecture education that brings together architectural and ethnographic research methods, with the use of technoscientific tools for analysing, classifying, and producing environmental data.
Students are exposed to the perspectives of those in the frontlines of environmental struggles across the world, to histories and theories of environmental change, and to the most recent advances in the related fields of environmental law and climate justice.
Through its long-term Research Studio units the programme will provide students with the opportunity to engage with live projects in sites of complex environmental change, to work with experts from other disciplines, such as lawyers, geologists or biologists, and to embark on multiple-day field trips where they will be able to engage stakeholders and meet local communities, while testing and exploring environmental research and analysis methods.
Students of the MA Environmental Architecture will have the opportunity to pursue a degree within a world leading art and design institution, and to access the rich culture of radical and experimental interdisciplinary work at the Royal College of Art.
Please note all applications must be submitted by 12 noon on the given deadline.
The MA Environmental Architecture programme aims to expand the scope and content of design-led research in the field of architecture, environmental studies and territorial management. Possible areas of inquiry can include: sustainable forms of urbanisation; concepts of stewardship and care for nature; environmental change and its effect on migration and settlement patterns; climate justice adaptation to land use practices; impacts of resource extraction on ecosystems; environmental impacts of the energy transition; post-development and degrowth; indigenous struggles for land and environments; among many others.
Students on the MA Environmental Architecture programme will have the opportunity to pursue a degree within a world leading art and design institution, and to access the rich culture of radical and experimental interdisciplinary work at the Royal College of Art. Moreover, the programme will help students to establish a network of colleagues and mentors by offering them the opportunity of connecting to leading figures in Environmental Architecture both in London and internationally through an innovative practice mentorship scheme.
The programme is delivered across three terms and includes a combination of programme, School and College units.
Term 1
In term 1, you will study Studio Unit 1: Architectures of Extraction. This unit offers an introduction to the programme’s field-focused investigation into resource extraction architectures and their role in the climate and environmental crisis. It familiarises you with particular modes of work, especially design-based research methodologies, and collaborative forms of knowledge production.
Seminar Unit 1: Metabolic Rifts introduces you to the complex entanglements of environment and climate systems.
You will also take Media Studies 1, a School-wide unit that aims to increase your critical engagement with media and space.
Across Terms 1 and 2, you will participate in AcrossRCA, the College-wide unit. See below for more details.
Term 2
In term 2, you will study Research Studio Unit 2: Environmental Interventions, in which you will develop a design intervention strategy for the site explored in term 1. Emphasis will be placed on the definition of outputs, in relation to key project aims and stakeholders.
Seminar Unit 2: Critical Future Scenarios will deepen your understanding of environmental architecture and its potential socio-environmental impacts.
In term 2 all School of Architecture students will be offered an Elective unit.
Term 3
The programme culminates in the Independent Research Project (IRP). This unit enables you to apply the intellectual, technical and professional skills that you have developed throughout the programme to a challenging self-set brief focusing the role of digital tools to fostering social innovation.
The School of Architecture is currently based at our historic Kensington site.
Our studios are the heart of day-to-day activity for the School. Studios are purpose-designed for inspiration and interaction between students of different design disciplines. Studio workspace is provided for each student. In addition, you have access to wood, metal, plastic and resin workshop facilities, as well as contemporary digital fabrication equipment and a suite of bookable project and making spaces.
To provide prospective students with opportunities to find out about the RCA experience and programmes we run a number of on-campus and online open days as well as events in various countries around the world. You can find out about upcoming events or watch replays of past open days on the RCA website.
Find more information on the website of the Royal College of Art:
