MAAD concentrations
Choose from three unique degree concentrations during an intensive year of advanced architectural design.
Overview
Specialize in emerging fields
Specialize in emerging fields
The Master of Advanced Architectural Design (MAAD)is a one-year, STEM-designated post-professional degree that offers four distinct areas of concentration: Architectural Ecologies, Digital Craft, Urban Works, and History Theory Experiments. You’ll hone in on one area and tailor your course sequences to fit your research focus.
Architectural Ecologies
Develop architectural strategies to address ecological challenges
Presidio National Park oyster plates. Photo courtesy Architectural Ecologies Lab.
The MAAD Architectural Ecologies concentration is an intensive, one-year STEM-designated program focused on design solutions that address critical ecological challenges like sea level rise, habitat design, and climate change mitigation and adaptation. Coursework ties directly to the work of the Architectural Ecologies Lab, and studios and seminars center around material, spatial, and technological innovation. You’ll work on collaborative projects that engage communities, scientific researchers, and industry partners, building a portfolio of real-world experience and connections that can amplify your impact in the field.
Areas of special focus
- Explore the promise of alternative materials to generate novel spatial conditions while investigating material lifecycles, environmental impacts, and methods of production.
- Learn to design passive, active, and regenerative energy systems that harness ambient microclimates for occupant wellness, environmental resilience, and climate change adaptation.
- Collaborate with local communities and institutions to advocate for equity and reciprocity among diverse populations of people, plants, and animals.
- Leverage interdisciplinary expertise and collaborate with science and industry to develop architectural strategies for addressing ecological challenges.
- Study strategies for long-term use of buildings, including spatial flexibility, adaptive reuse, and design for deconstruction.
- Research how innovative digital fabrication technologies, materials, and computation can be integrated into environmental design.
Pedagogical approach
- Explore new conceptions of space and material through the lens of ecology and habitat.
- Challenge “business as usual” practices in the design and construction industry by researching radical models for sustainable futures through collaboration across disciplines.
- Use architectural and environmental analysis to generate data-informed designs.
Additional facilities and resources
Through CCA's Academic Alliance with Autodesk, students have the opportunity to work under the guidance of the Architectural Ecologies Lab directors at the Autodesk Technology Center. Here, you can pursue research with support from Autodesk’s physical, digital, and community resources.
CCA’s Architectural Ecologies Lab also collaborates with scientists and researchers at prominent institutions such as UCSF, Texas A&M, UC Davis, Stanford University, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Presidio Trust, and Coastal Conservation & Research, Inc.
Our on-campus facilities include state-of-the-art shops for various scales of fabrication and multiple computer labs for digital production:
- Digital Craft Lab with Kuka Agilus, Kuka KR 1000 titan robotic arms, and 3D Potterbot
- Rapid Prototyping studios with laser cutters, desktop 3D printers, and CNC router
- Hybrid Lab, sponsored by Intel, an interdisciplinary space for making and hacking technologies
- New Materials Resource Center containing a comprehensive, interdisciplinary collection of traditional and innovative materials
- Dedicated wood, metal, and mixed-material workshops
- Shops for fabrication techniques in sheet forming, machining, pattern making, and soft lab
Digital Craft
Experiment with digital design technologies
The MAAD Digital Craft degree is STEM-designated, uniting designers, roboticists, and computational thinkers who want to engage, question, and expand disciplinary boundaries. You’ll work together to explore reciprocity and synergy between bits and atoms, the digital and the physical, and digital code and material logic. Digital Craft thrives at the intersection of creative and technical domains, whose boundaries are elastic, continuously evolving, and highly experimental.
Your coursework ties directly to our work in the Digital Craft Lab (DCL). The DCL supports and promotes advanced research in architectural design, digital fabrication, material science, data visualization, and robotics. At the intersection of the arts and sciences, you’ll routinely collaborate with engineers, scientists, artists, architects, and designers to develop innovative frameworks and prototypes.
Areas of special focus
- Parametric design and advanced computation
- Digital fabrication and robotic technologies
- Interactive technologies and responsive environments
- Building information modeling (BIM)
- Advanced simulation and visualization
- History and theory of digital design
- Experimental and emerging technologies
Recent visiting lecturers
- Marc Fornes (THEVERYMANY)
- Kas Oosterhuis (Hyperbody / TU Delft)
- Hilary Sample (MOS)
- Philip Beesley
- Saul Griffith (Otherlab)
- Achim Menges (ICD)
- Gregg Pasquarelli (SHoP Architects)
- Theodore Spyropoulos (AA/minimaforms)
- Heather Roberge (Murmur)
- Francois Roche (R&Sie(n))
- Farshid Moussavi (FOA)
- Shohei Shigematsu (OMA)
- Michelle Addington (Yale University)
- Sanford Kwinter (Harvard University)
- Natalie Jeremijenko
Additional facilities and resources
The facilities on our campus include architecture studios with access to a suite of fully equipped shops for various scales of fabrication and multiple computer labs for digital production:
- Rapid Prototyping studios with laser cutters, desktop 3D printers, and CNC router
- Hybrid Lab, sponsored by Intel, an interdisciplinary space for making and hacking technologies
- New Materials Resource Center containing a comprehensive, interdisciplinary collection of traditional and innovative materials
- Shops for fabrication techniques in sheet forming, machining, pattern making, and mechanical fastening
- Dedicated wood, metal, and mixed-material workshops, as well as a plaster studio and metal shop
Urban Works
Leverage architectural design to reimagine cities
From sanctuary cities to micro-utopias, and from public infrastructure to investment opportunities, urbanization today demands that designers find new ways to create bridges between laws, markets, and publics. In this spirit, the MAAD Urban Works concentration is dedicated to shaping both the spaces and protocols of the built environment.
Your coursework ties directly to our efforts in the Urban Works Agency (UWA). The UWA is dedicated to shaping both the spaces and protocols of the built environment, from the scale of furniture to cities and territories at large, and across private practices, municipal agencies, and entrepreneurial ventures. You’ll routinely collaborate with interdisciplinary partners to produce original research and design projects disseminated through books, exhibitions, and interactive media. The MAAD Urban Works degree is STEM-designated.
Areas of special focus
Each program cycle is framed as a think tank on a set of topical issues, which span across the advanced studios and seminars. Recent investigations include:
- Housing affordability and collective living
- Politics of energy
- Resilient cities and sea-level rise
- Pop-up urbanism
- Climate risk
- Public engagement and decision-making processes
Pedagogical approach
You’ll focus on research-driven and project-oriented design in advanced studios and urban elective seminars, while taking part in workshops, symposia, and other events. The Urban Works curriculum frames in-depth investigations associated with architecture’s disciplinary expertise alongside broad, extra-disciplinary studies in urban geography, ecology, and digital technology. You’ll also routinely work in partnership with urban agencies, nonprofit organizations, and industry leaders. This exposure prepares you to join and form experimental design practices of your own that can provocatively shape urban issues. Each year, we focus on a particular theme as we create various projects in the form of publications, exhibitions, symposia, and more. You’ll use these acts of production to launch your next career trajectory.
Additional facilities and resources
You’ll enjoy dedicated studio space with access to state-of-the-art workshops and computer labs for fabrication and digital production at multiple scales. You’ll also work side-by-side with colleagues from our Interaction Design and MBA in Design Strategy programs. Under one roof, CCA offers access to a range of facilities and resources:
- Rapid Prototyping studios with laser cutters, desktop 3D printers, and CNC router
- Dedicated wood, metal, and mixed-material workshops, as well as a plaster studio and metal shop
- Hybrid Lab, sponsored by Intel, an interdisciplinary space for making and hacking technologies
- New Materials Resource Center containing a comprehensive, interdisciplinary collection of traditional and innovative materials
History Theory Experiments
Bring architectural history to life
The MAAD History Theory Experiments concentration is an intense year of advanced study in architectural history, theory, and criticism. The year culminates in an independent research project oriented toward public exhibition, publication, or digital dissemination. Your coursework ties directly to our work in the Experimental History Project, an interdisciplinary platform for exhibitions, research, and events exploring experimental practices of architecture and urban history. The MAAD HTX degree is STEM-designated.
Areas of special focus
The MAAD History Theory Experiments concentration exposes students to current critical and curatorial practices, including:
- Experimental preservation techniques such as digital scanning and reproduction
- Politically engaged forms of spatial activism
- New media such as apps, databases, and other digital platforms for “writing” history
- Archival and historical research methods
- Architectural writing and criticism
Recent visiting lecturers
- Beatriz Colomina (Princeton University)
- Winnie Wong (UC Berkeley)
- Pier Vittorio Aureli (The Berlage Institute)
- Neil Brenner (Harvard University)
- Anthony Vidler (Brown University)
- Keller Easterling (Yale University)
Build skills in a hyperfocused research area