Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design Viewbook 2024-25
Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design
MARCH • MLA • MUD
MSAAD
MSAS • DUAL & JOINT DEGREES
The Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts is a place for interdisciplinary learning. Here, we combine the theoretical and practical to create an environment in which architects, landscape architects, and urban designers study alongside artists, curators, and theorists. These interdisciplinary collaborations and conversations influence the way our faculty and students think, work, and create. They offer an opportunity to see the distinct challenges we share.
As part of a tier-one research institution, Washington University in St. Louis students in the Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design are uniquely poised to pursue expansive research and make distinctive contributions to their field.
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From the Office of the Director
WashU is a place where professors, practitioners, and students together ask important questions about the future of our built environment. How can we create a more sustainable, imaginative world, for and by a more diverse community of people? What role does artificial intelligence play in designing our buildings, landscapes, and cities? How do we work across disciplines—with engineers, social scientists, and historians—to make meaningful and ethical impacts in our world? If you are intrigued by how you could impact society as architects, landscape architects, and urban designers, I invite you to explore these ideas further and engage with our talented community of students.
To learn more about the programs and people that make up the Sam Fox School, please visit samfoxschool.washu.edu and our social media channels, where you can see the inspiring work created by our students and faculty. We encourage you to plan a visit with our admissions team so that you can experience firsthand the studios, fabrication shops, people, and intellectual culture that make our school vibrant and stimulating. We look forward to seeing you on campus.
Aki Ishida, AIA, LEED AP Director, College of Architecture and Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design
Sam and Marilyn Fox Professor
Programs
Our studios are organized around cumulative, collective experiences.
We provide a rigorous academic environment where students develop a love of craft and the ability to move fluidly between platforms. You’ll learn to work in collaboration on thematic issues of our time.
MArch MLA MUD MSAAD MSAS
Dual & Joint Degrees
In our dual degree programs, you can earn two master’s degrees within the Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Urban Design:
• MArch + MLA
• MArch + MUD
• MLA + MUD
Our joint degree programs enable you to take full advantage of the academic resources at WashU by earning a degree in another discipline:
• Business Administration
• Construction Management
• Computer Science & Engineering
• Social Work
• Public Health
MArch | Master of Architecture
MArch 3 6 semesters | 3 years
MArch 2 4 semesters | 2 years
STEM-designated, accredited MArch program that offers a professional experience focusing on the role of architects in society and culture.
MLA | Master of Landscape Architecture
MLA 3 6 semesters | 3 years
MLA 2 4 semesters | 2 years
Accredited, professional degree that enables students to become registered landscape architects. The program is STEM-designated with a focus on systems-thinking.
MUD | Master of Urban Design
2 semesters + summer | 1 year
Post-professional program with a focus on the transformation of cities in the 21st century and beyond.
Master of Science degrees can be completed as standalone programs or consecutive to any of the terminal degree programs.
MSAAD | Master of Science in Advanced Architectural Design
3 semesters | 1.5 years
Post-professional program to pursue advanced design studies, research, and teaching preparation.
MSAS | Master of Science in Architectural Studies
2 semesters | 1 year
Graduate program designed to engage in research specialization in either Architectural Pedagogy or the History and Culture of Architecture.
Research
The foundation of our programs is the breadth and depth of our faculty’s research.
Working at the confluence of environmental and social issues, our faculty are pioneering developments in the future of architecture. Their knowledge provides students with meaningful opportunities to fuel their success.
We strive for distinction in six key areas, focusing our efforts to better advance our fields.
Background image: Assistant Professor Kelley Van Dyck Murphy’s work in 3D-printed ceramics inspired this student-led sculpture, installed at St. Louis’ Cortex Innovation District. Photo: Caitlin Custer.
1 Design Practice
Most fundamental to our programs is the development of students’ holistic design acuity.
Our goal is for students to develop clear design principles, strong technical resources, and an independent, critical position on the making of architecture in the world.
Our teaching model
We pride ourselves on our 8:1 student-to-faculty ratio and premier faculty practitioners who actively teach and enthusiastically mentor students on how the systems around us impact and contribute to our field.
Each semester offers a range of options that emphasize the development of strong conceptual abilities, thoughtful integration of technical information, and convincing representations of architectural ideas in two- and threedimensional form through a variety of media.
The goal is for students to emerge with vital technical skills, individual artistic sensibility, and the ability to lead design projects.
Above: Students in the International Housing Studio construct a 3D-printed scale model of their project site in Barcelona with instructor Emiliano López Matas.
Rebecca Clark / WashU.
Bottom left: Wei Hui and Suyue Shen, Retaking Jefferson Ave: The People’s Street, instructor Linda Samuels.
Housing is one of the most critical issues facing the future of our field.
There is a social imperative and a dire global need for affordable, beautifully designed, and environmentally responsible homes and neighborhoods that are culturally attuned.
In the International Housing Studio, a core studio of both the MArch 2 and MArch 3 programs, students deepen their understanding and responsiveness to cultural, climatic, and social conditions and develop proposals for collective urban dwellings in a diverse array of global locations, working with faculty who are active practitioners.
Within a common framework and shared group discussions, students explore contemporary issues around housing with an emphasis on spatial and organizational arrangements that accommodate diverse occupants through time and changing situations, mediate climate passively, and celebrate the benefits of sharing.
Above: Hanna Grau, photo of physical model exploring shared spaces of collective housing, International Housing Studio: San Juan, instructor Mónica Rivera.
Bottom left: Cody Heller, rendering of a proposal for collective housing, International Housing Studio: San Juan, instructor Mónica Rivera.
Bottom right: Xiaofan Hu, housing proposal for La Barceloneta neighborhood, International Housing Studio: Barcelona, instructor Emiliano López Matas.
3 Sustainable & Equitable Environments
We endeavor to make structures that respect not only environment, but also the humanity and agency of the people within that environment.
Through a variety of courses, workshops, and projects, students explore the interdependence of the community, architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design, and how they can work together to emphasize equitable access and distribution across systems. All of our graduate programs are engaged in the meaningful work of engaging and advancing sustainability and equitability.
IN PRACTICE
Experiential Learning: Soils Workshop
Assistant Professor Seth Denizen led a two-part workshop on urban soils along with Ryder Anderson from the USDA and Christina Siebe, PhD, from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Their research relates to water management in St. Louis as climate change increases pressure on the city’s already under-equipped sewer system. In an on-site visit, students had the opportunity to see a soil core pulled as well as learn about urban soil properties. The second part of the workshop continued on campus with a lecture and analysis of the soil cores.
Photos: Devon Hill / WashU.
4 History, Theory, & Culture
To be informed makers and engaged leaders, students must understand the broader cultural context and discipline of architecture, as well as historical and contemporary issues impacting the field.
The Sam Fox School offers leading faculty experts on the history of modern architecture and urbanism, as well as the principles and methods of conservation and historical research. Their deep scholarship and research will help you understand and examine critical concepts and theories.
Moonscape of the Mind Symposium
This symposium explored what singular objects of art and design might teach us about Japanese internment during WWII, along with broader impacts and significance. The event was organized by Assistant Professor Kelley Van Dyck Murphy, Assistant Professor Heidi Aronson Kolk, and Lynnette Widder of Columbia University and is part of a larger research and archival initiative based at Washington University in St. Louis.
WashU was one of only a handful of institutions that accepted Japanese Americans as students during the internment period. About 30
Japanese American students attended the university, and four of them— Gyo Obata, Richard Henmi, George Matsumoto, and Fred Toguchi—went on to achieve noteworthy success as architects. Their work and experiences were featured in Beauty in Enormous Bleakness, an on-site exhibition during the conference.
Above: Ken Tadashi Oshima gives the keynote lecture at the Moonscape of the Mind symposium on April 14, 2023. Photo: Audrey Westcott.
Below: Image from Beauty in Enormous Bleakness by Kelley Van Dyck Murphy and Makio Yamamoto. Pictured from left are the Poston Internment Camp, Gyo Obata’s Abbey Church, and Richard Henmi’s “flying saucer” building. The structures designed by Obata and Henmi remain visible and in use as part of St. Louis’s rich architectural history.
5 Arts, Fabrication, & Technology
Our students engage in dynamic transdisciplinary projects that examine issues such as infrastructure, segregation, public health, and ecology.
Our school offers leading facilities and technology for making, including 3D printers in plastic and clay, a CNC machine, wood and metal shops, tools for augmented and virtual reality, and much more. We are excited to host promising young designers, builders, and thinkers who collaborate on projects that change the way we work, build, and experience the world.
IN PRACTICE
Intelligent Fabrication
Digital fabrication is often critiqued as not being scalable to larger projects—in part because it is often associated with highly specialized small prototyping and installations. In this seminar, students focused on digital fabrication at the mediumto-large scale using a proprietary system designed by Scott Mitchell, MArch/MEng ’18, founder of STUD-IO. The system focuses on intelligent
prefabrication using custom software to create robotically fabricated metal studs that can be easily assembled into almost any form. The CNC machine is specifically designed to make these custom metal studs with a series of operations, promoting mass-customization.
Students designed, fabricated, and constructed full-scale prototypes outside of Weil Hall in a temporary installation.
Below: Intelligent Fabrication, instructor: Chandler Ahrens, associate professor, spring 2023. Photo: Caitlin Custer.
6 Socially Engaged Practice
The Office for Socially Engaged Practice is a hub and a resource for collaborative, engaged practices in art, architecture, and design.
We bring faculty and students together to work with communities in St. Louis and around the world.
We are dedicated to building relationships with organizations and citizens to make the St. Louis region a more vibrant and equitable place.
IN PRACTICE
CityStudioSTL
CityStudioSTL is an initiative of the Office for Socially Engaged Practice that supports a series of community engagement and outreach projects that bring together students in architecture, art, and design with partners in the city of St. Louis.
The program allows students and faculty—working in collaboration with local community groups and residents—to conceive, plan, design, and construct projects.
The CityStudioSTL initiative funds:
• Fellowships—paid summer positions for students to work at a local firm on not-for-profit, St. Louis-specific projects
• Faculty course grants community-engaged teaching grants for working with the St. Louis community
• Student awards—supporting students engaged in community collaborative projects
Fellowships
Quinn Adam, MArch/MLA ’27, received a CityStudioSTL fellowship at Arbolope Studio, a St. Louis-based landscape architecture, urban design, and public art practice. They worked with architects and community members on designs for the Art Place Initiative, a subsidized housing project for artists in St. Louis.
CityStudioSTL is generously supported by Gina and Bill Wischmeyer (BA ’69/MArch ’71).
The opportunity to apply the design skills I’m learning in school to a real-world project here in St. Louis is exciting. I’ve gotten to know new people and neighborhoods and used design skills to support local organizations who are doing meaningful work to improve their communities.”
Quinn Adam, MArch/MLA ’27 CityStudioSTL Fellow
Photo: Carter Voss, Arbolope Studio.
Culture
You’ve learned what you’ll be studying here, but academics and studios are only half of the picture.
The Sam Fox School is a vibrant community actively engaged with campus opportunities while exploring all that St. Louis has to offer—from major art museums, renowned parks, and National Historic Landmarks, to major league sports and a vibrant restaurant scene.
One
of my favorite things about this program is the culture. The students and faculty are some of the most supportive, intelligent, and deeply passionate people I’ve ever met. I know I have made lifelong connections here.”
Hallie Nolan, MArch/MUD ’18
Landscape architecture students and faculty join designer-in-residence Kotch Voraakhom on a guided canoe trip down the Mississippi River.
Life in St. Louis
A mid-size city with an outsize creative scene, St. Louis is a confluence of rivers, people, and ideas. Beloved for its distinctive red brick and its incredible urban parks, our city has deep, historic roots. This is a place that reveres its designers, artists, thinkers, and makers, and our students are lively contributors to its culture. The city is abundant in modern and historical architecture, diverse in culture, in touch with the challenges of Rust Belt cities, and at the front line of social and political engagement. Most of all, St. Louis is a place for you to explore and engage.
#1
best city for new graduates, according to a 2022 study by Insurify
13 designated National Historic Landmarks in the city
128+ miles of bicycle and pedestrian trailways
Photo: Danny Reise / WashU.
Visiting Faculty
The Sam Fox School brings nationally and internationally recognized practicing architects into our studios and classrooms each year. With their diverse points of view, these guest faculty contribute to the richness of the student experience and become deeply engaged within our university and community.
Invited Speakers and Guests
Every semester, our dynamic lecture series offers insights from renowned architects, artists, designers, landscape architects, urban designers, historians, and critics. Invited speakers often interact with students during workshops and informal gatherings, in addition to participating in studio visits, where they conduct one-on-one reviews of work.
Anna & Eugeni Bach
Julie Bargmann
Charles Birnbaum
Ramon Bosch & Bet Capdeferro
Edward Ford
Kenneth Frampton
Javier García-Germán
Mario Gooden
Grafton Architects*
Annette Helle
Cory Henry
Walter Hood
Francis Kéré
James Rojas & John Kamp
Kotchakorn Voraakhom
Amanda Williams
* pictured in back. Photo: Whitney Curtis / WashU.
Study Abroad
With cultures, economies, and ecosystems more connected than ever before, international perspectives are vital to the graduate student experience.
MArch students have the opportunity to study abroad in Barcelona, a city at the forefront of Spain’s drive and commitment to an environmentally informed architecture for a sustainable, modern, and climate-neutral economy. Students work in a dedicated studio space in the city center and have access to facilities at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Curriculum includes a mix of studios and seminars.
Other opportunities to learn abroad range from weeklong intensives to semester-long studios, taught by local practitioners and our core faculty. Through these immersive and research-based experiences, students challenge their thinking, widen their outlooks, and develop place-based practices. Core studios based on campus—including the International Housing Studio and the Global Urbanism Studio—also offer invaluable global context.
Kampala
Mexico City
Oslo
Phnom Penh
Puerto Rico
Rotterdam
Shanghai Tangier
Zurich
*pictured. Photo: Juande Jarillo.
Careers
The strongest testimony to the value of our programs is the success of our alumni. From founding their own practices like HOK, to starting furniture and design businesses like the Egg Collective, to teaching at top universities and winning the Wheelwright Prize, Sam Fox School graduates are making their mark. Our programs foster leadership skills that prepare you for expansive, ambitious careers. The dedicated Architecture Career Development office offers one-on-one advising with a practicing architect, workshops, portfolio assistance, career fairs, visits to professional architecture firms, and more. Graduates become part of the close-knit Sam Fox School community, with a network of colleagues and mentors around the world.
Over the years, our new hires from the graduate architecture programs at WashU have been among the best prepared in terms of professional readiness and design ability.”
Allison Méndez, AIA, NCARB | Vice President and Lead Designer, CannonDesign
Below: Sam Fox School Architecture Career Fair, which hosted 35 firms and served 140 students in 2024. Photo: Virginia Harold / WashU.
Scholarships & Fellowships
We recognize that financial support is an important part of your graduate school decision-making process, and the Sam Fox School is committed to providing assistance to as many students as possible.
Scholarship Support
Through our Sam Fox Ambassadors Fellowship program, the school awards 10 full-tuition graduate scholarships each year to candidates who demonstrate exceptional potential for advanced studies and creative research in their discipline. Ambassadors receive an annual creative activity and research stipend to support research or school-sponsored travel and participate in events that build meaningful interdisciplinary connections and advance creative work and scholarship.
Additional full and significant tuition scholarships and fellowships are available in recognition of academic achievement, area of interest, experience, and leadership potential.
Paid Assistantships
Graduate students are eligible for paid teaching or research assistantships, which are typically awarded to students who have been in the school for at least one semester and have done well academically. Assistants support our faculty with lectures and courses in design, graphics, structures, technology, and more. Select faculty also offer research assistantships.
Loan Assistance
Federal guaranteed loans are available to students who are U.S. citizens or U.S. permanent residents who meet all eligibility requirements and who have submitted the FAFSA.
Learn more about scholarship opportunities on our website.
94% of graduate students at the Sam Fox School receive financial support.
I chose WashU because I wanted to work at the intersection of social justice and design practice. Design isn’t just about how the building meets the ground— it’s about how the work meets the community, serves the community, and improves the overall wellbeing of people and families.”
