Washington University in St. Louis
Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts
The graduate and undergraduate Architecture programs at Washington University in St. Louis cultivate the designer's identity as a leader: as an expressive individual and socially responsible citizen. Our commitment to ethical practice spans disciplines, cultural theories, and representational media. We emphasize the physicality of design: site, purpose, material, technique, sustainability and meaning. Our identity resonates throughout multiple locations: St. Louis's rich metropolitan landscape and international semesters in Florence, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, and Berlin.
http://samfoxschool.wustl.edu
Setting
Washington University in St. Louis, founded in 1853, is a private independent university of national and international stature. (U.S. News and World Report ranks the University 15th.) With 7,400 undergraduates and just under 7,000 graduate and professional students, the University's faculty and resources are characteristic of a much larger institution. In July 2006 the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts was established, incorporating the Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design, the College of Architecture (undergraduate), the Graduate School of Art, the College of Art (undergraduate,) and the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum. The Sam Fox School's goals are to provide enhanced opportunities for interdisciplinary study: to encourage the application of emerging information technologies to scholarship and creative work; and to foster the integration of visual literacy as a component in today's liberal arts education for all university students. A comprehensive university, Washington University is committed to excellence in the nature of its faculty, its educational programs and research, and in the nature of its student body. Metropolitan St. Louis provides a rich, varied architectural heritage and a unique urban and landscape design laboratory; these qualities are balanced by intensive initiatives in international education.
School Philosophy
The architecture program at the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts cultivates the designer's identity as a leader: as both an expressive individual and a socially responsibility citizen. The School's commitment to the ethical practice of architecture spans disciplines, contending cultural theories and the range of representational media. The architecture curriculum emphasizes the physicality of design, through regard to site, purpose, material, technique and meaning. The School's identity resonates with the diverse realities of its multiple locations: St. Louis, situated at the virtual center of the United States, at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri River ecologies, possessing a rich architectural heritage and complex urbanity, and international semesters in Florence, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, and Berlin, all cities of vibrant architectural cultures.
Programs
Four-year pre-professional undergraduate degree programs lead to either a Bachelor of Science in Architecture degree or a Bachelor of Design degree with a major in architecture. These degrees possess a flexible and broad-based curriculum, founded on the humanities, with an intensifying focus on architectural studies. An undergraduate architectural education offers preparation for professional education, employment options in related areas, or accomplishment in any field valuing innovative, synthetic thought and work. First and second year students enroll in humanities coursework as well as introductory design and architecture studio courses in the Sam Fox School. The intensive junior year consists of architectural design studios, supported by architectural history and building technologies. Satisfactory completion of the 300-level coursework qualifies a student for the Bachelor of Design degree with a major in architecture with flexible curricular options in the senior year. Senior students pursuing advanced architectural studies receive the Bachelor of Science degree. M.Arch. and MUD degrees in the Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design are attained through a variety of degree options and terms of study. The Master of Architecture program leads to a NAAB-accredited first professional degree and is open to those who already hold baccalaureate degrees. Depending on an applicant's prior experience and academic qualifications, a M.Arch. degree may be completed in 4, 5 or 7 semesters. The Master of Urban Design program, a one-year post-professional program, focuses on contemporary urban issues through architectural, landscape, and planning perspectives. The post-professional Master of Science in Advanced Architectural Design (MSAAD) program offers opportunities for advanced design work and research to those who already hold NAAB-accredited professional degrees. For those who want to do advanced level master's study in pedagogy or history/theory, a Master of Science in Architectural Studies is also available. Since 2010 a Master of Landscape Architecture program has been offered, expanding the opportunities for students in all other Sam Fox School programs to have a broader perspective in their design work. Especially in the master's-level programs, international semesters help to expand the physical reach of all graduate programs beyond the focus on St. Louis and North America. A Doctor of Sustainable Urbanism degree is offered starting in Fall 2016, which is a post-professional applied research degree intended to prepare professionals and advanced urban design students for careers in evidence-based sustainable urban design and planning practice and teaching.
of Focus
Opportunities
Study Abroad
Facilities
Large-format Printer
Laser Cutter
Woodshop
3D Printing
CNC Milling
Fabrication Lab
Policies
Transfer Policies
Transfer Student Requirements
Transfer admission to Washington University is both selective and competitive.
You should apply as a transfer student if you meet all of the following requirements:
You have finished secondary school and completed some college study.
You would like to be considered for admission with advanced standing at Washington University.
You are interested in enrolling full-time in an undergraduate degree program with a specific academic focus.
You have never attended any of Washington University’s full-time, degree-granting schools.
(https://admissions.wustl.edu/apply_site/Pages/Transfer-Student-Requirements.aspx)
