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Msc Postgraduate European Master in Architecture | 2011 Architecture MSc Postgraduate European Master in Architecture | 2011 Language of instruction: English Maastricht University: Leading in Learning Historic yet forward-thinking and contemporary, typically Dutch yet multicultural and vibrant, Maastricht is a city of contrasts. Known as the birthplace of the modern European Union, Maastricht also continues to establish itself internationally thanks to Maastricht University’s position as a leading academic centre in Europe. Beyond boundaries With over half of its master’s students and a quarter of its academic staff coming from outside the Netherlands, Maastricht University has a reputation for its international orientation and dynamic, interdisciplinary environment. Almost all of our master’s programmes are taught in English and international themes are deeply rooted in the curricula. New perspectives As a master’s student, you are a contributing member of our academic community. Using the Problem-Based Learning methodology, you work in small groups alongside students from all over the world. In close cooperation with the academic staff, you and your fellow students examine real-life problems from an academic perspective. Exchanging knowledge and experiences, learning to see things from new perspectives, and developing essential skills: at Maastricht University you learn to think both like an academic and a professional. Research Research at Maastricht University focuses on gaining insights into current issues in today’s society. And we recognise the value of bright, young researchers in contributing to the development of fresh and innovative ideas. That is why research plays an integral role in the majority of our master’s programmes and why we offer a number of research master’s, which are often a stepping stone to a PhD. Career Further specialising in your fi eld by earning a master’s degree at Maastricht University will greatly enhance your career prospects. The effectiveness of our approach to education and research is demonstrated by the performance of our graduates. They are self-assured, independent and assertive professionals who are able to make a smooth transition from university to the job market because they focus on more than just theory; they also learn the skills they need to have a successful career. Architecture Architecture has been fundamentally transformed over the last two decades. Whereas in the past architects mostly dealt one-on-one with clients, architects are now integrated into teams of professionals from Contents a range of disciplines overseeing complex projects. The complexity and scale of projects have vastly increased even as the impact of Architecture 3 climate change and peaks in resource and energy supplies necessitate Postgraduate European Master in Architecture 4 innovation and vital research. In the past, architects built the new. Beyond Design 5 Today, they transform existing complexes of buildings, infrastructure Programme information 6 and urban environments. Career prospects 8 Application and Admission 9 Architectural curriculum has barely taken this into account. Many young architects are consequently unprepared for their careers. The Postgraduate European Master in Architecture (EMA) was created to meet these challenges by redefi ning architecture and by expanding the range of training architects receive. The programme has a highly interdisciplinary nature, incorporating both studio-based research and design and interdisciplinary courses and training from Maastricht University. EMA is the fi rst programme of its kind to focus intensely on the architect as going ‘beyond design’ and overseeing complex, interdisciplinary development projects. The Postgraduate European Master in Architecture is a full-time private master’s programme for professionals. It is two years in length and is taught entirely in English. *This programme is still in the process of being accredited by the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO). For more information on NVAO, please visit www.nvao.nl Maastricht University is a signatory of the “Code of conduct with respect to international students in Dutch higher education”. More information about this code of conduct is available at www.internationalstudy.nl 3 Postgraduate European Master in Architecture The architectural profession is in a state of transition. Architects must increasingly look beyond design and into the entire complex process that constructing our built environment entails. The new postgraduate Architecture programme at Maastricht University provides you the knowledge and skills you need to enter the more advanced, interdisciplinary levels of the architectural profession. What sets the programme apart? • It is both a professional master’s and a centre for architectural innovation • Interdisciplinary courses from allied academic disciplines available at Maastricht University • Collaboration with Delft University of Technology’s Faculty of Architecture • Participants tackle real-life assignments using Project-Based Learning Fast facts • Maastricht’s historic centre and contemporary architecture provide a venue for learning opportunities and new • Programme: Postgraduate European Master in Architecture challenges • Language of instruction: English • Research and design studios supervised by professor • Duration: 2 Years full-time Jo Coenen and other leading European architects • Start date(s): twice yearly, in September and February • Study load: 120 ECTS • Learning method: project-based learning; design-studios; seminars; skills training; master classes, guest lectures; research assignments • Assessment method: written exams; group participation; fi nal design thesis • Tuition fee: € 12.800 per year 4 MSc Postgraduate European Master in Architecture | 2011 Transformation and continuity “In our built environment, there are two forces that have collide violently with one another, while if they worked a major infl uence on the way we perceive the existing together they could produce magnifi cent results. It is urban fabric and buildings. One is appreciation of our important to think in terms of both transformation and heritage and the feeling of security we get from the past, continuity. To think about our existing building stock, and and the other is the force of change that generates how new strains can be successfully grafted on to this. feelings of expectation, astonishment and hope. Especially Love of good style is to be found in all generations, and we during the past few decades, we have been subjected to certainly have an enormous need for it in the architecture an unprecedented dynamic process of social and cultural of today. What we really need is not conservation at any change due to such factors as digitalisation, globalisation, cost but vital reuse, like the stones of the Via Appia that commercialisation, individualisation, mass migration and have been reused in countless confi gurations without the like. This is associated with an enormous need for losing their link with the age-old history of the road.” novelty and at the same time with a strong need for security and the growth of organisations dedicated to Prof. ir. Jo Coenen preservation of our heritage. I see countless cases where Chair Architecture these two trends, of dynamic change and conservation, Architect-Director of Jo Coenen & Co Architekten Beyond Design tural research and assignments into the curriculum. Assign- ments are selected in close collaboration with the regional In the past, architects worked with a single client on a single architecture industry. You will study real-life problems and building. Today, they work in a team of professionals from a projects with clients and other professionals and be assessed by range of disciplines to develop, design and construct complex academics and professionals from a variety of disciplines. These building projects and urban sites. This requires the ability to include public authorities, research organisations, corporations, oversee and guide highly complex projects. Architects must go real estate developers and municipal planners. ‘beyond design’ and see the process of urban development from a wide range of disciplines and perspectives. Sustainability Transformation Climate change, sustainability and the environment are increasingly affecting architecture and construction. The EMA Especially in Europe, the primary objective of architecture is programme will help you develop the versatility to incorporate no longer to build the new but to transform existing building cutting-edge, sustainable technology into your work while complexes, infrastructure and entire urban and rural land- contributing to energy effi ciency and the development of scapes. This requires analysis, inventories, study of the existing environmentally friendly buildings, cities and construction. object, city or landscape silhouette, and exploring whether While studying with the EMA programme, you will do your part these should be transformed or altered. in contributing to the global knowledge base of sustainable development. Research Architecture is facing challenges that necessitate vital research. Maastricht As architecture transforms into a more interdisciplinary fi eld, a wide array of integrative research on the built environment is Maastricht’s historic centre and contemporary architecture essential. The EMA programme trains you to be a better serve as a venue of old and new examples and learning researcher, and the activities and research conducted by our opportunities. Maastricht
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