MSc Advanced Architectural Design

An innovative Master’s programme on Cinematic Architecture for enthusiastic students with an undergraduate degree in architecture who wish to explore future opportunities in architecture, design, film and creative industries

COURSE CONTENT
This is a personalised Master’s programme for engaged students who would like to make the most of their time at Queen’s. The work produced throughout the year will be a collaborative effort between you, your year group, our award-winning academics and practicing architects. Because this yearlong course does not require you to meet prescription for qualification, it encourages you to work both within and beyond the realm of conventional architectural practice. We would like you to push the boundaries of your imagination and the limits of architectural media, while working with other architects, designers, artists and filmmakers.

You will work on modules including design, humanities and technology, questioning norms in architecture throughout. You will complete a major thesis project, the topic and methodology of which will be self-directed. You will be able to use the thesis as a means to experiment with new ideas, technologies and media, and as a gateway to your future career goals.

The course encourages lateral thinking, problem solving, creativity and engagement with design in a self-critical process. It will address issues as diverse as our survival on the planet and alternative ways of thinking about what architecture can be and do.

WHAT WILL EXCITE YOU?
Through Cinematic Architecture (filmmaking, cinematic analysis, montage, etc.), you will design projects from bottom up and focus on both tangible and intangible qualities of urban and architectural spaces. You will spend the year designing, collaborating and producing with people from around the world on our university campus that has celebrated its 175th year. Queen’s clubs and facilities including the Student Union, Queen’s Sport and Queen’s Film Theatre will also provide excellent opportunities to make friends outside of your discipline.

THE ENVIRONMENT
You will be based in Belfast, a growing city known for its industrial design heritage on one hand and its vibrant arts culture and creative industries on the other. As stated in the Complete University Guide 2022: Belfast is one of Europe's most hip, vibrant and affordable cities, lauded for its energy, and rich in culture and history. Queen's stunning campus is within Belfast's Queen's Quarter, with cafés, bars, restaurants, superb shopping and entertainment venues. You will enjoy a healthy staff to student ratio, good studios where you will have your own space, a world-class library and excellent workshops for physical and digital manufacturing.

ADDITIONAL COURSE INFORMATION:
Now, more than ever, our societies demand innovative designers and creative problem solvers to propose solutions to the challenges we face in a complex contemporary world - health and well-being, climate change, forced migration, public safety and increasing urbanisation, among others. Our school is renowned for award-winning, innovative research and teaching that is academically rigorous, critically informed, design-led and interdisciplinary. In all of this endeavour we seek to develop architecture’s voice in addressing these challenges.

The MSc Advanced Architectural Design programme provides a scaffold for our students to develop their own personal position within the broad culture of architecture, and in doing so, contribute to the ongoing debate that shapes the profession and our world. Our concerns range from the role of art, design and architecture in communities, environmental, social and economic sustainability, humanitarian architecture for all, tangible and intangible qualities of space to the mapping and analysis of urban, territorial and global conditions. In all of this architectural media play a crucial role as does developing a self-critical understanding of how each individual works as a designer.

The MSc AAD is a studio-based programme, underscoring design and design processes as the core concerns, challenging our students to be experimental both in their design methodologies/analyses and their architectural proposals. The one year programme comprises of three semesters. The staff cohort is composed of a diverse spectrum of esteemed practitioners and innovative academics supported by external consultants beyond Queen’s, providing a further dimension to a rich learning environment. In this context, the students are encouraged to push the limits of the profession as well as their personal capabilities.