Professional Master of Architecture (Non-Thesis) (M.Arch.) (60 credits)
Offered by: Architecture (Faculty of Engineering)
Degree: Master of Architecture
Program credit weight: 60
Program Description
The M.Arch. (Professional); Non-Thesis degree program provides a structured opportunity to explore advanced architectural design, integrating building construction, landscape and urban design, professional practice, sustainable design, and the history and theory of architecture. A strategic focus on design methodology, innovative research, and self-directed inquiry, supported by the advanced media and modeling technologies and other resources required to carry out architectural research and creative practice.
Note: For information about Fall 2025 and Winter 2026 course offerings, please check back on May 8, 2025. Until then, the "Terms offered" field will appear blank for most courses while the class schedule is being finalized.
Required Courses (42 credits)
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ARCH 672 | Architectural Design Studio 1. | 9 |
Architectural Design Studio 1. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Comprehensive design investigation of interrelated architectural-engineering-landscape concepts and systems; development and application of design methods fit for the changing climates and conditions of this century. | ||
| ARCH 673 | Architectural Design Studio 2. | 9 |
Architectural Design Studio 2. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. A project-based graduate studio focused on the integration of skills and research to tackle contemporary global issues in architecture and urban design. | ||
| ARCH 674 | Professional Practice 1. | 3 |
Professional Practice 1. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. The Professional Code, the Architect's Act and the architect's responsibilities to clients, colleagues and society, including professional ethics, responsibility in design, contractual arrangements, business conduct, construction supervision, issuing of certificates, construction and project management, concepts of architectural specification writing, building costs and life cycle costing. | ||
| ARCH 676 | Advanced Architectural Design. | 9 |
Advanced Architectural Design. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Research and design-based graduate studio focused on investigation of architectural and urban issues. | ||
| ARCH 678 | Advanced Construction. | 3 |
Advanced Construction. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. An exploration of construction in relation to architectural design; research in advanced methods of construction and structure related to design problems and built projects; appropriate technologies and alternatives. | ||
| ARCH 683 | Directed Research Project. | 9 |
Directed Research Project. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Design-based research project focused on scholarly investigation and the presentation of results in appropriate graphic and written form. | ||
Complementary Courses (18 credits)
- 18 credits chosen from among the following:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ARCH 514 | Community Design Workshop. | 3 |
Community Design Workshop. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Context-focused community-based architectural projects undertaken in collaboration with external partners. Exploration of challenges, needs, and opportunities in architectural and urban-design interventions on real sites through interdisciplinary and cross-sectorial collaboration. | ||
| ARCH 515 | Sustainable Design. | 3 |
Sustainable Design. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. This course will address sustainable design theory and applications in the built environment with students from a variety of fields (architecture, urban planning, engineering, sociology, environmental studies, economics, international studies). Architecture will provide the focus for environmental, socio-cultural and economic issues. | ||
| ARCH 517 | Sustainable Residential Development. | 3 |
Sustainable Residential Development. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Design strategies of sustainable residential environments at the community and the unit levels. Historic references, siting principles, high density, healthy developments, green homes, urban renewal, circulation and parking, open spaces and implementation approaches. | ||
| ARCH 525 | Seminar on Analysis and Theory. | 3 |
Seminar on Analysis and Theory. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Analysis and evaluation of significant architectural projects with reference to contemporary architectural theories. | ||
| ARCH 528 | History of Housing. | 3 |
History of Housing. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Indigenous housing both transient and permanent, from the standpoint of individual structure and pattern of settlements. The principal historic examples of houses including housing in the age of industrial revolution and contemporary housing. | ||
| ARCH 531 | Architectural Intentions Vitruvius - Renaissance. | 3 |
Architectural Intentions Vitruvius - Renaissance. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Architectural intentions embodied in buildings and writings of architects from antiquity to the Renaissance. Special emphasis is placed on the cultural connections of architecture to science and philosophy. | ||
| ARCH 532 | Origins of Modern Architecture. | 3 |
Origins of Modern Architecture. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Examination of architectural intentions (theory and practice) in the European context (especially France, Italy and England), during the crucial period that marks the beginning of the modern era. | ||
| ARCH 535 | History of Architecture in Canada. | 3 |
History of Architecture in Canada. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. French, British and American influences in the history of Canadian architecture, with particular emphasis on the Eastern Provinces. Site visits and case studies. | ||
| ARCH 536 | Heritage Conservation. | 3 |
Heritage Conservation. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Historic attitudes and terminologies of conservation; historic research techniques. Restoration technology of building materials and principles of interior design in the 19th and 20th century; current preservation planning. | ||
| ARCH 540 | Selected Topics in Architecture 1. | 3 |
Selected Topics in Architecture 1. Terms offered: Summer 2025 A course to allow the introduction of new topics in Architecture as needs arise, by regular and visiting staff. | ||
| ARCH 541 | Selected Topics in Architecture 2. | 3 |
Selected Topics in Architecture 2. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. A course to allow the introduction of new topics in Architecture as needs arise, by regular and visiting staff. | ||
| ARCH 542 | Selected Topics in Architecture 3. | 3 |
Selected Topics in Architecture 3. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Special topics related to architecture will be presented by core faculty and visiting lecturers. | ||
| ARCH 543 | Selected Topics in Architecture 4. | 3 |
Selected Topics in Architecture 4. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Special topics related to architecture will be presented by core faculty and visiting lecturers. | ||
| ARCH 562 | Innovative Homes and Communities. | 3 |
Innovative Homes and Communities. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Innovative design concepts for sustainable homes and communities to include adaptability; net-zero energy; micro units; recycling; plug and play; green roofs; aging in place and live-work. | ||
| ARCH 604 | Urban Design Seminar. | 3 |
Urban Design Seminar. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Advanced concepts and methods used in urban design, focusing on epistemological debates, practical techniques, and philosophical concerns that shape contemporary theory and practice in the field. | ||
| ARCH 627 | Research Methods. | 3 |
Research Methods. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Survey of research methods relevant to architecture. Introduction to research ethics; differentiating between primary and secondary methods; contrasting macro- and micro-social approaches; setting research questions; undertaking literature scans; reviewing empirical findings by others; designing instruments and tools for primary research; conducting field research; presenting findings. | ||
| ARCH 641 | Energy and Environments 1. | 3 |
Energy and Environments 1. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Examination of technical relationships among building materials, architectural proportions, thermoregulation strategies, and human capacity to mitigate and adapt to climate change. | ||
| ARCH 642 | Energy and Environments 2. | 3 |
Energy and Environments 2. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Theories and methods for the energetic and environmental basis of architecture. | ||
| ARCH 670 | Advanced Landscape Theory. | 3 |
Advanced Landscape Theory. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Landscape as both process and medium linking human history and environmental change. Abiotic and biotic processes. Conceptualizations of nature, ecology, and landscape. Climate change and other anthropogenic impacts. Design as discipline-transcending work at multiple scales. | ||
| ARCH 675 | Architecture in Global Perspective. | 3 |
Architecture in Global Perspective. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Global history of architecture and urbanism, examining contemporary cities with an architectural lens. Case studies are presented to develop capacities for critical analysis of the built environment. Key ideas and ongoing debates on urbanism and architectural design. | ||
| ARCH 680 | Field Sketching. | 2 |
Field Sketching. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Seven days of supervised field sketching in selected locations outside Montreal. The course reinforces traditional skills in observation, notebook recording and architectural sketching. Students are encouraged to approach the subject critically and thematically, and to treat sketching as a mechanism for documenting experience and expressing their knowledge of the environment. | ||
| ARCH 684 | Contemporary Theory 1. | 3 |
Contemporary Theory 1. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Seminar exploring critical readings in architectural design and research. | ||
| ARCH 685 | Contemporary Theory 2. | 3 |
Contemporary Theory 2. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Seminar exploring critical readings in architectural design and research. | ||
| ARCH 688 | Directed Research 1. | 3 |
Directed Research 1. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Directed research in topics of specialized areas of architecture and design practice. | ||
| ARCH 689 | Directed Research 2. | 3 |
Directed Research 2. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Directed research in topics of specialized areas of architecture and design practice. | ||
| OCC1 625 | Functional Environments. | 3 |
Functional Environments. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Problems and solutions of the environment that impact negatively on the physically or mentally disabled individual. | ||
| URBP 555 | Real Estate and Planning. | 3 |
Real Estate and Planning. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Basic concepts of real estate and property rights and how these are valued. The specificities of property markets and their segmentation. The paradox of realestate uniqueness. Actors and processes of realestate development and investment in practical terms (proforma analysis, investment analysis, leases and property management) and broader terms (institutional investors, financialization). Segmentation of development processes among local, supralocal and international actors, including consultants. Roles of the planner and planning regulations; how these affect property values and property development with specific reference to Québec planning legislation and powers. Market evaluation and analysis of the development potential of specific sites. | ||
| URBP 651 | Redesigning Suburban Space. | 3 |
Redesigning Suburban Space. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Planning and urban design strategies for transforming suburban and exurban settings in North America to meet contemporary needs. Critical approaches to responsible practice in existing cultural landscapes. Adaptive reuse of public space, intensification, densification, transit-oriented retrofit of urban form, community-based design development. | ||