Architecture, MARCH & Urban Planning, MUP

for the degrees of Master of Architecture in Architecture and Master of Urban Planning in Urban Planning

This joint degree program enables students to gain two separate, concurrent degrees: the Master of Architecture and the Master of Urban Planning, offered by the Department of Urban and Regional Planning. Each degree is under the control of its granting unit with its own advisor. 

Students can apply initially to both programs at the same time, with one application fee. Alternatively, students may apply to the MUP once they have enrolled in the M. Arch program. While a graduate candidate must meet the requirements for each degree, application and admission to both units need not be simultaneous.

for the degrees of Master of Architecture in Architecture and Master of Urban Planning in Urban Planning

Master of Urban Planning in Urban Planning Requirements for the Joint Program

UP 501Planning History and Theory4
UP 503Physical Planning4
UP 504Urban History and Theory4
UP 505Urban and Regional Analysis2
UP 510Plan Making4
UP 511Law and Planning4
UP 590Professional Internship (reduces the hours needed to graduate by 4)0
Recommended concentration/electives2
Non-Thesis Option
UP 591Capstone Seminar (enrollment required for 0 hours one term & 4 hours one term)4
UP 598Master's Project (min/max applied toward degree)4
Thesis Option
UP 591Capstone Seminar (enrollment required for two semesters)0
UP 599Thesis Research (min/max applied toward degree)8
Total Hours32

Master of Architecture in Architecture Requirements for the Joint Program

Architecture: 2 Year, MARCH

For the joint program, the 32 hours of MArch courses must be selected in consultation with an advisor from the following:
ARCH 501Architectural Practice3
ARCH 517Modern Architectural History, 1850-Present3
ARCH 536Planning and Design of Structural Systems4
ARCH 537Environmental Control Systems II4
ARCH 538Integrative Design of Buildings4
Three graduate design studios18
ARCH 575Integrative Architecture Design Studio6
ARCH 577Theories of Architecture4
Electives (Architecture graduate seminars and other approved courses)16
Total Hours32

Architecture: Track 3 MARCH

Thesis Option
One course in architectural practice
One core elective each from a select list of courses in architectural thought
One core elective each from a select list of courses in professional practice
Four studios including two semesters of comprehensive design
One course in structural planning
Students must also complete prerequisites, which are determined individually and do not count toward the required number of hours required
ARCH 599Thesis Research (min/max applied toward degree)0
Thesis Option Total Hours54
Non-Thesis Option
One course in architectural practice
One core elective each from a select list of courses in architectural thought
One core elective each from a select list of courses in professional practice
Four studios including two semesters of comprehensive design
One course in structural planning
Students must also complete prerequisites, which are determined individually and do not count toward the required number of hours required
Non-Thesis Total Hours:54

Other Requirements for Joint MARCH and MUP degrees

Other requirements may overlap
Enrollment in each program at least 2 semesters
Minimum 500-level hours required overall for MARCH 12
Minimum 500-level hours required overall for MUP 16 (12 in UP)
Minimum hours within UP 32
If pursuing the MARCH thesis option, the thesis committee chair must be full-time in Architecture and one committee member must be from Urban Planning.
MARCH Candidates must spend at least four semesters and earn at least half of the required graduate hours in residence
Must earn a letter grade of C or better in all core MARCH courses.
Minimum GPA 3.00
Total Minimum Hours for the Joint Program
Candidates entering the program with a five-year Bachelor of Architecture degree64
32 hours in Architecture and 32 hours in Urban Planning
If admitted with full status, may complete the program in four semesters and a summer session
Candidates entering the program with a four-year baccalaureate in architectural studies 86
54 hours in Architecture and 32 hours in Urban Planning
If admitted with full status, may complete the program in six semesters and one summer session

for the degrees of Master of Architecture in Architecture and Master of Urban Planning in Urban Planning

MASTER OF URBAN PLANNING

To be consistent with our accreditation requirements, we are using the Knowledge, Skills, and Values identified by the Planning Accreditation Board (PAB) as desired outcomes for planning education.

  1. A.1. General planning knowledge:
    1. Purpose and Meaning of Planning:
    2. Planning Theory:
    3. Planning Law:
    4. Human Settlements and History of Planning:
    5. The Future:
    6. Global Dimensions of Planning:
  2. A.2. Planning skills:
    1. Research, Written, Oral and Graphic Communication:
    2. Quantitative and Qualitative Methods:
    3. Plan Creation and Implementation: is able to use Planning Process Methods:
    4. Leadership:
  3. A.3. Values and ethics
    1. Professional Ethics and Responsibility:
    2. Governance and Participation:
    3. Sustainability and Environmental Quality:
    4. Growth and Development: Social Justice:

MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE

  1. Apply Specialized Knowledge
    1. Engage in the practice of architecture in its many forms.
    2. Employ design processes to understand, conceive, and create the many facets of built environments.
    3. Utilize the interplay of form and space to create compelling experiences in the built environment.
    4. Address environmental, social, political, cultural, and economic challenges through the application of design inquiry.
    5. Apply advanced documentation, research, analysis, and design techniques to create innovative design solutions to pressing global challenges.
  2. Apply Broad and Integrative Knowledge
    1. Solve complex problems through the use of advanced design techniques.
    2. Communicate complex ideas and concepts through a mastery of graphic, verbal, physical, and digital means.
    3. Integrate community voices, cultural perspectives, and participatory practices into design solutions.
    4. Employ an understanding of the complex intersections between design and environmental, social, economic, political, and cultural phenomena in historical and contemporary contexts.
    5. Use scholarly inquiry to answer questions in support of design solutions.
  3. Utilize Differentiated Modes of Thinking
    1. Understand, differentiate, and apply analytical, critical, and conceptual thinking to the design challenges of the twenty-first century.
    2. Evaluate and apply theories of the built environment to understand their impacts on global ecology, human experience, and wellbeing.
    3. Research and critically analyze historic and contemporary humanistic conditions related to the built environment in local, regional, and global geographies.
  4. Collaborate Successfully
    1. Foster teamwork and consensus decision-making.
    2. Lead and steer complex processes to completion.
    3. Value and integrate interdisciplinarity as well as diverse disciplinary approaches in the realm of design,
  5. Contributing to Community, Civic, and Global Equity
    1. Demonstrate the ability to make empathic and ethical decisions throughout the design process.
    2. Work toward a more inclusive profession that welcomes practitioners of all genders, abilities, races, ethnicities, and ages.
    3. Foreground social, environmental, and economic justice in the design of the environment to contribute to greater equity, diversity, and inclusion.

for the degrees of Master of Architecture in Architecture and Master of Urban Planning in Urban Planning

School of Architecture

Director of the School: Francisco Javier Rodríguez-Suárez
Associate Director for Curricular and Academic Programs: Emelie Mies
School website
117 Temple Hoyne Buell Hall, 611 Taft Drive, Champaign, IL 61820
(217) 333-7720
School email: arch-grad@illinois.edu

College of Fine & Applied Arts

College website

Urban + Regional Planning

Department Head: Marc Doussard
Director of Graduate Studies: Andrew Greenlee
Urban + Regional Planning Department website
Urban + Regional Planning Department faculty
111 Temple Buell Hall, 611 Taft Drive, Champaign, IL 61820
(217) 333-3890
Urban + Regional Planning email: urbplan@illinois.edu

Admissions

Masters of Urban Planning Program Admissions & Requirements
Grad College Admissions & Requirements