Architectural and Urban Design MSc

The programme is structured around a series of architectural and urban design projects, augmented by lecture and seminar-based teaching in research methods, urban design and contemporary architectural theory. All design work is environmentally and socially sensitive.

The programme involves fieldwork in a selected internationally significant city. However, Edinburgh as the home city and Rome as an important European city inform the study of every other city.

Teaching

You are expected to work daily in the design studio. Design and production work often takes place in our range of manual and digital technical workshops. Tuition is delivered in the studio at least one day per week but can also take place in workshops by arrangement with tutors.

Seminar or lecture courses operate once a week followed by tutorials. Design Project Reviews usually take place in the studio and tend to occur once in the middle of each semester and again towards the end of each semester. Design and research-by-design is encouraged to operate between diverse analogue and digital methods. Drawing, making, representation, installation and publication skills are key to developing design projects.

Assessment

Written work in design and theory courses

Written work will be undertaken in various courses and especially the Design Research Project. In-course assessment and feedback procedures vary slightly from course to course. Submission of written work will normally be through Learn (the University's main online learning platform) but will normally also require a studio submission of a designed piece combining text and drawings.

Studio work

Assignments will have clearly stated assessment criteria that will form the basis of the marking. In common with general design education practice, the main assessment of design progress is by means of project-work (some of it conducted in groups), sometimes complemented by a short written-report. Assessment will always consider:

• the extent to which you have contributed original ideas to the projects
• the creative ability displayed
• the depth and breadth of coursework understanding revealed
• the extent to which the thesis (arguments and discourse) of the project has been framed
• skills in visual, written and verbal communication of the project ideas

Criteria for the assessment of group work vary and will sometimes be based on the overall product of a group, sometimes more on individual contribution. Assessment of project work may require you to engage with techniques of self-assessment and peer assessment.

Find out more about compulsory and optional courses

We link to the latest information available. Please note that this may be for a previous academic year and should be considered indicative.

###Programme aims

• Expose you to a range of approaches, strategies, research and experimentation techniques relevant to architectural, landscape and urban design.
• Provide a rigorous framing for architectural, landscape and urban design through studies in contemporary theory.
• Offer training in the field of analogue and digital representation, both practical applications and philosophical implications.
• Give you an understanding of the specific capacities, possibilities and limits of design within broader urban/metropolitan processes.

Programme outcomes

The outcomes of the programme fall into several categories, as follows:

Knowledge and understanding

On completing the programme, you should be able to:

• Critically evaluate the possible roles that design plays within the wider urban/metropolitan processes.
• Operate within the fields of architectural, landscape and urban design on the basis of well-balanced evaluations.
• Comprehend some of the key consequences analogue and digital media have for the conception, design and representation of architecture, landscape and cities.
• Understand the main controversies within contemporary architectural, landscape and urban design theory.

Intellectual skills

On completing the programme, you should be able to:

• Think creatively about architectural design and its implications for contemporary urban/metropolitan contexts.
• Articulate theoretical considerations relating to key aspects of architectural, landscape and urban design.
• Develop a fluency with analogue and digital media to allow the development of crossdisciplinary engagements and collaborative networks in creative work.

Professional / subject-specific / practical skills

On completing the programme, you should be able to:

• Evaluate a range of design techniques within a given professional context.
• Creatively apply the selected techniques within that context.
• Design effective multimedia presentations.
• Integrate digital media representation techniques into a variety of design processes.
• Develop and respond to critical argument on cultural issues relating to contemporary architectural, landscape and urban design.

Transferable skills

On completing the programme, you should be able to:

• Use digital media creatively in problem solving and to communicate design ideas in public settings.
• Show leadership within an architectural, landscape or urban design team context.
• Effectively coordinate design and graphic representation staff within a professional context.
• Speak and write in a coherent, well-researched way on design work in an urban context.
• Develop and respond to critical argument on cultural issues relating to contemporary architectural, landscape and urban design.

On completion of this programme, you will have added a significant urban design qualification to an existing architectural degree, one that is held in high regard by potential employers.

The skills and learning you gain will help you pursue a career at a higher level, branch out into a particular specialism or prepare for further postgraduate education.

Field trips

In our studio, you will develop design proposals for international urban conditions, based on the contribution of design to the wider life and workings of the city. Research methods will involve intense fieldwork in the chosen city of study, with themes and outputs guided by the research interests and expertise of your tutors. 

Previous cities of MSc study and visit include:

• Shanghai, China (Borderlands)
• Florence, Italy (Curating The City)
• Olbia, Sardinia (The Loving Metropolitan Landscape)
• Mumbai, India (Parasituation)
• Kolkata, India (Parasituation and Wetness)
• Ahmedabad, India (Parasituation and Ecosophy)
• Edinburgh, Scotland (Parasituation and Urban Paradigms)
• Derry, Northern Ireland (Parasituation and Thin Places)

You will be part of a dynamic, international body of students who work closely together and with other students and experts from a range of related programmes and disciplines. 

Campus facilities

As a studio that operates through diverse research-by-design methodologies, you are encouraged to take advantage of ECA’s extensive range of manual and digital workshops, technical facilities and materials.

They are available across different campuses from the Woodworking, Metalwork and CNC cutting in the Maltings Workshop in Chambers Street to Photography, Glass and Immersive Technology practices in the Lauriston Place campus.

Lauriston campus redevelopment

ECA are excited to be undertaking a capital redevelopment of ECA’s Lauriston campus over the next 3 years, from April 2024 to April 2027.

The project aims to maximise the use of existing space, improve accessibility, and create a vibrant campus that fosters collaboration and innovation.

The project involves refurbishing and repurposing various spaces across the Lauriston campus, including technical facilities, student and teaching spaces, and the relocation of the Reid School of Music from Alison House to the Lauriston campus. New social spaces, seminar rooms, and studios are being created to accommodate our growing community.

You can find more about the project at the below link:

Building work starts at ECA’s Lauriston campus | Edinburgh College of Art

These entry requirements are for the 2025/26 academic year and requirements for future academic years may differ. Entry requirements for the 2026/27 academic year will be published on 1 Oct 2025.

A professional qualification in architecture, usually a five-year programme, with a strong portfolio of design work with clear author/co-author attribution.

You must submit a portfolio as part of your application.

Students from China

This degree is Band C.

• Postgraduate entry requirements for students from China

International qualifications

Check whether your international qualifications meet our general entry requirements:

• Entry requirements by country

English language requirements

Regardless of your nationality or country of residence, you must demonstrate a level of English language competency which will enable you to succeed in your studies.

English language tests

We accept the following English language qualifications at the grades specified:

• IELTS Academic: total 6.5 with at least 6.0 in each component. We do not accept IELTS One Skill Retake to meet our English language requirements.
• TOEFL-iBT (including Home Edition): total 92 with at least 20 in each component. We do not accept TOEFL MyBest Score to meet our English language requirements.
• C1 Advanced (CAE) / C2 Proficiency (CPE): total 176 with at least 169 in each component.
• Trinity ISE: ISE II with distinctions in all four components.
• PTE Academic: total 65 with at least 59 in each component. We do not accept PTE Academic Online.
• Oxford ELLT: 7 overall with at least 6 in each component.

Your English language qualification must be no more than three and a half years old from the start date of the programme you are applying to study, unless you are using IELTS, TOEFL, Trinity ISE or PTE, in which case it must be no more than two years old.

Degrees taught and assessed in English

We also accept an undergraduate or postgraduate degree that has been taught and assessed in English in a majority English speaking country, as defined by UK Visas and Immigration:

• UKVI list of majority English speaking countries

We also accept a degree that has been taught and assessed in English from a university on our list of approved universities in non-majority English speaking countries (non-MESC).

• Approved universities in non-MESC

If you are not a national of a majority English speaking country, then your degree must be no more than five years old at the beginning of your programme of study.

Find out more about our language requirements:

• English language requirements

Additional costs

There will be extra costs associated with a field trip, from travel to accommodation and subsistence (usually around £800).

The programme employs research by design methods. There will be costs associated with large scale models, installations and lighting over and above conventional large scale drawing printing requirements.

Tuition fees

Funding for postgraduate study is different to undergraduate study, and many students need to combine funding sources to pay for their studies.

Most students use a combination of the following funding to pay their tuition fees and living costs:

• borrowing money
  • taking out a loan
  • family support
• personal savings
• income from work
• employer sponsorship
• scholarships

Explore sources of funding for postgraduate study

Featured funding

• Edinburgh College of Art scholarships

UK government postgraduate loans

If you live in the UK, you may be able to apply for a postgraduate loan from one of the UK’s governments.

The type and amount of financial support you are eligible for will depend on:

• your programme
• the duration of your studies
• your tuition fee status

Programmes studied on a part-time intermittent basis are not eligible.

• UK government and other external funding

Other funding opportunities

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