Master of Architecture (M. Arch) at UWM has Special Events & Distinctive Features.

WORK WITH RISING YOUNG INTERNATIONAL ARCHITECTS
Our school hosts the biennial Marcus Prize, a major international prize given to an architect emerging as a design innovator on the international scene. The winning architect comes to Milwaukee and teaches a design studio with our students. Past winners include 2013 Sou Fujimoto (Japan), 2011 Diébédo Francis Kéré (South Africa), 2010 Alejandro Aravena (Spain), 2007 Barkow/Leibinger (Germany), and 2005 MVRDV (Netherlands). Additionally, our biennial Urban Edge Award brings architects to Milwaukee who are developing new approaches to urban design. These architects collaborate with students in a design studio focused on urban issues, giving students an opportunity to work with a leading national urbanist. Recent past winners include Weiss/Manfredi (2013), Atelier Dreiseitl (2011), Diller Scofidio + Renfro (2009) and DIRT Studio (2007).
WORK WITH INNOVATIVE VISITING SCHOLARS
Our annual Fellowship in Design Innovation program brings young, innovative teachers to Milwaukee from all over the country to join our professors for a year. The unique perspective of each Fellow injects fresh ideas about design education into our program. Students can elect to take courses with the current Fellow, and collaborate in the development of the Fellow’s research. Recent past Fellows include MIT graduate Filip Tejchman (Fellow 2012-2013), Cambridge and Cooper Union graduate Tao Sule DuFour (Fellow 2013-2014), and Syracuse and MIT graduate Antonio Furgiuele (Fellow 2014-2016).
PARTICIPATE IN INDUSTRY RESEARCH
Students can elect to take design studios in which they work together on research projects with area businesses. These businesses fund the studio, which gives students a budget for prototyping, exhibitions and publications. Some recent and repeating industry research studios include the Spancrete Studio sponsored by Spancrete Precast Concrete and the BIM Studio sponsored by Eppstein Uhen Architects.
DESIGN COMMUNITY-BASED PROJECTS
Working with our Community Design Solutions unit, students directly engage small business owners and community organizations to develop projects that are often constructed. Operating as a pseudo-professional office, students lead project teams and develop design proposals that respond to the needs of real clients, and the students get paid to do it, like they would in a professional internship.
GET EMPOWERED BY OUR MAKING CULTURE
When working with teachers in our Tectonics and Assembly Group (TAG), students learn to design by producing material prototypes, detailed models and full-scale constructions, which connect students’ design thinking to the tangible act of constructing buildings. This focus on design-by-making-things happens with the support of our outstanding wood and metal shops, a versatile digital fabrication facility and rapid prototyping laboratory. Some ongoing studios and workshops with an emphasis on materials and making can be found here.
PARTICIPATE IN ECOLOGICAL DESIGN PROJECTS
Led by Professor Jim Wasley, our Institute for Ecological Design manages on-going research and design projects including the creation of ecologically sensitive urban waterscapes, stormwater management demonstration projects, and the Milwaukee Inner Harbor Redevelopment Project. The Institute for Ecological Design works closely with students who pursue our degree concentration in Ecological Design.
PARTICIPATE IN HISTORIC PRESERVATION PROJECTS
Led by Adjunct Professor Matt Jarosz, our Historic Preservation Institute promotes preservation and adaptive reuse of significant buildings in Milwaukee and Chicago through engagement in community service projects. The ability to overlap academic studies with real world circumstance has proven beneficial to both the students and the community. The Historic Preservation Institute works closely with students who pursue our degree concentration in Historic Preservation Studies.
EXPLORE GLOBAL CULTURES THROUGH OUR BROAD MENU OF STUDY ABROAD PROGRAMS
Our school has a long tradition of offering diverse programs of international study led by our well-traveled professors. Each year our teachers develop custom-designed travel opportunities that happen at a variety of times during the school year and in the summer. Our students typically get opportunities to travel to France, Italy, England, Scandinavia, Cuba, India and Japan, and our school offers special tuition waivers that help make these adventures accessible even to those with limited budgets.
EXPLORE OUR URBAN DESIGN LABORATORY
As a large and long-established Midwestern city, Milwaukee offers rich layers of urban history and an assortment of distinctive neighborhoods in which students develop design projects. Students can get involved in the city’s major redevelopment efforts, such as the recent Inner Harbor Redevelopment work in collaboration with UWM’s School of Freshwater Science. Additionally, Milwaukee forms one prong of a powerful urban triad, together with Madison, WI and Chicago, IL, each just an hour’s drive from Milwaukee. We regularly offer special educational programs in Chicago such as the Chicago Studio and Design Lab SARUP located at Chicago’s historic Manhattan Building.
ACCRUE PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE THROUGH OUR EXTERNSHIP PROGRAM
Our network of over 50 architecture firms in Milwaukee, Madison and Chicago host students for periods of work in their offices. In a quick-hit manner, students immerse themselves in an office for a period of one or two weeks, working with professional teams on current projects. By accumulating numerous externship experiences, students understand the broader landscape of office cultures and build a network of professional associations that can later lead to job opportunities.
JOIN A CITY OF ARTISTS
Milwaukee offers world-class art museums and film festivals, a thriving music scene and a large assortment of ethnic eateries and foodie restaurants. Many of Milwaukee’s artists and designers leverage its huge community of small-shop fabricators who can make just about anything. Our school is always finding interesting ways to engage the Milwaukee art and design scene, such as the Mobile Design Box led by Professor Mo Zell, a mobile gallery and event space for the public display of student design work in the city.
LEARN IN GENEROUS, LIGHT-FILLED STUDIO SPACES
Our students enjoy a spacious learning facility in which everyone inhabits one building, which is positioned centrally on our urban campus. Each student gets dedicated studio space, dedicated computer resources, and easy access to our well-designed crit spaces, community rooms and event spaces. Filled with natural light from an expansive central courtyard, our building reflects our open, collaborative spirit.
DEVELOP ADVANCED KNOWLEDGE FOR A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
Students can develop additional, job market-specific expertise by extending their M. Arch education with a one-year Master of Science in Architecture post-graduate degree. In the MS. Arch program students work even more closely with professors of their choosing to develop advanced skills that give them a competitive advantage in a targeted job market. MS. Arch Focus Areas include Digital Design & Fabrication (coordinated by Professor Kyle Talbott), Ecological Design (coordinated by Professor Jim Wasley), Buildings/Landscapes/Cultures (coordinated by Professor Arijit Sen), and Experimental Visualization (coordinated by Professor Chris Cornelius).
CONNECT WITH OUR BUILDINGS/LANDSCAPES/CULTURES PHD PROGRAM
Master of Architecture students can take classes with the teachers in our Buildings/Landscapes/Cultures PhD program, led by Professor Arijit Sen, who teach seminar and studio courses geared toward global topics. Some of these studios include brief trips to international destinations so that students can conduct site and cultural research in preparation for studio projects.
WORK WITH ADVISORS WHO CARE
Our Department Chair, program advisors and teachers care about your success, and they are known for offering students personalized program advice, career development assistance and active mentoring.