Architecture Department
Our Vision: Through design inquiry and making, we engage diverse perspectives in pursuit of an architecture open to all.
What We Value
At the University of Colorado Denver Architecture, emerging technologies, material craft, and ecological stewardship coalesce to inform our plural approach to architecture. Theory presupposes practice, practice presupposes making, making is our agent of change. We are keenly oriented to pressing global needs, which sharpens our work.
We listen first
We pursue outside perspectives
We draw strengths from our differences
Our world is out in the world; the things we make our the instruments of our impact
We seek fresh connections between our profession, our students, and our communities
We think with our hands, we engage with our hearts, we aim our minds in service to all shared environments
Accreditation
In the United States, most registration boards require a degree from an accredited professional degree program as a prerequisite for licensure. The National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), which is the sole agency authorized to accredit professional degree programs in architecture offered by institutions with U.S. regional accreditation, recognizes three types of degrees: the Bachelor of Architecture, the Master of Architecture, and the Doctor of Architecture. A program may be granted an eight-year, three-year, or two-year term of accreditation, depending on the extent of its conformance with established educational standards.
Doctor of Architecture and Master of Architecture degree programs may require a preprofessional undergraduate degree in architecture for admission. However, the preprofessional degree is not, by itself, recognized as an accredited degree.
The University of Colorado Denver offers the following NAAB-accredited degree programs:
- M. Arch Four Studio Track (preprofessional degree + 63 credits)
- M. Arch Six Studio Track (non-preprofessional degree + 105 credits)
The Master of Architecture’s most recent NAAB visit was in 2015 and the program was granted a full eight-year accreditation.