Architectural and Urban Design MA (PGCert PGDip)

Course in brief

Working across the disciplines of architecture, art and cultural geography, our Architectural and Urban Design MA combines critical debate and creative practice to help you develop as a designer who will plan the urban environments of the future.

You will benefit from a supportive studio environment, two field trips and a variety of workshops and seminars, taught by active practitioners in architecture and urban design. You will engage with research on the analysis of cities and lead your own projects, speculating as to how cities will evolve and be used in the future.

The course is highly experimental and aims to stretch your imagination and critical ability. You will produce innovative portfolios and learn about the issues of global urban environments, expanding your knowledge beyond the usual subject boundaries.

Academic context

Urbanism and urban design are ambiguous terms that surround and reflect both the physical and mental attributes applied to the built environment.

The material of roads, pavements, buildings, railways, bridges and so on represents the physical. The mental is represented by narratives, histories, personal perceptions and anticipations.

The two sensibilities combine to form a layered knowledge of the city, which could be compared to a mature palimpsest or to semi-obscured archaeology. In this context, we study the city with emphasis on the space of the private realm and its seamless engagement with the public domain.

Take a look at our architecture and interior architecture blog and our 2015 yearbook, which documents student work from across our architecture courses.

Key facts

Location Brighton: Moulsecoomb

Full-time students wishing to begin this course in September 2016 can choose to study this course over 12 or 18 months. From 2017 this course will be 12 months in duration.
Part-time max 42 months

Apply online

You can apply for 2016 and 2017: please check that you meet the entry requirements before you make your application.

Apply now for your place

Entry requirements

Degree and experience
A good degree in a design-related subject. In exceptional circumstances, applicants may have several years of experience working in the design industry. You will need:

two references (one of which must be academic for recent graduates)
personal statement
portfolio (hard copy or suitable digital alternative).

English language requirements
IELTS is our preferred language qualification. The minimum requirement is a score of 6.5 overall with a 6.0 in writing. We also accept:

GCSE – Grade C or higher in English language
IB – 5 in Standard-Level English or 4 in Higher-Level English.

We may accept other qualifications as well. If you have already obtained an accredited English language qualification, please email a copy of it to architectureanddesign@brighton.ac.uk when you make your application. If it is not acceptable, any offer we make will require IELTS.

International equivalencies

International equivalencies by country

Albania
Algeria
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Belarus
Belgium
Bermuda
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Bulgaria
Burma (Myanmar)
Cameroon
Canada
Chile
China
Colombia
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Ecuador
Egypt
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Guyana
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kosovo
Kuwait
Latvia
Lebanon
Liechtenstein
Libya
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macedonia
Malaysia
Malawi
Malta
Mexico
Moldova
Montenegro
Morocco
Namibia
Nepal
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nigeria
Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Palestinian National Authority
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Russian Federation
Saudi Arabia
Serbia
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
South Korea
Spain
Sri Lanka
Syria
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Tanzania
Thailand
Tunisia
Turkey
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United States
Uzbekistan
Venezuela
Vietnam
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe

We can help you meet our English language or academic entry requirements.

Visit our language institute

For English language preparation courses.

Visit our International College

For academic preparation courses.

Course in detail

Why study with us?

Experimental course that stretches your imagination and critical ability

Focus on the urban realm: the experiential aspect of cities and the gap between planned and lived

Field trips to cities including London, Berlin, Marseille, Glasgow and Edinburgh

Teaching staff who are also practitioners in architecture and urban design

Guest lectures from leading figures such as Anthony McCall, Stefano Rabolli Pansera, Katy Beinart and Peter Clash

Alumni network of professional architects, academics and urban designers

Students on a field trip at the Unite d’Habitation designed by le Corbusier, built between 1947 and 1952

Areas of study

The course is taught over 3 semesters. For entry in September 2016 there is an option to either undertake all 3 semesters within 12 months or to extend the duration of the course to 18 months by breaking for the 3 month UK summer vacation. From September 2017 the 180 credit MA course will only be taught in 3 semesters over 12 months.

Design 1: Urban Strategies

This module introduces you to design strategies, methods and issues pertinent to your design studio, helping you to explore the potential of different approaches to design. There is a strong emphasis on the development of conceptual ideas and their correlation with the development of design strategy, helping you to articulate your individual position as a design practitioner.

Design 2

Design 2 aims to consolidate and extend the priorities, ideas and strategies established in Design 1. You will explore architectural and urban ideas in more depth and complexity. The emphasis here is on curiosity and speculation, supporting the development of methods to help with enquiry, reflection and debate.

Independent Project

The independent project runs concurrently and is concerned with your identification of places of ‘conflict’ and negotiations of space. The module encourages experimentation in a specific field of study. Students have developed projects in fields of architectural and artistic practice, creative design, techniques of communication or new technologies.

Critical Readings

The Critical Readings module will develop your skills in critical practice through an analysis of cultural, historical, theoretical and practical issues in architecture. It provides the opportunity to carry out initial investigations into the ideas that will drive your Masterwork project.

Research Skills and Training

Research Skills and Training introduces you to the challenges involved in designing, implementing and disseminating a research project. You will develop a written proposal that can inform the development of your Masterwork project, encouraging you to consider how your investigations contribute to the academic knowledge in your field.

Masterwork

The Masterwork is the final stage of study, requiring you to perform as a self-reflective critical researcher and lay down the foundations for innovation in your future practice. You will develop your project from an agreed research proposal, which may be either a text-based dissertation or a design-led research project with critical reflection. You will be asked to focus the areas of interest that have developed in your previous practice and studies, identify research questions and develop research methods, bringing critical investigation and creative responses together.

Entrance to the Kings Cross Historic Game by Ekaterina Novikova

Examining the permeability of the boundary to the Kings Cross site by Evelina Klimaite

Facilities

From September 2016 students will benefit from a new Masters Centre including studio space, tutorial areas and shared creative spaces

Modelling and construction workshops: timber and metal, dedicated 'wet' modelling bay, plastic dying facility, drill press, spray booth, vacuum former, strip bender, plastics oven, hot wire cutter and spot welder; further workshops available by arrangement with rapid prototyping and laser cutter

IT facilities include 3D paper and printer, plotters, scanners and a reprographics suite

Software includes Adobe suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Acrobat Professional), VW2010, Cinem 4D, Premiere, Blender, AutoCAD, Maya and Rhino

Library facilities include additional computing equipment, digital and hard copy specialist library facilities, and specialist collections

Staff profile

Sue Robertson

Sue Robertson has a BSc(Hons) in Architecture from the University of Bath, a Diploma in Architecture from the Polytechnic of Central London and a Research Masters in Cultural Geography from Royal Holloway, University of London.

Sue has worked as a professional architect for a number of high-profile practices in London, Sydney, Australia and Monterey, California. She worked with Denys Lasdun for several years on large projects in London and mainland Europe, including the extension to the European Investment Bank in Luxembourg. In 1994, she set up her own practice, designing and completing residential and educational projects.

Since 1994, Sue has taught on all levels of the undergraduate and postgraduate architecture courses in design and theory at Brighton, and currently leads the Architectural and Urban Design MA. She is a member of the Mobilities Research Group at the university and works collaboratively across the disciplines of spatial design, art, cultural geography and social science.

Student views

Birute Raglyte

"This course helped me to develop my skills as an urban designer, as the course leader encouraged me to form my own critical thinking and apply it to the development of different projects. Looking at the various approaches of the conceptual ideas and discussing some stimulating examples of physical and conceptual urban interventions, I discovered that the urban knowledge as a whole is highly layered and complex. Thanks to this course I learned how to approach and address the urban experience."

Laura Ferrarello

“My 18 months at Brighton was a breakpoint in my career. I developed my own visual and academic skills in terms of understanding, questioning and addressing contemporary issues, and managed to clarify my professional profile."

Birute Raglyte

Studio work

Our studio produces an astonishing variety of work, but the core values remain the same: critical engagement and creative response.

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Careers and employability

The Architectural and Urban Design MA gives you a deep understanding of the issues involved in contemporary practice. As you evolve your own specialist work, you will discover ways to reimagine and reshape the contemporary urban environment.

Our graduates have gone on to be professional architects, academics and urban designers in the UK, Vietnam, Russia, Palestine, Japan, Taiwan, Kenya, Turkey, Lithuania and other countries. Among our alumni are award-winning architects Wei Jiang and Quang Nguyen, who are based in Shanghai and London respectively.

Fees and funding

Your fees

UK/EU (full-time) 12 months6,030 GBP

International (full-time) 12 months14,400 GBP

UK/EU (full-time) 18 months* 7,162 GBP

International (full-time) 18 months*18,300 GBP

Students wishing to begin this course in September 2016 can choose to study this course over 12 or 18 months. Contact the course team for more information.

*this is the fee that you will pay for the 18-month course.

The fees listed here are for full-time courses beginning in the academic year 2016–17. Further tuition fees are payable for each subsequent year of study and are subject to an annual increase of no more than 5% or RPI (whichever is the greater). The annual increase for UK/EU students, who are subject to regulated fees, will increase no more than the statutory maximum fee. Further details regarding tuition fees are available from the university’s student contract and tuition fee policy (pdf).

The tuition fee you have to pay depends on a number of factors including the kind of course you take, and whether you study full- or part-time. If you are studying part-time you will normally be charged on a pro rata basis depending on the number of modules you take.

What's included in the fee?

When costs such as health or DBS checks, field trips or use of specialist materials are incurred as a mandatory requirement of the course they are included in your tuition fee.

You may incur additional costs depending on the optional modules or activities you choose. The cost of optional activities is not included in your tuition fee and you will need to meet this cost in addition to your fees. Before you apply check with the school that provides your course using the contact details in the Find out more tab (at the end of this page) for advice about what is included and what optional costs you could face so you can budget accordingly.

See our finance pages for advice about funding and scholarships as well as further information about fees and advice on international and island fee paying status.

Location and living here

Location

About Brighton

Brighton has been called the happiest place in the UK, and it’s easy to see why. With five miles of pebble beach, more than 300 pubs and a packed festival calendar, Brighton is the ideal place to spend your student years.

Arts and culture: The Royal Pavilion is the most famous landmark in Brighton, opening its doors to around 400,000 tourists every year. Right next door is the Brighton Dome, the south coast’s premier multi-arts venue, and the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, which holds a diverse collection of decorative arts, textiles and archaeological artefacts.

Festivals: The Brighton Festival is now the largest arts festival in England and a major milestone in the international cultural calendar. Meanwhile, The Great Escape has been established as the UK’s leading event for new music, with over 300 bands playing 30 venues across the city over three days.

Nightlife: Aside from the many nightclubs that line the city’s seafront, student favourites include The Haunt, Concorde 2 and Patterns, which attract leading bands and DJs from around the world. If you don’t feel like dancing, you can take your pick from the many hundreds of pubs and bars that dot the city centre.

Shopping: The quirky North Laine district houses Brighton’s finest collection of boutique shops and independent cafes, while the narrow, winding streets of the South Lanes house collections of jewellery and antiques. Churchill Square is the city’s main shopping centre and serves all of your high street needs.

Sports: Brighton’s seaside location offers the perfect opportunity to try paddle boarding, kayaking and windsurfing. Further into the city, The Level has a skate park for skateboarders and BMX riders to practise their skills.

Campus where this course is taught

Moulsecoomb campus

Just two miles north of Brighton city centre and the seafront, Moulsecoomb is the largest of our five campuses with more than 8,000 students. A wide variety of subjects are taught here, from engineering and product design to business and law.

Students benefit from many professional-standard facilities, including a flight simulator, design and digital media suites, and specialist research laboratories. The campus library, Aldrich, offers long opening hours and a diverse collection of books and journals for students from all subject areas.

Sports enthusiasts will enjoy our basketball and badminton courts, fitness suite and climbing wall. The campus is also a few minutes walk from the South Downs National Park, providing a great place to relax during the summer months.

Accommodation

Brighton

Our Brighton halls of residence are located across the city in Grand Parade, Moulsecoomb, Varley Park and Falmer.

Our Grand Parade campus is in central Brighton and has one hall of residence, Phoenix Brewery, within walking distance. We have around 300 rooms available in Phoenix Brewery, which are all ensuite and self-catered.

Moulsecoomb is two miles from the city centre and also has one hall of residence, Moulsecoomb Place, on campus. All accommodation in Moulsecoomb Place is catered, offering breakfast and an evening meal during term time. There are more than 150 rooms available here, with six to eight rooms per flat.

Varley Park offers the biggest choice of student accommodation with ten halls of residence. The site is four miles from Brighton centre but within walking distance of Falmer train station. You can also catch a free bus service to Grand Parade, Moulsecoomb and Falmer campuses, which is operated by local bus service The Big Lemon.

Falmer campus has two halls of residence: Great Wilkins and Paddock Field. Great Wilkins offers 150+ self-catered single rooms and one-bed couples flats, while Paddock Field offers 450+ catered and self-catered single rooms only. All rooms in Falmer are en-suite.

Aside from halls, you have the option of Unihomes, which we let out to our students on behalf of private landlords. The rent covers all utilities and includes £5,000 of contents insurance for your personal belongings.

You can also choose to join the many students who live away from campus in private rented accommodation. We have a list of high-quality, university-endorsed private sector accommodation and can help you find housemates to move in with.

If you have any questions about accommodation in Brighton, our accommodation team will be happy to help. You can contact them by email at accommodation@brighton.ac.uk or by telephone on 01273 644100.

Paddock Field