Architecture (DIA), M.A.

Of the three hundred applications received, some ninety students enter the graduate program.
The range of experience, culture, and interest makes graduate school at DIA a truly unique 
experience. Classes, seminars, and studios are small and therefore intense and individualized. 
Students in their graduate career have ample opportunity to find their own way and to gain 
exposure to intense and critical examination. The personal studio critique and the public review 
are the main forums of studio-based education at DIA. In the spirit of the Bauhaus, such 
studio-based education is rather atypical in Europe today.

The Master of Architecture program, leading to an MA in Architecture degree, is offered to individuals 
who possess a bachelor’s degree. Students follow a course of study in the following areas of the 
curriculum: Design; History, Theory, and Criticism; Urbanism; Computing, Logic, and Representation. 
These areas of study comprise groups of courses from which students may choose offerings according 
to the requirements of their particular program. Strong emphasis is given to developing skills, 
logic, and imagination through an intensive series of design studio courses. The curriculum fosters 
an understanding of architecture as a social, cultural, political, and economic activity, as deeply 
embedded in contemporary issues and concerns as it is aware of its own historic construction.

All MA candidates are required to develop a thesis in fulfillment of graduate degree requirements. 
Students are asked to demonstrate their ability to independently undertake research and analysis, 
as well as develop a hypothesis and demonstrate their thesis thoroughly. This must take the form 
of either a research thesis (Written Thesis) or a thesis with a design demonstration (Design Thesis). 
Both thesis formats must address architectural consequences that may be derived from within or 
outside conventional boundaries of the architectural discipline. Thesis preparation begins in the 3rd
semester with an option studio leading to the submission of a thesis proposal and the selection of a 
thesis director and one faculty member as reader. While the thesis is independent work carried out 
by the student under the direction of a chosen advisor, it is organized as a studio in the 4th semester 
of the program. The thesis studio provides a support setting for both formal and informal review 
processes throughout the thesis semester. At the end of the 4th semester, thesis projects are 
reviewed by a panel of guest critics and publicly presented at DIA. The best thesis project is annually
awarded with the Robert Oxman Prize. On completion of the program, students will be awarded a
qualification that has EU-wide recognition in the profession of architecture. The language of instruction 
is English.

Graduates of this Master's program are able to work as architects on an international level, with a competence in relevant tools of innovative thinking and responsibly creating sustainable design solution. EU-wide recognition as practicing architect is supported by the recent ASIIN accreditation, and the specific course curriculum prepares its students as well for a professional academic career, e.g. a PhD.