Arch 794 PreThesis

Pre-thesis is taken prior to the final semester of the M.Arch program. The goal of pre-thesis is to lay the foundation for the successful and timely accomplishment of your final project. Pre-thesis activities include literature review, site selection/analysis, place type analysis, programming/scenario planning, researching codes and standards, design process issues, precedent studies and design concept development.

Prior to meeting with a potential pre-thesis advisor, be prepared to articulate your ideological, philosophical, and practical stance about what is important in architecture, and how you will explore or demonstrate that through your project. The more prepared you are, the stronger foundation you will have for a very productive conversation and you will be more likely to get a positive answer when professors see how invested you are in the project.

Before your pre-thesis semester, you will need to select a topic relative to your interest in architecture. Your topic should be a project of appropriate scope and intellectual content that is worthy of a professional architecture degree.
Look at past thesis projects on the Resource Center website.

Once your topic is selected, you will need to set up a meeting with a potential pre-thesis advisor. Look at the bios on the SARUP website for faculty that have a shared interest or expertise.