Master in Architecture

The educational experience of the Master of Architecture from Portland State University is oriented toward “situational” investigations, in which the focus of creative activity is on perceiving, interpreting and representing the meaningfulness of human situations through acts of making architecture. Intellectual rigor, imaginative visualization and manual dexterity are promoted in every student.

The Architecture program encourages each student to:

• Comprehend the value of a creative engagement with the prevailing realities of the city as a primary means of cultural transformation, and to perceive Portland as an “urban laboratory” for experimental investigations of prevalent human issues.
• Explore the communicative potential of diverse media through continual acts of interpretive making at multiple scales, including full-size construction.
• Take advantage of the special reality of the academic setting in offering opportunity for speculation unavailable in contemporary practice situations, particularly through the Design Thesis experience.
• Develop an understanding of the dynamic relationship of individual and collective experience in urban environments through participation in, and fostering of, communication between citizen and institution in negotiating shared territories.
• Attain a dynamic awareness of the expectations, roles and practices of the contemporary architectural profession coupled with tangible capacities to operate creatively and productively in the field.
• Participate in, and contribute to, the advancement of knowledge in issues and technologies of sustainable living and environmental responsibility.

Portland State University teaching and research are inspired by three priorities:

• Exploring the poetics of material and the communication of cultural meaning
• Speculating upon urban issues and the pleasures and dilemmas of city dwelling
• Promoting community engagement and the application of creative and professional practices toward the common good.