For 50 years, SCI-Arc’s collaborative, immersive environment for students, theorists, and practitioners has empowered the next generation of architects. The professional graduate programs at SCI-Arc attract an internationally diverse student body to speculate and resolve imminent issues facing architecture today.
Why SCI-Arc?
Heading titleConsistently Top-Ranked
Over five decades, SCI-Arc has remained unequaled in its reputation for risk and excellence. Each year DesignIntelligence releases survey results from polling architecture students, faculty, alumni, and field professionals. SCI-Arc has ranked among the top 20 in multiple categories for the past ten years.
SCI-Arc ranks in the top 10 across all of the survey’s focus areas, including design theory, construction methods, materials, and sustainability, in both the graduate and undergraduate categories.*
Notable M.Arch Program Rankings
Top 10 Graduate Programs
#5 in Communications and Presentation Skills
#7 in Construction Materials and Methods
#4 in Design Technologies
#6 in Design Theory and Practice
#5 in Interdisciplinary Studies
#8 in Transdisciplinary Collaboration Across A/E/C
#8 in Project Planning and Management
#10 in Practice Management
#6 in Research
#10 in Sustainable Built Environments/Adaptive Designs/Resilient Design
Most Admired Educators:
Hernán Díaz Alonso
SCI-Arc’s consistent positioning within the rankings is a testament to the remarkable work being done by students, faculty, staff, and alumni.
*Rankings according to DesignIntelligence reports since 2018
"We provide an environment that encourages an open exchange of creative ideas and technical knowledge through a collaborative educational model with a team of practitioners and theorists at the top of the field."
- Elena Manferdini, Graduate Programs Chair
Heading titlePreparation for Practice
In the United States, most architecture registration boards require a degree from an accredited professional program as a prerequisite for licensure. The M.Arch 1 and M.Arch 2 programs at SCI-Arc are each accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), allowing graduates to pursue architectural licensure for professional practice.
Each M.Arch program has a uniquely crafted curriculum that encourages students to develop a personal point of view through applied research and cross-disciplinary experience. Students will learn the importance of implementing design methodology, environmental stewardship, materiality, and project delivery to realize their design ideas in the public realm.
Heading titleTransforming Students into Architects
The graduate programs at SCI-Arc incorporate engagement at both a technical and conceptual level through the school’s public symposia, lecture series, technology labs, and seminars. Both M.Arch 1 and M.Arch 2 curricula leverage SCI-Arc’s focus on global culture and its physical location within the creative cultural hub of Los Angeles, enriching students’ paths to professional practice with the energy and dynamism of contemporary cultural production.
Heading titleLed by a Faculty of Global Practitioners
SCI-Arc was founded on the idea that architects should teach what they practice and continues to uphold that practicing architects can best communicate to students the complex realities of thinking about—and making—architecture.
SCI-Arc’s faculty is primarily comprised of practicing architects, which gives students pragmatic insight into the profession and connects them with opportunities for professional internships and employment outside the school.
Representing some of the most dedicated and cutting-edge thinkers in architecture, culture, history, and technology, SCI-Arc faculty are actively shaping the global discourse and consistently receive recognition for their contributions to education and the field of architecture.
Heading titleAdvanced Facilities for Production and Experimentation
SCI-Arc is proud to offer one of the most advanced fabrication facilities of any architecture school. Students have access to more than 12,000-square feet of fabrication facilities, including the SCI-Arc Shop, Robot House, and Magic Box, which feature the latest comprehensive technologies, additive and reductive manufacturing machinery and programs, and six state-of-the-art Stäubli robots.
Heading titleEngaging a New Creative Economy
A hub for the most provocative, cutting-edge architectural ideas, SCI-Arc provides a space to engage new opportunities for social and cultural engagement within the emerging creative economy of Los Angeles, a city with a strong tradition and history of architectural experimentation.
While much of the architecture school experience unfolds within SCI-Arc’s design studios, conversations often extend beyond the school, animating the many restaurants, cafes, and galleries in the surrounding Arts District.
SCI-Arc’s proximity to the rapidly developing Arts District and downtown LA enables a dynamic cultural exchange between the school and a neighboring burgeoning design economy.
"SCI-Arc's training approach, which is constantly focused on matching architecture and technology to promote experimentation and the search for solutions, is a true opportunity to learn new skills that allow me to grow professionally and in the future be able to interact as an architect within the complexity of the time we live in."
Heading titleInternational Connections and Opportunities
Engaging with the international architecture community, SCI-Arc provides students with the opportunity to expand their practice and education beyond Los Angeles. The school collaborates with institutions and organizations around the world to expand its global reach and to offer students an education as wide-ranging as design itself.
SCI-Arc engages the global dialogue surrounding design through satellite initiatives, and study abroad and exchange programs.
Project by Saleh Jamsheer
Heading titleCommitted to the Community of Los Angeles
As a committed partner in downtown Los Angeles, SCI-Arc has launched a number of public initiatives for students and faculty to engage with city and community leaders to develop and propose innovative design solutions that support contemporary social issues which affect city residents, such as housing scarcity and homelessness.
